Route 46 & Hollywood Avenue Interchange Improvements

The existing Route 46 interchange at Hollywood Avenue (County Route 625) provides all moves between Hollywood Avenue, an urban collector, and Route 46, urban principal arterial.  The interchange was reconstructed to remove operational deficiencies and improve safety.   The interchange ramps lacked physical separation between opposing traffic, and Route 46 lacked speed change lanes on Route 46.  The antiquated scissor operation of the ramp intersections with Hollywood Avenue also posed significant operational problems. The project is located within a highly developed commercial and residential area.    Arora redesigned the ramps to minimize right-of-way and access impacts on nearby properties  while still addressing the major operational deficiencies of the interchange.  Arora designed the following interchange improvements:

• Reconstruction of the existing ramps to provide a raised island to separate traffic movements and provide standard width.
• Provision of acceleration and deceleration lanes on Route 46 to and from the ramps.
• Reconfiguration and signalization of both ramp intersections with Hollywood Avenue.
• Widening of  Hollywood Avenue to provide left-turn lanes at the proposed signals.
• Reconfiguration of the shopping center driveway on Hollywood Avenue to provide access at a new signal.
• Modification of driveways along Route 46 to comply with the Access Management Code. 

In addition, we designed new signing and striping, lighting, storm drains, landscaping, fencing, guide rail, curbs and paving.  We provided an ITS camera so the traffic on Route 46 and at the interchange could be monitored at the Traffic Operation Center.  Arora designed retaining walls to avoid encroaching on existing municipally-owned athletic fields and residential property.  We  coordinated the relocation of major power, telephone, CATV, gas, water and sewer facilities to accommodate the interchange improvements.

The interchange is within the Passaic River watershed which is historically prone to frequent flooding over wide areas so avoiding floodplain impacts and managing stormwater were major design considerations.  To support NJDOT’s application for an NJDEP Flood Hazard Area Permit, Arora mapped low-lying areas below the NJ flood hazard design flood elevation and minimized the fill volume in the floodplain.  To mitigate the unavoidable fill, NJDOT purchased fill credits from a private bank approved for this purpose by NJDEP.  Infiltration basins were designed in the ramp infields to percolate stormwater into the ground rather allowing it to runoff.  The basin designs complied with NJDEP Stormwater Management rules.

Construction staging to maintain traffic flow was another major design consideration.  In addition, to avoiding traffic delays in this congested urban area, keeping lanes open was important because Hollywood Avenue provides a primary route from the south side to the north side of Route 46 for Fairfield’s emergency responders and school buses.  Arora developed a detailed staging solution for Route 46, ramps and Hollywood Avenue that was successfully implemented by the contractor.  We included liquidated damages at key project milestones in the specifications to assure that lanes and ramps were open according to the staging schedule.  Access to businesses was included in the staging plan to minimize inconvenience to patrons and to quantify NJDOT’s right-of-way costs.  Each business was assured a minimum number of parking spaces at all times.  Despite flooding and highway closures in the area due to Hurricane Irene, the interchange was open to traffic and signals were operational on schedule.