$1.2 Billion 'Energy Strong' Project Construction Making Life Difficult in New Jersey

John Cichowski reports on the congestion and wayfinding frustrations in connection with a $1.2 infrastructure project in North and Central New Jersey.

The Energy Strong project, as it's called, is "building new gas mains and improving antiquated metering and switching stations so it can respond more quickly to the kinds of power failures that crippled the region when Superstorm Sandy struck in 2012." Cichowski adds: "Unlike road projects that affect a few communities at a time, Energy Strong affects 140 miles of roadway through 30 mostly flood-prone municipalities in Bergen and Passaic counties."

The problem: "With a dozen or so utility projects under way simultaneously, commuters seldom have faced so many detours. Even worse, spring and summer is the usual period for paving municipal and county roads. So, it's not uncommon for a gas-main detour in one community to overlap a road-paving detour in a neighboring community."

Cichowski provides more details about the sources of frustration as residents deal with the detours created by the project—incomplete signage is among the most common complaints.