Route 29 in Lambertville reduced to one lane each way starting this week

Middle section of Route 29 lane reduction project

The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) on Monday announced that Route 29 in Lambertville will be reduced from two lanes to one in each direction by the Thursday morning commute.

NJDOT says it worked with Lambertville Mayor Julia Fahl and Sen. Shirley Turner to address a safety concern that the town has discussed for nearly 20 years. Reducing the number of lanes in the section of Route 29 where there are currently two will be largely accomplished by painting new lines.

The idea for the new traffic configuration began in 2001 with a request from the City of Lambertville to the state of New Jersey asking for Route 29 to be slowed down. The city and NJDOT finally agreed to the concept in 2018.

“Lambertville is a drive-to city, not a drive-through city,” Fahl said of the plan at a July 8 meeting of city council. “This is not the project that everybody wants, but this is the project that will make Lambertville a safer city.”

Overnight paving and restriping of the road will take place from 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 21, until 6 a.m. Thursday, and again from 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22, until 6 a.m. Friday, Aug. 23. Workers will close one lane in each direction on Route 29 between Swan Road and the south end of town where the road becomes one lane.

North part of project

Middle part of project

South part of project

In addition to restriping the roadway to reduce traffic to one lane, U-turns will be restricted to two locations – one at Weeden Street and another at the first cut out in the median when driving north. There will be dedicated U-turn lanes to help prevent traffic backups when a vehicle is waiting to make a U-turn.

The restriping of Route 29 will also create around 50 designated parking spots on both sides of road, with the ones on the north side allowing residents to park more safely.

The project also will install new stop signs in two places — one on South Main Street at Mount Hope Street, and a second replacing the yield sign for traffic turning left from Route 29 northbound onto Mount Hope Street.