AASHTO Journal - New Jersey DOT Opens New Transportation Training Complex

The New Jersey Department of Transportation recently opened a new transportation training complex in Bordentown that it converted from a combined support maintenance shop operated by the New Jersey National Guard.

[Above photo by New Jersey DOT]

The agency acquired the property from the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs in 2016 and subsequently converted its three buildings and surrounding land into a purpose-built training complex that caters specifically to the evolving needs of professionals working in the transportation infrastructure field.

“[This] marks an exciting milestone as we continue to invest in New Jersey DOT’s most valuable asset; its employees,” noted New Jersey DOT Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti in a statement. “The skills taught at this innovative and modern facility will directly impact motorists throughout New Jersey, because excellence in training translates to expertise, efficiency, and enhanced safety on the job.”

The facility includes specialized classrooms and adjoining labs outfitted with real roadway structures, traffic control components, and vehicle maintenance equipment. These spaces allow trainees to gain valuable hands-on experience in a safe and controlled setting without adverse weather or road hazards.

[Editor’s note: The North Carolina Department of Transportation joined the North Carolina State Highway Patrol to officially open a similar facility – called the Traffic Incident Management Training and Development Track in Raleigh, NC – in June 2022. That complex, which features a closed half-mile course to help first responders safely train for emergency events on state highways statewide, had been in operation during the COVID-19 pandemic.]

New Jersey DOT said it retained the original New Jersey National Guard building footprints and floorplans throughout its redesign and renovation process to minimize the need for demolition and new construction.

The agency built a mock roadway on the premises that features a signalized intersection, crosswalks, overhead signs, and a railroad grade crossing to present trainees with the conditions and structures they will encounter on the job.

The facility is comprised of a lecture hall, multi-use classrooms, computer training labs, offices, conference and breakout rooms, and locker room facilities for instructors and trainees.

It also offers: Two full-motion commercial truck simulators; a construction, landscape and roadway training laboratory with in-ground model of drainage inlets connected by a culvert; an electrical and sign training lab with real traffic signal control cabinets and in-ground pull boxes; an automotive training lab with working model of truck brake system; an equipment training bay with welding area and space to work on large vehicles, along with a radio repair shop.

The facility is also equipped to serve as a centralized disaster recovery location for roadway operations during emergency events, the New Jersey DOT noted.