Long before European settlers arrived, the Lenni Lenape tribes used a trail that ran parallel to the Delaware River to travel and deliver goods to settlements in South Jersey.
It evolved into Old York Road doing Colonial times – a major artery from Trenton to National Park – and was used by travelers in horse-drawn carriages or on horseback. Today, the former trail is known as Route 130, a speedway with three narrow lanes of traffic in each direction divided by a concrete barrier and drivers jockeying for position to beat the next red light.
The roadway is also used by pedestrians and bicyclists who risk life and limb trying to cross it. But help is on the way. The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) and Delran Township have unveiled a concept plan to build a 10-foot wide, off-shoulder pathway northbound from Andover Road in Cinnaminson to the Rancocas Creek.
The Concept Development Study was announced during a public meeting on July 18 at the township municipal building.
“Route 130, one of the most dangerous roads in New Jersey, also has some incredibly dangerous crosswalks,” explained Delran Mayor Gary Catrambone. “With this plan, not only will our residents be able to safely traverse along the highway on foot or on a bike, they will be able to actually cross the highway under much safer circumstances.
“Let’s face it, Route 130 is never going to be less congested,” he acknowledged. “But public safety continues to be our most important concern, and this plan gives us hope that our residents can walk or bike up and down the highway without putting their lives at risk.”
Kimberly Nance of NJDOT’s community relations office opened the meeting by stating that the Concept Development Study is not final but addresses the concerns of the mayor and council and will benefit people in the community and those who drive on Route 130.
“Safety is our number one-purpose,” noted Nance, adding that preliminary engineering will begin this fall, the final design will begin in the fall of 2026 and construction should start in the spring of 2029.
She then introduced Michael Drobny, project manager with French & Parrello Associates in Camden. He said Route 130 had four fatal pedestrian and bicycle crashes from 2017 to 2020, and “there have been more pedestrian deaths since then.”
“We actually walked the road and looked at the hot spots,” advised Drobny, who worked closely with township officials and engineers, as well as Delran police, to identify the major safety issues.
“We hope to install a 10-foot wide shared-use path on the northbound side, whereby two bicyclists could pass each other or a pedestrian,” he outlined. “The police told us, ‘We want the bikes off the road.'”
The safety project is in the $7.5 million range, and beside the pathway, it would include upgraded existing traffic signals; improved traffic operations at the signalized intersections to accommodate current and future traffic volumes; better pedestrian accommodations, including Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant ramps and crosswalks; and completion of missing segments of sidewalk within project limits.
On the advice of police, Drobny said the plan will attempt to eliminate the weave condition at the Creek Road exit ramp.
“We plan to close off the Creek Road ramp to 130 North and eliminate conflict points,” he added.
“The elected officials and the professional staff in Delran have met with the representatives from NJDOT on numerous occasions to help them to understand what we needed on the local level,” Catrambone observed.
“Independent of that, mayor and council have been working over many years to try to improve the safety of Route 130 by making it a priority to create a contiguous safe walking path in the form of sidewalk from our Cinnaminson border to the Rancocas Creek,” he added.
“Utilizing grants and our own funds, even though this is a state road, we hoped to address as many issues as possible for safe access to the businesses and services available to our residents.”
