New Jersey Department of Transportation demolishes 1 of last remaining homes from Route 18 expansion

Last month, the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) ordered the demolition of a house on the outskirts of Busch campus in Piscataway.

The house, located at 16 Davidson Road, was one of at least 12 residential single-family homes purchased by the state of New Jersey in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

These homes were bought in order for the state government to expand Route 18 from River Road in Piscataway to its current terminus on Hoes Lane.

As The Daily Targum reported in 2000, state law required the NJDOT to "have the property appraised, provide fair market value and pay for the owners' moving expenses."

In 2002, Sarah Greenblatt of the Home News Tribune reported that the highway expansion had received approval from the Rutgers Board of Governors. The Board agreed to give up several acres of University land to the NJDOT for the project.

The 16 Davidson Road home was along the main road that connected Livingston campus to Busch campus up until the expansion of Route 18.

Steve Schapiro, a spokesperson for NJDOT, said the home was not demolished at the time of the Route 18 expansion as it was used by the department as a "material testing lab."

"NJDOT is no longer using the property, so the structure is being demolished. Once the demolition is complete, the property will be transferred to Rutgers University," he said.

Megan Schumann, a University spokesperson, said in a statement to the Targum that the home was uninhabitable after the Route 18 expansion because the mechanisms connecting the house to the local sewer system were destroyed during construction.

She confirmed that Rutgers and NJDOT are in communication regarding the property's new ownership and future use.

"Upon the University's acquisition of the property, it will likely remain an open space buffering the campus from highway noise and traffic," she said in a statement to the Targum.

Additionally, Schumann said the University aims to tear down a property located at 33 Davidson Road, across the street from the now-demolished 16 Davidson Road home.

At one point, the property housed various University departments, such as the Office of Risk Management, but it currently remains empty.

"The single-story wood frame structure is currently vacant and obsolete and is expected to be demolished by the University," Schumann said.