HARRISON TWP. The typical traffic jam along Route 322 wasn't there Monday afternoon as Gloucester County officials announced the start of the next phase of their proposed road widening project.

Cars moved slowly along the two-lane highway, but were not at their usual standstill.

We wanted to be here today to show how successful phase one has been," said Freeholder Director Stephen Sweeney. "People would spend time trying to avoid this area. ... This was one of the worst areas in Gloucester County for traffic congestion."

The second phase will consist of widening Route 322 to a five-lane roadway Ð two lanes in each direction and a center turn lane Ð between the Lambs and Barnsboro road intersections.

The two traffic signals will also be improved with left-hand turn arrows on the county road.

This part of the project will cost $2.9 million and should be completed within a year, said Sweeney.

Sweeney and others stood on the site of a former home, which has been torn down to make way for these improvements. Several other homes along Route 322 have been purchased by the county and will be razed in the coming weeks.

"This is a large investment the county is making in our infrastructure," said Deputy Freeholder Director Robert Damminger, liaison to the county Department of Public Works.

An estimated 27,000 motorists utilize this roadway each day.

County officials have calculated that the longest delay between the intersections of Lambs and Barnsboro roads will not exceed 22 seconds, with traffic clearing in one cycle of the traffic light, once this work is completed.

The county finished the first phase of the multi-million dollar project a month ago, which included installing a jughandle and connector road.

More work is scheduled for Route 322 in the Mullica Hill section of Harrison. Plans are to build a bypass that will keep traffic moving faster. Construction on that phase of the project should begin in 2010.

The state has agreed to fund the $15 million bypass.

Not only will this project create construction jobs, but there will be additional economic successes as a result, officials said.

"There are a lot of economic development plans for this area that could not happen without these improvements," said Sweeney.