In a political high-wire act, Gov. Chris Christie will try on Tuesday to refocus attention from a controversy over a vindictive traffic jam to the day-to-day work of governing, by outlining plans to extend the school day, lower taxes for homeowners and reduce urban crime.

Mr. Christie’s State of the State address, with all its pomp and formality, offers him a welcome if awkwardly timed opportunity to present himself as a policy-purveying statesman, without having to answer questions. It will be a far cry from his last turn at the podium, when he appeared before voters as an angry, humiliated and, in his words, “heartbroken” man who accepted responsibility for his staff’s role in closing traffic lanes to the George Washington Bridge.

In the speech, Mr. Christie will call for a renewed spirit of bipartisanship and cooperation throughout the state, an optimistic message with obvious appeal to a national audience that could sound jarring to many Democrats closer to home, given the wave of revelations that the governor’s office had sought to punish local officials who failed to support him.

Aides said that Mr. Christie would acknowledge the scandal over the gridlock in Fort Lee, N.J., but would argue that it should not overshadow a four-year record of working well with officials from both parties.