Commuter plan was on back burner at time of purchase

I would like to say that I do not have the "not in my backyard" disease. Before purchasing our home we did do research and found out that the rail was owned by Conrail, which only runs a freight train once a week, and that the issue of this becoming a commuter rail has been on a back burner for over 20 years.

The builder told the town that they would notify the potential home buyer that there can be a possibility in the future of a commuter rail. The builder never did advise any of the home buyers on paper nor verbally.

In response to the fuels of automobiles, now it will only get worse since people will be driving their cars closer to towns that have a stop for the commuter rail, causing more congestion and fumes than there already are.

If more buses are not the answer, maybe a monorail running along Route 9 is. This would be safer for the environment and would be able to get the commuters closer to New York.

I think people are all forgetting one thing — there is only so much funding for projects such as this, so who will be paying for the rest — we the taxpayers with another increase in our taxes.

As for the safety of our children, danger doesn’t begin at home, safety does, but once they leave our home and are in transit to and from school whether they must walk across these tracks as in Jamesburg or be bused across these tracks, that’s where danger and safety play their part.

As for Dorothy S. Peterson of Manal-apan, I may have bought my home 55 feet from a track but I knew there was no danger being caused to my family. You had to know that Route 9 is or would become a major route for travelers and automobile emissions; were you "misinformed" or did you do your research?

Remember, our children are the future of the world, and we must all keep them educated and safe.

Joann Damante

Englishtown