To the editor:
Last week state Sen. Peter Inverso and Assemblyman Bill Baroni held a press conference in South Brunswick to announce that they have proposed legislation to eliminate state approvals that would allow the N.J. Turnpike Authority to spend over $400 million to build a 6.7 mile piece of toll road across wet lands and open space in South Brunswick and a corner of Plainsboro Preserve.
These legislators listened to the cries of their constituents, and have responded. This proposed road would have a huge negative effect on the quality of life in Central Jersey.
How could a 6.7-mile stretch of road make such a difference? It would bring increased traffic through a rural, environmentally sensitive area, the largest remaining parcel of open space in Middlesex County. Water quality, both surface and drinking water, would be reduced with significant negative impacts on the watershed area. Wildlife would be threatened by significant habitat disturbance, and possible species lost.
According to the N.J. Turnpike Authority’s projections, this road will generate more than 10,000 car trips and 1,200 truck trips onto over-taxed, accident-prone Route 1. This would affect the health and safety of every traveler in the area through increased air pollution and traffic congestion. Historic villages, like Kingston and Rocky Hill, would be threatened by increased traffic and congestion on roads not geared for the fast pace Route 92 would promulgate.
The beneficiaries of this roadway would be Princeton University and Forrestal Center. The losers would be all the rest of us, financially, environmentally and socially. The $400 million should be used to improve existing roadways, not create another, which would add nearly 12,000 cars a day. The farmland should be preserved as farm preservation, not lined up for potential development. Wetlands are vital to the availability of clean water, as well as being the home of wildlife.
Join us in this effort to maintain our current quality of l. Write and call your legislators in support of this proposed legislation Senate bill 854 and Assembly bill 1957.
Nancy Carringer
Monmouth Junction
