Both parties agree
on need for local
road improvements
BY MELISSA CIFELLI
Staff Writer
With the days to the election winding down, the candidates have proposed plans to alleviate South Brunswick’s traffic woes while maintaining a lean budget for residents.
The Republicans and Democrats are in agreement on the effects of the design of Route 1 and its impact on traffic, which is more evident in South Brunswick than in neighboring towns.
GOP candidate Lynda Woods Cleary is a business owner and 17-year resident of South Brunswick.
Cleary said oftentimes women have to wait longer than men to become involved in politics and that she seeks a way in which she can improve South Brunswick.
“I can devote more time to it,” Cleary said.
The South Brunswick section of Route 1, according to Cleary, with its two lanes has a funnel effect, with cars spending more time in South Brunswick. Additional lanes, Cleary said, need to be added to improve congestion as well as its various jughandles.
Incumbent GOP Councilman Ted Van Hessen said Republicans have been leading the fight in both South Brunswick and Trenton to widen Route 1 and oppose the proposed Monmouth-Ocean-Middlesex rail line and Route 92 project.
Van Hessen, a media executive and 21-year resident of South Brunswick, said Henderson Road needs an additional turning lane at Route 1 to ease the morning commute traffic. According to Van Hessen, the intersection of Major Road and Sand Hills Road causes unconscionable delays and must be made functional.
“Common sense steps like these will make our travel easier and will make all of us safer,” Van Hessen said.
Van Hessen, who was elected to the council in 1993, said he enjoys serving the people of South Brunswick as much as when he was first elected.
“The challenges change from year to year, but the simple fact is that no level of government affects each of us as much as local government,” Van Hessen said.
Republican Roger Craig said South Brunswick’s road master plan needs to be revisited. Craig, a Realtor with Kurkela Realty of Realty Executives of Monmouth Junction, said missing intersections such as North Umberland Way’s crossing with Major Road, the extension of Finnegans Lane to Route 130 and getting an acceptable truck route through town need to be identified in that planning process.
Craig said he has had a fair amount of experience in government and success in finding solutions to problems.
“I try to remember my mistakes and to learn from them as well as my successes,” Craig said.
Craig said ideas such as added lanes, road connections, or more green-light time, need to be implemented to ease traffic.
“I will take a real commitment and effort in planning execution and lobbying to accomplish this,” Craig said.
Democratic candidates recognized the same traffic concerns and its impact on this election.
Candidate Joe Camarota, who also serves on the township’s Zoning Board, said the Democrats are against the construction of Route 92 and stand together in preventing any further movement to complete the project. Camarota, CEO of Amusement, Entertainment and Management, and 14-year resident of South Brunswick, said Route 1 needs to be widened with correction of signals that hamper traffic.
According to Camarota, the connection of Route 522 to Route 535 as well a Route 1 to Route 130 connection will dramatically ease congestion.
The nightmare of Route 27, according to Camarota, needs to be addressed.
The council, Camarota said, should make working with the state Department of Transportation a full-time project to ensure local roads are improved.
“Once a week if [that’s what] it takes,” Camarota said.
Camarota said he is seeking election this year because he can devote his time fully to the council as well as his desire to give back to the community.
South Brunswick, according to Camarota, must be presented as a united community to the DOT, rather than just its sections such as Dayton or Kendall Park.
Democratic candidate Carol Barrett, who is also South Brunswick’s deputy mayor, said the widening of Route 1 is necessary because of the vast development of the town.
“Until we get Route 1 widened, we’re always in a bottleneck,” said Barrett, a union official running for her third term.
According to Barrett, pervious administrations left a rapidly growing town with no thoughts about its infrastructure.
“You can’t keep building, building and building — the cars have to go someplace,” Barrett said.
Barrett said she is seeking re-election because of her desire for public service and its rewards. Barrett said she sees her position on the council as an extension of her union work.
“It feels good to help people,” Barrett said.
Democratic candidate Charles Carley, also a member of the Planning Board, said it was the lure of public service and opportunities to improve the quality of life for South Brunswick residents that drove him to seek election to the council.
“It appeals to me to solve problems,” Carley said.
According to Carley, the council has an obligation to improve the flow of traffic through town, particularly on Routes 522 and 1.
Carley said that while there is no magic wand to fix traffic, the township can work locally and remain proactive in its efforts to improve road conditions.
The budget and town spending has become another critical issue of debate in South Brunswick elections.
Democrats and Republicans differ in their perspectives of the state of the current budget, as well as the fiscal direction South Brunswick is heading.
Craig said it is important to regain control of municipal spending, which has grown from $27 million to $41 million in eight years. In that time, according to Craig, the town has gone through $6 million in surplus and witnessed a stealth tax on some 30 percent of tax payers through assessments.
Cleary said the issues of how the debt has been treated requires attention. The debt, according to Cleary, is taken out of one budget and put in another. Republicans, Cleary said, will provide the town with fiscal responsibility.
According to Van Hessen, residents of South Brunswick have been duped by the political practice of “put it off until after an election year” budgeting.
“Spending has increased at a rate faster than reasonable, and the extraordinary practice of borrowing money to pay current expenses was forced through this year with over $4 million in borrowed funds,” Van Hessen said.
The budget, according to Democrats, has remained low and stable.
Carley said the obligation of the Democratic council is to keep property taxes stable and low for working-class families. The surplus, according to both Carley and Camarota, was tapped into because it was expected to increase by the end of the year.
The surplus, according to Camarota, increased to an estimated $6.5 million.
According to Camarota, the township must stop relying on single-family homes to foot the bill for taxes, especially for the school budget. The slowing down of residential growth and an increase in businesses will help contribute tax ratables and improve the quality of life for residents, he said.