Montgomery wants new assessment of bypass

Much has changed since original environmental study of Route 206 bypass was completed, officials say.

By: Kara Fitzpatrick
   MONTGOMERY — The Township Committee has called on the Federal Highway Administration to require a new environmental assessment of the Route 206 bypass through portions of Hillsborough and Montgomery — known informally as the Hillsborough Bypass — a move that could change the scope of the controversial project.
   A 15-page letter dated Jan. 13 and written by a law firm representing the township, Arnold & Porter LLP, concludes that alterations to both the project and the area affected have left the original environmental review, which was completed in 1988, outdated.
   The bypass, a state Department of Transportation project, is a proposed four-lane highway that would extend into Montgomery from the north, bisecting the Pike Run development and ending at the intersection of Route 206 and Belle Mead-Griggstown Road.
   "FHWA should require that the … NJDOT undertake an Environmental Assessment of the project so that FHWA may determine whether a full Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement is required," said the letter.
   The completion of a new Environmental Impact Statement could delay the project significantly, said DOT spokesman Mark LaVorgna.
   Changes to the project since the 1988 review, the letter states, include an additional road, changing a four-lane highway in some sections to two lanes, and shifting of the road’s location in some sections.
   And, the letter states, there have been significant alterations to the environment surrounding the project — including an increase in township traffic and residences adjacent to the road.
   "When the bypass was designed, there were fewer than 200 homes between (Route) 206 and River Road; now there are more than 2,000," said Township Committeeman John Warms.
   "There is far, far more traffic volume," said Mayor Louise Wilson, adding that traffic data from 20 years ago are obsolete.
   "Moving ahead as if nothing has changed on the ground is not good public policy," said Mayor Wilson.
   Mr. LaVorgna, the DOT spokesman, said, "Until we’re told that EIS is no longer valid, we will proceed" with the current design of the road.
   "This is the alignment that the department has chosen to utilize and we believe this is the only way to built it," said Mr. LaVorgna, adding that, ultimately, the decision is up to the FHWA and the DOT will "await word."
   Because the road will bisect the Pike Run development in a way that places 310 units of affordable housing on one side and market-rate units on the other, serious issues of environmental justice are raised, "since it disproportionately affects lower-income residents," the letter said.
   Environmental factors such as air quality and wetland impact were also raised.
   "None of these changes or new information have been thoroughly assessed to determine the project’s environmental impacts in light of these issues that were not addressed in the initial environmental review," the letter said. "It is incumbent upon the Federal Highway Administration to demand that a new hard look be taken at the project in its present design and present circumstances."
   Mayor Wilson, who has repeatedly denounced the project, said its design is "fundamentally flawed."
   She continued, "The most devastating impacts of the bypass would be avoided if the end-point of the road were shifted north a bit."
   The current bypass alignment is a result of a 1992 settlement between the township and the state Department of Transportation. Under the terms of that settlement, the DOT agreed to withhold its original plan to widen Route 206 to a four-lane road in Montgomery in exchange for the construction of the bypass.