Proposed highway would split community in half
By: Jake Uitti
MONTGOMERY The proposed Hillsborough Bypass would split the Pike Run development in the northern part of the township in two and on Wednesday, residents there met with township officials to get an update on what they’re doing to fight the project.
"This isn’t just a Pike Run issue, it’s a township issue," said David Cheskis, president of the Masters Association at Pike Run.
The section of the proposed Hillsborough Bypass that the township finds objectionable in the current design, Mayor Louise Wilson explained, is the entire piece that is proposed to be inside Montgomery’s borders.
The bypass, if approved as currently designed, would connect with Belle Mead-Griggstown Road near Route 206.
"Townshipwide, the traffic impact would be devastating," the mayor said. "The new highway, being a four-lane highway, would induce far more traffic than it would relieve north of Montgomery. Also, the current plan calls for barricading Pike Run Road and splitting the community in two."
She added, "New Jersey Department of Transportation does not have the right of way that they need to do the project they originally designed, and they are prohibited under the settlement agreement (with Montgomery) from acquiring the additional right of way."
Four members of the Township Committee, along with the township administrator and township engineer and dozens of residents, were present Wednesday in the meeting at the Pike Run clubhouse.
Township Committeeman John Warms said if the bypass plan, as proposed, is approved, neighborhood streets in the township like Sunset Road and Harlingen Road will become major thoroughfares.
Mayor Wilson, who provided background on the bypass proposal and fielded questions, along with the other township officials, said the township has hired a special attorney, Mike Gerrard of the firm Arnold & Porter, who has considerable experience dealing with road projects.
Mayor Wilson explained the township has proposed an alternative to the "behemoth" Hillsborough Bypass which, as proposed, would cost $178 million for its 4-mile length. The alternative, she said, would not go through wetlands, would be less expensive, would allow for better traffic circulation and would not split Pike Run in two.
"There might be other good alternatives, too, that would work just as well for Hillsborough," she added.
Mayor Wilson said the DOT has taken actions recently to try to acquire additional rights of way for the project. Because of this, she said, the township has sent a letter from its attorney to the DOT asserting that acquiring additional rights of way is prohibited under the 1992 settlement agreement between the DOT and the township an agreement signed by DOT officials, Committeeman Warms and former Transportation Advisory Committee Chairman Bob Kress.
"We brought that to their attention, and we’ve asked them to suspend that activity," she said. "Thus far, they have declined."
She added, "It may still be that we can avoid mediation if certain things fall into place, but right now we are invoking that right." The township, she said, has not received a reply from DOT.

