Resolutions seek removal of Route 206, 27 from state plan allowing large trucks
By: Courtney Gross
Both the Princeton Township Committee and the Princeton Borough Council are gearing up for battle against double-trailer and 102-inch wide trucks barreling down Route 206 and Nassau Street.
Following the creation of a special task force last month led by Township Committeeman Chad Goerner, the Township Committee passed a resolution Monday that strongly urges the state Department of Transportation to remove the two Princeton corridors from a proposed statewide trucking network.
The Borough Council will review a similar resolution at its meeting tonight.
The result of a federal court ruling that found the state’s former trucking regulations violated the U.S. Constitution by inhibiting interstate commerce, the state’s transportation department drafted new guidelines currently open for public comment on the New Jersey Register.
The proposal designates certain roadways within a national network, mostly New Jersey’s major highways, and others within a local network for the big rigs. The local roads may be used when trucks are en route to delivery or pick up locations.
Although certain county or state corridors like Route 31 were exempted from the statewide network, both Route 206 and Route 27, which becomes Nassau Street in downtown Princeton, were not.
Now Princeton’s governing bodies are hoping the state department might change its mind.
Through the support of a citizens’ group, Citizens for A Safer Route 206, and Princeton’s governing bodies, a task force has organized several efforts that could eventually prohibit the gargantuan vehicles on Princeton’s major thoroughfares, Mr. Goerner said.
Among these actions is a joint letter written by Princeton Borough Mayor Mildred Trotman and Princeton Township Mayor Phyllis Marchand that was forwarded to DOT Commissioner Kris Kolluri arguing for the exemption of Route 206 and Route 27 in the proposed trucking channels.
"Obviously, as far as the task force is concerned, it’s really a collaborative effort with citizens and the township and borough governing bodies," Mr. Goerner said.
In the letter, dated Thursday, the mayors state the inclusion of Route 206 and Route 27 in the local network, known as the New Jersey Access Network, jeopardizes the safety of Princeton residents and the historic character of the area.
Noting inconsistencies with the Route 206 Joint Vision Plan and Traffic Calming Study a report funded by the DOT and endorsed by the Township Committee, the Borough Council and the Regional Planning Board of Princeton last year the letter argues the possible increase in trucks on Princeton’s roadways is in direct conflict to the study’s recommendations.
"Accomplished by an exhaustive community effort, the plan, which is already moving to address safety problems at particularly dangerous intersections, will be effectively pushed aside if Route 206 is added to the New Jersey Access Network. … ," the letter states of the Route 206 study.
The community input attached to that study, Mr. Goerner said, should make Princeton’s argument particularly convincing to the DOT.
But the borough and township efforts over the past several years to decrease the number of trucks on its roadways, Mr. Goerner noted, has "seemingly gone unnoticed at the Department of Transportation."
The resolution approved Monday by the committee and ready for review by the Borough Council reflects many of the same goals and objectives to prevent dangerous truck traffic in Princeton.
Because of Princeton’s proximity to major highways including Interstate 295 and 95 as well as Route 1, trucks can use Princeton’s roadways as "free cut-throughs" that keep Route 206 and Route 27 clogged, the resolution states. Also, it continues, trucks attempting to navigate the narrow roadways that can often be riddled with students and shoppers create pedestrian safety hazards.
Mr. Goerner, who could not attend Monday’s meeting because of a work-related conference, said the task force is currently creating a comprehensive report to be submitted to the DOT in February that will outline all of the borough’s and township’s reasons for the roadways’ exclusion from the trucking network.
Also, the committeeman added, the group would be forwarding the resolution to neighboring municipalities, such as Lawrence and Montgomery, to rally support and create a regional cohesive effort.