WIDE BIRTH: MAPPING OUT THE TURNPIKE EXPANSION

Amid concerns, turnpike plan brings options and optimism

By: Dick Brinster
   Area residents and motorists can expect to see further proof of the longtime evolution of the New Jersey Turnpike next year with the beginning of a massive widening project.
   In addition to the possible creation of local jobs as a result of the Turnpike Authority’s $2 billion project, as many as seven structures in East Windsor could be displaced by the construction in the area of Interchange 8.
   But the overall expected impact for motorists and area businesses is smoother sailing, which has area leaders and businesspeople anxious for completion of the project, which is expected in 2013.
   "This project will significantly benefit the East Windsor-Hightstown area for many years to come," said Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck, R-12th.
   The authority has three options for the restructuring the interchange. The mayors of East Windsor and Hightstown, along with some state lawmakers and a leader in the Twin Rivers section of the township, share a favorite — No. 3.
   That option — with its several loops, ramps and two additional overpasses — probably is the most costly among those being eyed to widen a 30-mile stretch of the 55-year-old roadway.
   "It’s much friendlier for us," East Windsor Mayor Janice Mironov said.
   In December, she made public a letter to Turnpike Authority Executive Director Michael Lapolla, state Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri, area legislators and municipal officials objecting to option 1 — a plan which would force some heavy trucks to use a municipal street in the Twin Rivers development.
   Since then, she said, "Michael Lapolla called and wanted to assure me that they recognized the legitimacy and serious nature of the issue the township has raised and they would be working hard to arrive at a plan that would satisfy and resolve all of our concerns."
   Hightstown Mayor Bob Patten also is thinking about the big rigs.
   "Although I do favor No. 3, I think there are no negatives looking at any one of them from our perspective," he said. "I’m just opposed to anything that would have trucks coming into Hightstown off the exit."
   Both mayors will be able to further state their cases when the Turnpike Authority conducts four public hearings in the spring on expansion of the roadway to 12 lanes between Interchanges 9 and 6. The road is now 10 lanes wide between 9 in East Brunswick to 8A in Monroe and six lanes wide from that point, 20 miles north of Interchange 6 in Florence.
   Stephen Buente, the authority’s supervising engineer/planner, has heard complaints about option 1, and emphasizes that no decisions have been made. Mayor Mironov called option 1 "an unmitigated disaster," in large part because of the truck issue in Twin Rivers, home to 10,000 of the township’s 25,000 people.
   "The Turnpike Authority is still in the process of analyzing each of the three options to determine how well each will function and what each would cost," said Mr. Buente, who pointed out that building overpasses – and there are four in option 3 — is a "costly alternative" to traffic signals. "It is always desirable to find the solution that is the least disruptive to the environment while at the same time being the least costly yet meets the project purpose and need," he said.
   All three options call for a direct connection with Route 133 and reconstruction of the existing toll plaza from the west to east side of the roadway. Which option is chosen will be determined after the hearings, two of which will be held in Mercer County. No dates have been set.
   Twin Rivers’ specific concern are vehicles, including heavy trucks from a nearby warehouse area, being rerouted onto Lake Drive under option 1 when the north end of Milford Road is closed, which is necessary under any scenario.
   "It’s just not acceptable," said Scott Pohl, president of the Twin Rivers board of directors.
   But Mr. Pohl said people should be patient considering that the Turnpike Authority is just in the planning stages of a project that won’t be started until the end of next year.
   Mr. Pohl, who says, "No. 3 works for me," and the mayors have political allies in Trenton who agree.
   State Sen. Ellen Karcher, D-12th, co-chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, said she met Feb. 20 with the DOT and emphasized the need to strongly consider the local impact of turnpike access.
   "The people who are serving locally know their towns best," she said.
   Sen. Karcher also likes option 3, she says, because it creates a free flow of traffic throughout the area.
   Assemblywoman Beck, a member of the Assembly Transportation and Public Works Committee, said she too has written to Mr. Lapolla and Mr. Kolluri in opposition to the funneling of traffic through Twin Rivers. She also opposes option 2 for fear of rush-hour congestion at Woodside Avenue because the traffic signal there would be close to a relocated Milford Road.
   "I am in agreement that the third option appears to be the best, but demands further review," Assemblywoman Beck said.
Commuter mess getting worse
   Whatever the plan, one thing is a virtual certainty. Until the widening project is complete, motorists will continue to jump off the turnpike in an attempt to avoid choking backups — especially during the rush hours — and cut through East Windsor and Hightstown.
   And it figures to get worse before the project is brought to fruition. According to studies published in the turnpike’s annual report for 2005, traffic between interchanges 6 and 8A will increase by 68 percent — from 247 million vehicles in 2003 to an estimated 405 million by 2021.
   "There exists right now a capacity problem," Ms. Mironov said. "The area north of us has an hourglass-type effect.
   "This is a needed catch-up to make this area compatible with the turnpike configuration north of East Windsor."
   The Turnpike Authority says that in 2005 nearly 248 million vehicles used the road the New Jersey Historical Society claims is the most heavily traveled toll highway in the nation. Those vehicles racked up 5.8 billion miles in 2005.
   Route 130, the four-lane highway that parallels the southern portion of the turnpike for nearly 85 miles, is overcrowded through East Windsor, especially with traffic exiting in the afternoon six miles to the north at Interchange 8A. This is particularly upsetting to the Township Council.
   "We are not a dumping ground for thoroughfare traffic," Mayor Mironov said, another point on which she and Mayor Patten agree.
   "This is not good for us and the surrounding towns," he said. "Cars and trucks are using Route 130 and Route 33 as a bypass, and that isn’t doing anybody any good. It will be a relief when they can stay on the turnpike."
   The dumping-ground effect might ease a bit should the Turnpike Authority erect signs to advise motorists in advance of traffic problems below the area where the roadway narrows from 10 lanes to six, just south of 8A, East Windsor commuter Vinnie Citarella said. Ms. Mironov said that issue has been brought to the attention of the authority, which she says is considering just that.
   Southbound drivers who make it beyond 8A frequently experience a tie-up and bail out at 8. From there, it’s a trip of a little more than two miles through Hightstown on Route 33 between the turnpike exit ramp and Route 130. It’s about five miles via Route 133 to reach the same spot on Route 130 in East Windsor.
   So, Hightstown, where 5,000 people live in an area of about one square mile, is a popular option, especially for southbound traffic. But its narrow streets are hardly hospitable to heavy traffic, particularly large trucks.
   Few realize that more than Mike Vanderbeck, chairman of the Hightstown Economic Development Commission and an eyewitness to unwanted traffic — particularly large trucks — that pass his Slowdown Café. Mr. Vanderbeck’s business is at the intersection of Rogers Avenue and Main and Mercer streets, the latter two both designated as Route 33.
   "It’s still registered as a truck route on the national transportation system and they take it," he said. "When they get into town, I’m sure a number of them wish they hadn’t gone that way."
   The town’s narrow, two-lane streets are in some cases more than drivers of huge rigs had bargained for.
   "Some of them come into town and make U-turns in the Sun National Bank parking lot on Mercer Street," said EDC member Jeff Bond, who is developing a parcel across the street.
   Branch manager and Hightstown resident Eva Teller has seen far too much of that.
   "They try to use the drive-through lane, they jump the islands and damage our trees and disturb the mulch," she said. "It’s really been bad."
Wide-ranging results
   The turnpike widening project could create jobs in the area, according to Brian Tobin, executive director of Edison-based Associated General Contractors of New Jersey, which has 70 heavy and highway contractors as members.
   "This project is above and beyond the normal scope of the New Jersey Turnpike’s average capital program," he said.
   But he added that it’s too early to predict how many workers would be added to the normal number used by a given company.
   "It all depends on how the turnpike stages the construction," he said.
   Mr. Buente said he could not at this point estimate the project’s effect on jobs.
   But Assemblywoman Beck sees residual benefits in the market.
   "As construction begins, some local businesses may benefit from serving the construction trades, in particular food-service venues," she said. "It is possible the improved transportation infrastructure may facilitate job growth and improve opportunities for businesses in Hightstown."
   Another consideration in the project is the displacement of structures in East Windsor.
   "The full extent of impacts to residences and businesses will not be known until the design is completed," Mr. Buente said. "At this point in time there is one home that will be impacted where we have already begun the acquisition process because of the fact that the homeowner passed away and the heirs contacted the authority.
   "In addition, there are two other residences and four businesses in East Windsor that are anticipated to be displaced as a result of the project."
   He declined to identify the businesses.
   East Windsor Regional Schools Superintendent Ron Bolandi welcomes the widening as a definite improvement for the future. He said turnpike difficulties can make transportation of students a major problem, and notes that his biggest headache is the residual traffic that builds on Route 33 if there’s an accident on the toll road near Interchange 8.
   "Everybody winds up getting off at 8 and they gridlock Hightstown," he said. "When that happens, we can’t get our buses from Twin Rivers to Hightstown High School."
   Although personal care and small appliance products manufacturer Conair, located on Milford Road, figures to benefit greatly from time saved in transit of products, Senior Vice President John Mayorek wants as little disruption as possible.
   "I do notice a substantial backlog in traffic both northbound and southbound on the New Jersey Turnpike," said Mr. Mayorek, whose company ships a half-million parcels a month. "I think the widening of the road should be done very prudently so as not to cause problems for local businesses and the municipalities."
   Sen. Karcher gets a bit of a chuckle out of the one aspect of the project — 10 times as expensive to build as the entire roadway nearly six decades ago — the length of time it will take to complete.
   "Originally, creation of the road took only 23 months," she said. "Now, the widening will take seven, eight or 10 years."