By Greg Forester, Staff Writer
WEST WINDSOR — State funding for the Vaughn Drive Connector road won’t be available until West Windsor develops a mixed-use redevelopment plan for the west side of the Northeast Corridor train tracks, according to a letter from the New Jersey Department of Transportation.
The letter means that now is the time for the township to begin putting together a comprehensive plan for the 350-acre zone, according to Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh.
”I hope that before the end of this year we will have something we can move forward on,” Mayor Hsueh said.
The roadway is viewed as a means of alleviating traffic congestion in the redevelopment zone. It would allow already heavy traffic in that area to flow between Alexander Road and Route 571.
Motorists could travel between the two major roads without having to use Route 1 or drive through densely-settled areas in Princeton Junction.
The letter — addressed to Mayor Hsueh — seemed to vindicate the mayor’s concerns about the state funding, originally estimated at $19 million, or half the cost of a mile-long roadway. The mayor said developers interested in building the township’s redevelopment zone would pay the other half of the cost.
The mayor said the connector is crucial to any plans for the 350-acre redevelopment zone surrounding the Princeton Junction train station.
However, not all township officials agree with the mayor and the DOT that the connector road and the redevelopment plan are closely tied together.
Township Council President Will Anklowitz said the initial idea for a Vaughn Drive Connector had nothing to do with redevelopment, but rather Penns Neck-area improvements that were first discussed in the township six years ago.
”The reason that road was supposed to be put in there was it was part of the Penns Neck EIS (environmental impact study). It never started with having redevelopment,” said Mr. Anklowitz. “If the state is trying to find some other excuse for their budget actions, that’s up to them.”
Township Council member Charles Morgan said the state letter announcing the state’s need for a plan before providing funding for the Vaughn Drive Connector was a non-event.
”This letter reflects nothing more than the reality of a very difficult state fiscal environment,” said Mr. Morgan. “Inclusion in the state budget is not a condition precedent to our writing a redevelopment plan.”
Mr. Morgan had said previously that the state would eventually fund the roadway regardless of West Windsor’s redevelopment progress, citing its importance to NJ Transit and other regional transportation entities.
However, Mayor Hsueh maintains the letter does lend a serious sense of urgency to redevelopment in West Windsor. He said state officials have informed him that without an appropriate redevelopment plan, no funding would be made available for the Vaughn Drive Connector for another eight years.
”If that’s what we want, we will have to wait until 2016,” Mayor Hsueh said.
In addition to opening the state coffers for the Vaughn Drive Connector, the state letter seemed to indicate that $160 million in improvements for the Route 1 corridor in the Penns Neck area was also partially contingent on the township fashioning an appropriate redevelopment plan.
”It (redevelopment) will move the Penns Neck improvements forward,” said Mayor Hsueh, who noted that the project would be paid for completely by the state.
Mayor Hsueh said the connector road would increase the value of properties in the redevelopment zone and make developers more open to chipping in funding for public amenities, like parking, infrastructure, and beautification of areas, such as Route 571.
