Official examines options in Turnpike expansion

Bill Morelli, Bordentown Township Committeeman
A year ago, as Bordentown Township liaison to the Turnpike (NJTA), I wrote in this space urging community involvement to petition the Turnpike (Authority) to reconsider its decision to widen through our township. I write now to update our residents on where we are. I emphasize that I write my own analysis and am not speaking for the Township Committee. It is, however, informed by twelve months of attending public NJTA meetings in Hightstown, Robbinsville, Bordentown and Mount Holly, and by discussions with the NJTA engineers and legal counsel.
    After that article, there was a flurry of activity: a rally in Williamsburg Village; a petition drive fueled by a letter mailed to every household in the affected areas; and op-ed pieces like this in various newspapers. Williamsburg Village and Clifton Mill, the two communities directly impacted, were vocal in their opposition, and rightly so. Sad to say, there has been no groundswell of support in the greater community. The rally was attended by public officials and members of the affected communities, about 60 people in all; and the letters, which went to about 12,000 residents of the city and township, produced less than 400 signatures. Originally it was hoped that we would be able to stop the widening. It has become painfully clear that the NJTA widening will go through no matter what fight we put up.
    It is now time to face reality, not illusion (or delusion) and make the best deal with the NJTA for Bordentown Township as a whole.
    The NJTA is taking 5+ acres of open space valued at about $90,000. It is obligated to compensate the township for this taking, or diversion. The NJTA criterion for a noise wall is a decibel level greater than 66. The Transco gas pipeline, which (Township Committeman Mark) Roselli fought unsuccessfully, has to be relocated. The NJTA must reforest 18 acres of trees in compensation for what they will be removing throughout the township. The cost will be about $1,300,000.
    The NJTA’s choices are: Option One—let the state act as applicant for this project. The township could get as little as $90,000 which we would have to use to buy compensatory open space by taking tax-paying property off the tax rolls. The $1,300,000 for trees would go to the State Forestry Division, which then will or will not plant trees in Bordentown on an unknown schedule. Holloway Meadows and Williamsburg Village will get sound walls because they qualify. Clifton Mill will not because it does not qualify.
    Option Two was presented at a raucous committee meeting on Aug. 25. It proposed to build a sound wall for Holloway Meadows; extend the sound wall for Williamsburg Village; give us 17 acres at the site of the old Dix drive-in to compensate for the 5+ acres being taken; drill directionally 40 feet under ground from a point in Williamsburg Village 2,500 feet to the exit ramp to rebury the gas pipe; and, plant 18 acres of trees between the NJTA and Clifton Mill to help mitigate any traffic noise. Let’s look at these one at a time.
    The sound walls are required by the NJTA’s own criteria. The directional drilling is not. It is an accommodation by the NJTA to impact Williamsburg Village as little as possible. It will, in fact, be $1 million more expensive to do, but it is the right thing to do. The 17 acres would provide space for Little League, Pop Warner, and/or soccer fields. In his first campaign in 2000, Mr. Roselli promised to acquire this property for these very purposes. How fitting that the 2008 NJ Little League champions could have an even better facility. The 18 acres of reforestation will be planted next spring as a combination of fast growth and normal growth fir and deciduous trees. By the time the widening gets underway in 2013, the growth will be well under way. If Mr. Roselli and (Township Committeeman Rob) Delaney have their way, the township will lose all this. We will get the minimum of Option One.
    Now is the time to let your elected officials know how you feel, because time is of the essence. The NJTA has a schedule. One way or the other, they will begin construction in the spring, and to do that they need EPA permits and approvals by then. They have three or four more weeks to begin the process. Once the NJTA decides to let the state become the applicant, we will have no say at all. We await word on a final meeting with NJTA officials. The NJTA wrote offering dates to meet. The Township Committee never responded. Instead, there was a vote to spend almost $9,000 of taxpayer money for a sound study for the benefit of Clifton Mill, done by a firm with ties to the Turnpike, and whose findings will undoubtedly be challenged in any court case. (I was not at that meeting to vote no.) My expectation is that with no response, the NJTA will go ahead with Option One above. If we do not act quickly, we will lose out, just as we did with Transco. Before it is too late, make yourself heard. We are all in the phonebook.
    If I am wrong, and Mr. Roselli and Mr. Delaney do succeed in stopping the widening and/or obtaining a sound wall for Clifton Mill, I expect to be held accountable when I run for re-election in 2010. On the other hand, if Mr. Roselli and Mr. Delaney cost us the benefits outlined above by their belief in the impossible, then I expect that they will likewise be held accountable at the polls—Mr. Delaney this year, and Mr. Roselli next year.
    William J. Morelli is a second term committeeman in Bordentown Township and was previously liaison to the Turnpike Authority.