Don’t bring back the Millstone Bypass

Jim Waltman of Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Assoc.
    The Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association has been protecting clean water and the environment in central New Jersey for six decades. In West Windsor, home to one of our namesake waterways and a drinking water source to thousands — the Millstone River — municipal officials will soon be putting the final touches on a landmark plan designed to rejuvenate the Princeton Junction train station area.
   The Watershed Association is pleased that the redevelopment plan for the train station area includes specific goals, which can potentially accomplish significant environmental improvements and protections for West Windsor, such as:
   • Protecting the Millstone River, Little Bear Brook, and the sensitive habitats along their banks.
   • Preserving the 116-acre mature woodland area between the Millstone River, Little Bear Brook, Route 571, and Northeast Corridor rail line known locally as the Sarnoff Woods.
   • Advocating for “green” building design and concentrated development in a dense core to reduce what is today a sea of asphalt parking, improving stormwater management, reducing flooding and increasing the potential for groundwater recharge to one of New Jersey’s highest-yielding aquifers.
   However, as the West Windsor Township Council prepares to cast the final votes of approval for the redevelopment plan on March 23, there is one glaring problem. The plan’s conceptual maps show a road starting at Route 571 near the terminus of the new Vaughn Drive and curving northwest through the to-be-preserved Sarnoff Woods. This road appears to stop at the boundary of the redevelopment area, but is clearly intended to resurrect one of the most contentious proposed roadways in West Windsor history — the Penns Neck Bypass.
   The bypass — also known as the Millstone Bypass or East Side Connector — was discussed as part of a sequence of road improvements sought to improve traffic flow on Route 1. The Penns Neck Bypass was ultimately omitted from the final 2004 Department of Transportation (DOT) Penns Neck Area Plan due to the unacceptable environmental damage it would cause to the Millstone River, Little Bear Brook, and associated wetlands, woodlands and wildlife.
   The Watershed Association supported this final plan, but now — despite assurances from several area mayors — we are concerned that the Penns Neck Bypass, so roundly rejected in 2004, is once again on the table.
   Using the redevelopment plan to bring the bypass back to life negates the preservation of the Sarnoff Woods and weakens protection for one of West Windsor’s best natural assets, the Millstone River. New roads built over or adjacent to the Millstone River and its tributaries not only threaten one of the region’s largest drinking water sources with pollution, but also destroy surrounding wetlands and exacerbate flooding for nearby homes and businesses.
   Before voting to approve the redevelopment plan on March 23, the Township Council and Administration should delete what appears to be an effort to revive the Penns Neck Bypass. Don’t let the bypass derail what could be a benefit for the township, residents and the environment.
Jim Waltman
Executive Director
Stony Brook-Millstone
Watershed Association