By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Six opponents of Princeton University’s arts and transit project decided to sue in state court to overturn the approval the Princeton Planning Board granted the university in December.
Bruce I. Afran, their lawyer, said Monday the suit was due to be filed Tuesday. The plaintiffs, all but one a Princeton resident, include the journalist Christopher Hedges and other objectors to the $300 million project.
Richard S. Goldman, the attorney for the university, said Monday that he had nothing to say on the matter until he saw the lawsuit, although he felt the litigation was “not unexpected.”
The university project has its share of detractors, many opposed to relocating the terminus of New Jersey Transit’s Dinky line some 460 feet south. The matter has gone to court, with some of the same cast of plaintiffs seeking to overturn the zoning changes that the Borough Council and the Township Committee granted for the project as well to keep the terminus from being moved.
Mr. Afran is the lawyer in those lawsuits, as well this most recent one.
Mr. Afran raised issue that there was no safety study done for the transit plaza. He said the Planning Board allowed the university to go ahead with the project, allowing the university to submit such a study until one year after the project goes into operation.
Cars from the university’s lot seven garage will entering and existing through the new transit plaza to the tune of 1,500 cars daily, he said. He called that an “enormous safety hazard” for commuters walking in that area.
”They’re literally going to drive through the plaza where pedestrians have to cross to get into the new train station.”
President Shirley M. Tilghman has said the town and the university would benefit from “an expanded and more visible public presence of the creative arts.”

