Route 92 connector scrapped
Home News Tribune Online 12/2/06
By DAVID STEGON
STAFF WRITER
dstegon@thnt.com
SOUTH BRUNSWICK — Plans to build
Route 92 connecting the New Jersey Turnpike with Route 1 were
officially scrapped yesterday as the Turnpike Authority decided to
focus its efforts on widening the Turnpike between Interchanges 6 and 9.
Turnpike Authority Executive Director Michael Lapolla wrote a letter to
Lisa Jackson, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental
Protection, asking to withdraw the
authority's permits along the proposed 6.7-mile limited access toll
road because they "decided to cancel the Route 92 project."
"Our main focus right now is expanding
the Turnpike between Exits 6 and 9," Lapolla said. "This project has
been on the back burner for several years, and we think we can get more
bang for our buck by using the money to widen the Turnpike."
The proposal called for a limited-access toll road to connect the
Turnpike at Interchange 8A with Route 1. The plan was created during
the early 1990s but has existed in different versions for more than 60
years.
The cost of the project was projected at $350 million in 2000, but
Mayor Frank Gambatese said the cost
has likely risen to between $600 million and $700 million if
construction was started now.
Proponents of the plan said the road would decrease traffic and bring
additional business to Route 1, while others argued the road was
unnecessary and did not directly benefit the residents of the township.
"This is wonderful news,"
Gambatese said. "This is an issue
that has been plaguing the town for more than a decade, and now we can
move forward in our planning without worry that this road will be
built."
Cathy Dowgin, a township resident who has been fighting the proposed
plan, said the road was of little
benefit.
"Almost the entire road was to be in
South Brunswick, but if you live in the township there would be no way
to access it because you could only get on either on Route 1 or at the
Turnpike," she said. "If you
are local, you would use Friendship or Ridge roads, so why would we
want this in our town?"
Plainsboro Mayor Peter Cantu,
however, disagreed, saying the road would be an economic boom to
the community, along with alleviating traffic.
"This is a decision that I think people are going to live to regret,"
Cantu said. "This was a critically important project that would bring
needed business back to the Route 1 corridor, and I believe make that
area a major part of local economics once again.
"So yes, I'm very disappointed that this project was canceled, he said."
David Stegon: (732) 565-7251; dstegon@thnt.com