Articles about the Bypass

Penns Neck plan could displace some Rt. 1 businesses Princeton Packet, February 10, 2004

Bald eagle nest spotted near Lake Carnegie Princeton Packet, February 10, 2004

Public interest served by process Letter in Princeton Packet, February 10, 2004

TRENTON -- One day after its commissioner revealed that a planned overhaul for a stretch of Route 1 will have an estimated $400 million price tag, the state Department of Transportation clarified that the figure would pay for much more than improvements included as part of the proposed Penns Neck Area Bypass in West Windsor.

In fact, the majority of that estimated cost -- about $270 million -- would pay for improving traffic flow along an 8.5-mile portion of Route 1 in South Brunswick, DOT spokeswoman Erin Phallon said yesterday.

The work the DOT is considering for the South Brunswick segment might include widening the four-lane section of the highway to six lanes and creating grade-separated interchanges to replace five intersections, Phallon said.

The DOT's estimated cost for Route 1 alterations in the northern West Windsor area is $130 million, she said.

The $130 million includes about $55 million to realign Harrison Street slightly to the south of its current Route 1 intersection, which would end in a cul-de-sac, and to build an overpass interchange for Harrison across Route 1.

She said the rest of the estimated $130 million needed for the West Windsor-area portion of the Route 1 work would pay for dropping the main highway below grade so it passes under Washington Road and building two frontage roads for local traffic -- changes that would eliminate traffic lights and intersections for Route 1's through-lanes at Washington Road and Fisher Place. Also included in the $130 million figure is almost $14 million for replacement of the Route 1 bridge across the Millstone River in southern Plainsboro.

The portion of the Route 1 improvements outside South Brunswick have been the major elements of the long-discussed Penns Neck Area Bypass, along with a plan to extend Vaughn Drive north from its terminus at the Princeton Junction train station to Washington Road, also known as Route 571.

Phallon said the Vaughn Drive component of the project is estimated to cost $30 million, although that figure is in addition to the $130 million estimated for the Penns Neck Area work on and across Route 1.

All the estimates include total cost projections, not just construction, Phallon said.
On Monday, DOT Commissioner Kris Kolluri had said the cost for suppressing Route 1 is estimated at about $400 million. He also said the estimated price to build a Harrison Street overpass is $100 million "at the very least."

But Phallon said yesterday that the $400 million figure includes the potential South Brunswick work and that the price for the overpass at Harrison Street includes the related Route 1 work planned for the Washington Road-Harrison Street area.

Contingent on federal funding, construction could start on the Millstone River bridge in Plainsboro as early as 2009, along Route 1 in northern West Windsor as early as 2010, and for Vaughn Drive as early as 2011, Phallon said.

The South Brunswick component is still being planned and at least five years from the start of construction, she said.

In a meeting held Monday afternoon, New Jersey Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri made it clear that paving the way to an improved Harrison Street-Route 1 intersection prior to the proposed relocation of Princeton HealthCare System to Plainsboro may not be as easy as many had hoped it might be.

Arranged by Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton Borough) in response to concerns raised by Princeton Borough Mayor Mildred Trotman and Princeton Township Mayor Phyllis Marchand, Monday's meeting brought together a number of Princeton, West Windsor and Plainsboro officials to express their concerns about the traffic implications of the hospital's proposed move.

PHCS officials are "optimistic" they will receive their certificate of need from the state and finalize zoning changes in Princeton and Plainsboro in order to break ground at the proposed Plainsboro location in 2007, PHCS Vice President for Government and Community Affairs Pam Hersh told meeting attendees.

On that "aggressive time scale," the new hospital — proposed for the FMC Corp. site at Route 1 and Plainsboro Road — would be "up and running" by mid-2010, she said.

While 70 percent of the hospital's patients hail from east of Route 1, Ms. Hersh shared the concern expressed by Mayors Trotman and Marchand over access to the hospital for patients traveling from the Princeton area, particularly with regard to the Harrison Street intersection with Route 1.

Citing recent talks with DOT officials regarding imminent repairs of the Route 1 Millstone River bridge, Ms. Hersh raised the possibility of improving the Harrison Street intersection with the addition of a left-turn lane at the same time as the scheduled bridge work.

Mayor Trotman and West Windsor Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh echoed Ms. Hersh's sentiments, stressing the need for improvements to the intersection in advance of the DOT's Route 1-Penns Neck Area Improvements project, still in the planning stages.

The current incarnation of the Penns Neck project would eliminate the often-bottlenecked Harrison Street intersection, along with the intersections at Washington Road and Fisher Place. The project would ultimately reroute Harrison Street over Route 1 and establish a network of feeder roads to access Route 1.

Mayor Hsueh stressed the importance of raising the priority of the Harrison Street overpass portion of the Penns Neck project given the hospital's relocation.

"We don't make funding decisions in a vacuum," said Commissioner Kolluri in response to the requests to hasten one portion of the Penns Neck project given the hospital's impending move.

Projects that are part of the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program cannot be piecemealed together, he said, but must be decided by the appropriate Metropolitan Planning Organization. The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, which includes Mercer County, oversees the decision-making for the Penns Neck project.

At the same time, he said, Gov. Jon Corzine's message was "very clear" when he designated $1.6 billion for the state Transportation Trust Fund each year for the next five years. Given that any temporary improvements to the Harrison Street intersection would be replaced in just a few years by the larger Penns Neck project, Commissioner Kolluri said it would not be prudent to spend money now on a fix that would soon be obsolete. The larger project is scheduled for completion by 2012, he said.

The overpass portion of the project alone will cost at least $100 million, he said, with the price tag for the entire Penns Neck road improvement totaling nearly half a billion dollars.

As Harrison Street is a Mercer County road, the commissioner had previously spoken with County Executive Brian Hughes about potential county improvements to the roadway. At Monday's meeting, county officials said they are in the process of collecting data about the Harrison Street intersection. Since the road is bounded on one side by the Millstone River and on another by a Sunoco gas station, they said it may be difficult to provide the needed road widths to accommodate a left-turn lane.

County officials also noted that with "limited funding" of $2.4 million annually, any county project to improve the intersection would necessitate collaboration with other funding sources. Regardless, the county will continue to research the possibility of adding a left-turn lane and improving signaling at the intersection, and will make stakeholders aware of their findings, the officials said.

"I think it went well under the circumstances," said Mayor Trotman after the meeting. "Clearly, the commissioner understands our concern. He made no bones in explaining his position, which was that he has to plan holistically ... and to a degree I agree with him that it just would not be the most prudent thing to do to spend a lot of money concentrating on just the left-lane turn on Harrison Street."

Mayor Trotman said she is nevertheless "optimistic" that the involved municipalities will be able to work with the county and the state to provide for a left-turn lane on a faster time frame to accommodate the need generated by the hospital relocation.

©PACKETONLINE News Classifieds Entertainment Business - Princeton and Central New Jersey 2006
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Rutgers transportation institute inundated with duplicates of same letter opposing east-side connector road.

On Thursday, the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club e-mailed more than 5,200 volunteers who have signed on to its "Action Network" to mobilize a write-in campaign on the former Millstone Bypass.

Within hours, computers at the Voorhees Transportation Policy Institute at Rutgers University were inundated with scores of duplicates of the same letter opposing one of the bypass alternatives under consideration, a controversial east-side connector road that would link Route 1 with Route 571 through the Sarnoff Corp. property.

"They're all identical, from all over New Jersey," institute director Martin Robins said Thursday. "It's a very curious development.

Copies from across the state continued to roll in on Friday, Mr. Robins said. A copy sent Thursday had been sent by a Voorhees staffer who is currently in Europe and doesn't have access to her e-mail at home, he said.

Drafted by Sierra Club volunteers, the letter is available on the Web under the heading, "Take Action! Stop the Princeton Area Sprawl Highway!" and supports alternative "D.2," which includes Route 1 in a below-grade underpass of Washington Road.

With a press of the send key, members of the Action Network - as well as friends and relatives notified by them and anyone else who visits the site - are able to send off copies of the letter almost instantaneously. Copies go to the Voorhees institute, Gov. James McGreevey, Congressman Rush Holt (D-12) and New Jersey Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Jon Corzine.

West Windsor Township Councilwoman Alison Miller, whose municipality supports the east-side connector road because it would funnel traffic away from the Penns Neck neighborhood and provide needed east-west access to and from the municipality, said Voorhees should have seen the electronic barrage coming.

"There's nothing in law or logic that says a public process must accept comments through e-mail," Ms. Miller said. "I think the fault lies with Voorhees for not realizing how easily abused the process can be.

"It's too easy to push a button and send an e-mail," the councilwoman continued. "By accepting e-mail they opened a can of worms, because it's so easily abused. If you don't like being inundated with scores of identical screeds, don't accept e-mail."

West Windsor Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh said he is not surprised by the Sierra Club's action, but said he hoped decision makers will evaluate the roadway alternatives based on the substance of the facts before them rather than on the volume of write-ins for a given side.

The mayor also questioned whether those who sent the e-mails really understood the issues under review in the Penns Neck area draft environmental impact statement.

"Of course people will take advantage of the democratic open process," Mayor Hsueh said. "I believe the Sierra Club is hoping that decision-makers will go by the numbers of people who support their position. I hope this will not be the case. They should look at the substance in order to make a quality decision."

The Sierra Club's Laura Lynch said action alert systems like the one employed by her group are a legitimate lobbying tool used by groups from across the political spectrum.

"This is a public process and people have a right to voice their opinions," she said.

Ms. Lynch said members volunteer to be sent an action alert e-mail and then it's up to them whether to send off a letter. They also may edit or change the letter however they wish, or delete it entirely in favor of a different message, and use the e-mail system to broadcast it.

When asked whether the system was open to abuses in which a member could send multiple copies of the letter under different names in order to give a false impression of a large base of support, Ms. Lynch said it was possible but unlikely.

The system is rigged to permit only one write-in per e-mail address; however, a user with two or more addresses could send multiple copies under assumed names, she said.

"But any system can be abused like that," she noted. "I could do that by regular mail."

Ms. Lynch said she didn't know how the copy from the Voorhees staffer away in Europe cited by Mr. Robins was sent.

The former 2.3-mile Millstone Bypass has been in dispute since 1986 when the state Department of Transportation first submitted the alignment to solve the traffic dilemma in the Penns Neck area of Route 1.

The DOT enlisted the institute to prepare an EIS after then Gov. Christie Whitman rejected its recommendation favoring the bypass in 2000. The draft EIS examines 19 roadway alternatives and a no-build alternative.

The state transportation agency is expected to review the draft environmental document with public comments and issue its final EIS with a preferred alignment around September. It then must be approved by the Federal Highway Administration.

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Process yields worthy model for state DOT
By: Packet Editorial 07/03/2003
PACKET EDITORIAL, July 4

In March 2001, when the state Department of Transportation decided to remove the "Millstone Bypass" from its vocabulary and start talking about the "Penns Neck Area" instead, we thought the state agency better known for obstinacy than creativity might actually be onto something.

We observed at the time that the "Millstone Bypass" referred to a very specific construction project advocated by the DOT, a proposal to redirect traffic from Washington Road and Harrison Street (and remove the traffic lights at their respective intersections with Route 1) onto a roadway that would run roughly from the Princeton Junction train station through the Sarnoff Corp. property and hook up with Washington Road just to the east of Carnegie Lake.

Shifting the emphasis from this particular roadway alignment to a wider-ranging study of the "Penns Neck Area," we noted, suggested that many options, including alternatives to a bypass road of any kind, might be considered.

And indeed they were. For the past two years, the Voorhees Transportation Institute at Rutgers University has brokered a thoroughgoing public examination and discussion of the project formerly known as the Millstone Bypass and all reasonable alternatives to it. A community advisory roundtable has convened regularly to share thoughts, ideas and, on many occasions, some pointedly differing views about the various options under consideration.

This painstaking process - not always collaborative but infinitely more cordial than the traditional top-down approach the DOT has taken to transportation planning - produced 19 possible roadway schemes along with a no-build alternative. All of these options are analyzed thoroughly in a draft environmental impact statement released last month. This week, public hearings were held to gather testimony on the draft EIS, and to move toward final disposition of this critical and still controversial project.

As heartened as we were by the willingness of the DOT to try something new and different, and as impressed as we have been by the openness of the roundtable process, this week's testimony offered striking proof of an age-old axiom: The more things change, the more they remain the same.

While consensus has apparently been achieved on many elements of a plan to speed traffic on Route 1 through the Penns Neck Area - including, significantly, the so-called Route 1-in-a-cut design below Washington Road - there remains one overarching point of disagreement. Towns on the east side of Route 1 (West Windsor and Plainsboro), along with some prominent planning groups, strongly favor an east-side connector road that would link Route 1 with Route 571 through the Sarnoff property. Towns on the west side of Route 1 (Princeton Borough and Princeton Township), along with some prominent environmental groups, are unalterably opposed to the east-side connector road.

To appreciate the significance of this disagreement, there's only one thing you need to know. What is now being referred to as the east-side connector road had a different name a couple of years ago: the Millstone Bypass.

In fairness, the Millstone Bypass as envisioned by the DOT continued west of Route 1, and linked up with Washington Road just before the bridge over Lake Carnegie. That piece, or some variation of it, may or may not be included in the final design. But the section of the bypass running through the Sarnoff property has always been a source of controversy and conflict among the communities and groups involved - and it plainly remains as contentious today as it was two years ago.

So, when all is said and done, the DOT is still going to have to make a difficult decision about the Millstone Bypass/Penns Neck Area - one that will obviously not be to everyone's liking. Perhaps it was naive to think it could ever turn out otherwise. Still, the open, participatory process in which all interested parties have been engaged for the past two years has been a welcome change from the DOT's business as usual. Whether it results in complete consensus or respectful disagreement, it should serve as a model for the agency's approach to regional transportation planning in the future.

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Officials split over east-side connector road
By: David Campbell , Staff Writer 07/03/2003
Alternatives to the former Millstone Bypass debated at public hearing.

In ongoing public hearings Monday on alternatives to the former Millstone Bypass, officials from West Windsor Township came out strongly in support of an east-side connector road - an outstanding issue on which Princeton officials have said further study is needed.

West Windsor Township Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh said the connector road, which would link Route 1 with Route 571 through the Sarnoff Corp. property, is of "foremost importance" to West Windsor residents, because it would funnel traffic away from the Penns Neck neighborhood and provide needed east-west access to and from the municipality.

Without it, Mayor Hsueh said, Alexander Road would be West Windsor's single means of access across Route 1 in the event traffic signals at Washington Road, Fisher Place and Harrison Street are removed - the original goal of the former Millstone Bypass.

"One crossing is clearly insufficient from a safety perspective alone where access is required to Princeton hospital and fire and emergency must be able to rapidly respond to all businesses and residents ... in West Windsor Township," the mayor said.

The east-side connector, Alexander Road and Route 1 in a below-grade underpass of Washington Road - another roadway component under consideration - would help provide a balanced flow of traffic, the mayor said.

Public comment continued throughout the day and evening Monday at the New Jersey Hospital Association Conference Center in West Windsor.

The Penns Neck area draft environmental impact statement, prepared by the Voorhees Transportation Policy Institute at Rutgers University on behalf of the state Department of Transportation, examines 19 roadway alternatives and a no-build alternative. The daylong hearings were held to gather public input on the environmental review document.

West Windsor Councilwoman Alison Miller, also speaking in support of the east-side connector, said the protection of moderately priced, pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods like Penns Neck and Berrien City exemplifies what smart growth is all about.

"Smart growth means economic diversity and walkable communities," Ms. Miller said. "That's why it is so important to get the traffic out of them."

Also, the West Windsor councilwoman said Sarnoff intends to develop its land one way or another. "So the alternative to the east-side connector is either another road that's built by a private entity, who can ignore the archaeological findings, or office buildings," she said.

Ms. Miller said the West Windsor Council is "very much" opposed to Route 1-in-a-cut, a component which has been embraced by environmental-protection advocates and Princeton officials.

Princeton Township Mayor Phyllis Marchand reaffirmed several goals and preferred roadway components cited by numerous other Princeton officials.

These include maintaining with balanced traffic the three main entrances to Princeton; protection of environmental resources like Lake Carnegie and the Delaware & Raritan Canal; limiting through traffic to ensure that Harrison Street doesn't become a bypass from the east to Interstate 287; and protection of residential neighborhoods.

Mayor Marchand said Route 1-in-a-cut, frontage roads on Route 1, a diamond instead of cloverleaf interchange, a Vaughn Drive connector road and a west-side connector between Route 1 and Harrison Street designed with neighborhood protection in mind are among the preferred components.

However, she said, "A position on the east-side connector has not been developed for a variety of reasons, and I strongly suggest the partners' roundtable be reconvened to resolve the issue."

Laura Lynch of the Sierra Club said her organization supports alternative "D.2," which has all the elements cited by Mayor Marchand, but no east-side connector.

"If you want to sum it up, it's the east-side connector, stupid," Ms. Lynch said of the divisive roadway alternative, which she said would be the "private corporate driveway" of Sarnoff if it is built.

Alan Goodheart of Harrison Street in Princeton, a participant in the roundtable sessions, said the reasoning and emotions on both side of the debate over the east-side connector are "heartfelt and strong."

Mr. Goodheart, a member of Millstone Bypass Alert, a group that opposed the proposed road when it was the major component of the Millstone Bypass, said he could support such a roadway - provided, that is, that continued public oversight and mitigation are adhered to by the DOT, the road is limited to two lanes and the connector is built last in order to ensure the state agency doesn't build it without the other approved elements and then claim money woes.

The former 2.3-mile Millstone Bypass has been in dispute since 1986 when the DOT first submitted the alignment to solve the traffic dilemma in the Penns Neck area of Route 1. The DOT enlisted the Transportation Policy Institute to draft the EIS after Gov. Christie Whitman rejected its recommendation favoring the bypass in 2000.

The state transportation agency is expected to review the draft environmental document with public comments and issue its final EIS with a preferred alignment around September, which then must be approved by the Federal Highway Administration.
Write-in comments from the public are being accepted until Aug. 1.

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Bypass options narrowing down
By: David Campbell , Staff Writer 07/01/2003

A low-key gathering of community leaders after an exhaustive scoping process.

WEST WINDSOR - Community leaders sounded off Monday on what they think should and shouldn't be built as an alternative to the former Millstone Bypass.

Public hearings on the Penns Neck area draft environmental impact statement, which examines 19 roadway schemes and one no-build alternative, were held Monday at the New Jersey Hospital Association Conference Center off Alexander Road in West Windsor Township.

The tenor and the turnout were of a considerably lower key than at past hearings on the subject, which often were emotionally charged and tended to reaffirm a difference of opinion between Princeton Borough and Princeton Township, which opposed the former 2.3-mile roadway, and West Windsor, which favored it.

This can be attributed to the exhaustive public-scoping process that began after Gov. Christie Whitman rejected the state Department of Transportation's recommendation favoring the bypass in 2000, and which was undertaken by the Voorhees Transportation Policy Institute at Rutgers University with input from a community advisory roundtable.

Through an extensive series of interviews and public forums attended by dozens of individuals and organizations, as well as 35 meetings of the roundtable since 2001, all sides of the debate have gathered, examined and hashed out their opinions on reams and reams of data.

On Monday, officials presented findings and outlined some of their conclusions from the environmental review document.

Pam Hersh, director of community and state affairs at Princeton University and a roundtable participant, said the university endorses a Vaughn Drive connector road, and an east-side connector linking Route 1 with Route 571 through the Sarnoff Corp. property, the most significant outstanding point of contention in the environmental review.

Also, Ms. Hersh said the university endorses Route 1 in a below-grade underpass of Washington Road, Route 1 frontage roads, and a connector road linking the western side of Route 1 with Harrison Street near Lake Carnegie.

"As the landowner most affected by any road project within the scope of this impact statement, we have always been prepared to cooperate in designs that improve the movement of traffic and respect the environment," Ms. Hersh said.

That is, she added, "as long as they also respect the integrity of our lands and allow us, over time, to use our lands effectively to advance our academic and educational objectives."

Princeton Borough Mayor Marvin Reed reaffirmed priorities outlined last week by the Princeton Regional Planning Board's Circulation Subcommittee.

Whatever is built should maintain the three entries into town from Route 1; protect the Delaware & Raritan Canal, Lake Carnegie and the Washington Road elms; protect Harrison Street from becoming a bypass for through traffic; and protect residential neighborhoods, Mayor Reed said.

The borough mayor endorsed several of the roadway elements Ms. Hersh cited, which are among the components the roundtable reached consensus on - except for the east-side connector, upon which Mayor Reed said further discussion is needed.

Mayor Reed also called for a commuter-options package including rideshare services, vanpool incentives and added jitney or shuttle services, but noted that such a package "is a necessary supplement, not a substitute, for essential roadway improvements that must be made along Route 1 in the Penns Neck area."

George Hawkins, executive director of the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association, said his organization endorses alternative "D.2," the same endorsed by the Princeton Environmental Commission, which includes all the elements cited by Ms. Hersh and Mayor Reed - but no east-side connector through the Sarnoff property.

"It improves traffic flow as well as protecting the environment," Mr. Hawkins said of the alternative.

Grace Sinden of the Princeton Environmental Commission said the commission is worried about "significant environmental impacts" from an east-side connector, such as reduced groundwater recharge resulting from increased impervious surfaces, increased pollutants in the Millstone River, wetland destruction, and habitat and wildlife destruction.

Ms. Sinden said the commission is also calling for a wildlife survey and a study to determine a mitigation strategy for residual contamination on the Sarnoff Corp. property that the commission worries could be disturbed by roadway construction.

The DOT is expected to prepare a final EIS by about September using the draft document and public input. The final EIS will include a DOT-recommended alternative, which must then be approved by the Federal Highway Administration.

WEST WINDSOR - After years of contentious discussion surrounding the proposed Penns Neck Area bypass, several groups voiced agreement yesterday as the public got its first say on the recently completed Draft Environmental Impact Statement.

The study, conducted over the past two years, outlines the potential impact each of 19 possible options for the bypass would have on the environment, traffic patterns and surrounding infrastructure. Among the 19 options is not to build a road.

The study used traffic forecasts for 2028 in forming conclusions about what the area will face if nothing is done to alleviate congestion in the region.

Concerned groups and citizens from the region, including representatives of the four townships affected, were at the hearing yesterday to voice opinions on the proposed options.

While several groups have yet to have their say, one option seems to have gained a good deal of support from several groups that have been involved in the process, including both Princetons and the Stony Brook-Millstone River Watershed Association, an environmental group.

The option favored by the groups - known as the D option - would place Route 1 below grade at Washington Road, while a new road would run from Harrison Street near the Delaware & Raritan Canal to Route 1. A new interchange would be built at Harrison Street, with a series of frontage roads running alongside Route 1. The option has three variations. Two would include the east side connector road, which would run through the Sarnoff property in West Windsor and connect Route 571 to the Harrison Street interchange. The third variation would not include the connector.

The east side connector has long been a divisive element of the project, with both Princetons opposing it and West Windsor and Plainsboro strongly in favor.

Princeton Borough Mayor Marvin Reed told the representatives of the state Department of Transportation that the D options most closely achieve all of the goals of the project. Princeton Borough has long been an opponent of the east side connector road, but Reed said he did not necessarily oppose it now.

"I think that's going to be resolved. From my conversations with the West Windsor mayor I understand that (the east side connector) is extremely important as far as West Windsor is concerned," said Reed.

Reed said that the connector would be located largely on Sarnoff-owned property and would most likely be built by Sarnoff with private funding, if not included in the scope of the project.

Other groups, including the watershed group, were more direct in opposing the connector.

The association contends an east side connector would "destroy critical habitats, decrease recharge, and fragment the habitat along the Millstone River."

West Windsor, with support from Plainsboro, has long said that the connector is the most important piece of the puzzle and the entire project will be all but useless without it.

"The East Side Connector . . . is essential for the health and safety of the Route 1 corridor, not just West Windsor Township," said West Windsor Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh.

Hsueh said the D options favored by other towns would be a "good starting point" as long as the east side connector is included, but the D option without the connector would be "disastrous" for West Windsor.

A final EIS, which will choose one of the 19 options, is expected to be issued by the DOT in September after all of the public comments are considered.

Anthony Sabidussi, project manager for DOT during the process, said that the cost of the project - expected to range from $12 million to more than $97 million - will be a factor in the DOT's decision.

"I'd be lying if I said that cost was not a consideration, but if the DOT feels it's valid to spend the money to deal with community impacts and environmental impacts, so be it," he said.

Sabidussi said the DOT is not committed to one alternative but the no-build option, while still on the table, was an unlikely choice.

Officials divide on bypass
By: David Campbell , Staff Writer 06/27/2003
Princeton panel settles on goals, not a specific alignment.

With public hearings set for Monday, officials in Princeton spent this week trying to reach consensus on a preferred alternative to the former Millstone Bypass.

On Monday at the New Jersey Hospital Association Conference Center on Alexander Road in West Windsor, a public hearing will be held on the Penns Neck area draft environmental impact statement, which evaluates 19 roadway and one no-build alternative to the controversial bypass.

For about two years, Princeton officials have worked toward consensus with its neighbors on this divisive issue, taking part in an advisory round table to the Voorhees Transportation Policy Institute at Rutgers University, which compiled the document on behalf of the state Department of Transportation.

This week, Princeton officials held several talks to decide how to best represent the community's position to transportation officials at Monday's hearing - that is, to reach consensus among themselves.

On Tuesday, the Circulation Subcommittee of the Princeton Regional Planning Board opted to draw up a broad set of goals and preferred elements rather than endorse a single alignment.
  The subcommittee wants whatever is finally built to do the following:
  · Maintain the three entryways into town from Route 1;
  · Protect the Delaware & Raritan Canal, Lake Carnegie and the Washington Road elms;
  · Protect Harrison Street from becoming a bypass for through traffic; and
  · Protect residential neighborhoods.
  Preferred roadway elements include Route 1 in a below-grade underpass of Washington Road, a Vaughn Drive connector road, frontage roads on Route 1 and diamond rather than cloverleaf interchanges.

The subcommittee also decided to endorse the findings and points of consensus arrived at by the round table, but remained undecided on an east-side connector road linking Route 1 to Route 571 through the Sarnoff Corp. property.

Planning Board member Wendy Benchley said she would not support the statement if it endorsed the east-side connector, a standing point of contention on the round table that has generally been opposed by Princeton while endorsed by West Windsor Township.

In fact, Princeton officials this week expressed concern West Windsor could build the connector road regardless of what alignment the DOT finally selects, because of the apparent determination there to see the roadway built and because such a road is already written into West Windsor's Master Plan.

The decidedly vague approach taken by the subcommittee reflects the variety of opinion in evidence among Princeton officials.

Last week, the Princeton Environmental Commission officially endorsed alternative "D.2," which essentially comprises the roadway components outlined by the subcommittee, as well as a spur from the western side of Route 1 to the Harrison Street bridge.

D.2 does not include an east-side connector - the commission said it would be environmentally harmful to wetlands and habitats, among other things.

The Princeton Township Committee has not taken an official position yet. But at its meeting Monday night, Committeeman Bernard Miller said he opposed D.2 because he said it would overwhelm the neighborhood around Harrison Street with traffic, particularly the Jugtown area near the intersection of Harrison and Nassau streets.

"Why would we support an alternative that would have detrimental impacts on one of our neighborhoods?" Mr. Miller said.

At the start of the subcommittee meeting Tuesday, member Peter Madison said he preferred alternative "A.2," which includes Route 1-in-a-cut and an east-side connector, because he said it expedites traffic flow both east-west and north-south.

On Tuesday night, Princeton Borough Councilman David Goldfarb said he favors the "C" alternative, which does not feature Route 1-in-a-cut, and requested that borough Mayor Marvin Reed testify as a participant of the round table but not give a Borough Council endorsement.

Borough Councilman Joseph O'Neill said that the "D.2" option will not work without a connector road from the east.

At the hearing Monday, material will be available for review between 10 a.m. and 11 p.m. A formal presentation followed by a public-comment period is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. A repeat of the presentation followed by public comment is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Written comments on the draft EIS are permitted and must be received no later that Aug. 1. If needed, a second public hearing will be held on Tuesday at the West Windsor municipal complex from 7 to 11 p.m.

The Regional Planning Board of Princeton met Tuesday morning to evaluate the alternative designs being considered by the New Jersey Department of Transportation to alleviate congestion in the Penn's Neck area. The board will be one of many municipal and regional groups to weigh in June 30 at a public hearing on the roadway schemes.

Board members agreed that several design factors would be particularly important for the Penn's Neck area, which is roughly bordered by Harrison Street, Carnegie Lake, Alexander Road, and the Northeast Corridor train line.

Chief among the board's recommendations was maintaining Washington Road at its current grade and channeling Route 1 underneath it. Members also felt strongly that service roads should be added alongside Route 1 between Washington Road and Harrison Street.

The interchange at Harrison Street and Route 1 should be a diamond interchange rather than a clover-leaf, said board members. They also agreed that the design should include extending Vaughn Drive northeast to connect Alexander Road to Washington Road just west of the Princeton Junction train station.

The Planning Board chose not to take a stance at this point in the process on one of the more controversial elements of many of the designs: the proposed East Side Connector, a four-lane road extending east from Route 1 in the area of Harrison Street, traversing undeveloped land belonging to the Sarnoff Corporation, and linking to Washington Road near the Princeton Junction train station.

The Planning Board also stopped short of formally advocating one of the 19 plans presented in the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) prepared last month by the Federal Highway Administration and the U.S. and New Jersey departments of transportation. The board recognized, however, that its preferences for the design were best met by the "D" series of alternatives.

The Princeton Environmental Commission has expressed its support for the so-called D-2 alternative, which incorporates all of the design elements advocated by the Planning Board, but does not include the construction of the East Side Connector. The road, which would cross Little Bear Brook and run along the Millstone River, would increase pollution in the river, destroy wetlands, and impair fish and bird habitats, wrote the Environmental Commission in its statement prepared for the June 30 meeting.

Princeton Township Committee discussed the EIS report at its Monday night meeting. No formal recommendation was made, but many committee members expressed support for the D-2 alternative.

Planning Board Member Wanda Gunning noted Tuesday that the Sarnoff property is known to contain archaeological artifacts, but the location of culturally important sites is not precisely known. Environmental impacts should be given a higher priority, she said, since they can be predicted with more certainty than cultural impacts.

Mr. Solow noted that the EIS alternatives address most of the concerns raised by the Planning Board about the original Millstone Bypass plan.

The board's concerns included protecting residential neighborhoods; protecting the Delaware and Raritan Canal, Lake Carnegie, and the allee of elm trees on Washington Road; limiting through traffic, particularly on Harrison Street; and maintaining a balanced traffic distribution on the three entry routes to Princeton from Route 1 - Harrison Street, Washington Road, and Alexander Road.

Several members of the public also shared their opinions with the Planning Board.

Alan Goodheart of Harrison Street urged the board to put its support behind the Penn's Neck Area EIS Roundtable, a regional group created by the New Jersey Department of Transportation to study the issue. Mayors Reed and Marchand are both members of the Roundtable, which has spent more than two years building a consensus which is also consistent with the D alternatives.

Patrick Lyons of Westcott Road called the proposed East Side Connector "the poster child for induced demand and sprawl," saying it would be responsible for much of the new traffic projected for the Penn's Neck area.

Ridgeview Road resident Lincoln Hollister concurred, saying the increase in waiting time at Washington Road would be minimal without the added traffic attracted by the road.

Michael Suber, chair of the Sidewalk and Bikeway Advisory Committee, noted that the DOT had agreed to conduct a feasibility study on the possible construction of a bicycle bridge over Route 1 just south of the Dinky bridge.

The Federal Highway Administration has scheduled a presentation and public hearing on the proposed alternatives for 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. on June 30 at the New Jersey Association Conference Center at 760 Alexander Road.

The long-awaited draft of the Penns Neck Area Environmental Impact Study was released to the public last week in anticipation of a public hearing to be held at the end of June.

The study, which was completed by the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center of Rutgers University, was conducted during two years to assess the environmental impact of the project formerly known as the Millstone bypass.

The report, which was originally scheduled to be completed in April, included input from some 32 interested groups, including representatives from West Windsor, Plainsboro, Princeton Township and Princeton Borough, the towns most affected by the proposed road project.

The public hearing is set for June 30 from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. at the New Jersey Hospital Association Conference Center on Alexander Road in West Windsor. A formal presentation is scheduled for 11 a.m. with a public comment period to follow and a second presentation is scheduled for 7 p.m.

The study looked at 19 different options - including a no-build option that would leave the area untouched - in order to relieve the traffic in the Penns Neck section of West Windsor.

Costs for the bypass are projected to range from $12 million to $97.5 million, depending on which of the options is chosen. Those projections do not include several factors such as environmental mitigation, cost of the rights of way and engineering designs that could push the cost higher.

West Windsor Councilwoman Alison Miller, who took part in the two-year process, said she thought the roundtable discussion was a useful tool that opened many people's eyes.

"The process was educational," Miller said. "It took people away from their extreme positions. It has shown most people that the other side has a point."

West Windsor Mayor Shing-fu Hsueh said he is beginning to prepare a presentation for the public hearing to outline the township's position on the bypass.

Hsueh said the township at this point is not committed to one particular option, but rather to a combination of alternatives.

The ideal West Windsor plan would include a connector road from Route 1 through the Sarnoff property ending at Route 571, and a component known as Route 1 in a cut, which would require the highway to be dug down and pass beneath Washington Road.

This position is a deviation from the original Millstone bypass alignment, which the town has favored since the project was first proposed in the 1980s.

Both Hsueh and Miller say the main component they want is three entrances into and three exits out of West Windsor.

The township's favored alternatives - a combination of options known as the A and D alternatives - are not only the costliest options, but they also have some of the greatest impact on the surrounding environment, including an effect on the habitat of a long-eared owl that was spotted in the woods on the Sarnoff property.

The ultimate decision will rest with the state, which is expected to choose an option sometime in August after the public has its say.

State Department of Transportation spokesman Michael Horan said the agency is looking forward to the public's input.

"The department is pleased to be moving into the community involvement process where we can have a full, open and honest discussion with the public and work toward achieving a preferred alternative," Horan said.

Bypass draft review released to public
By: David Campbell , Staff Writer 06/03/2003
Hearing is scheduled for June 30.

The draft environmental review of the former Millstone Bypass is now available to the public.

The document, compiled by the Voorhees Transportation Policy Institute at Rutgers University over the course of about two years in cooperation with a community advisory roundtable, can be viewed at various area libraries and clerks' offices.

A formal public hearing on the document is scheduled for June 30 at the New Jersey Hospital Association Conference Center on Alexander Road in West Windsor Township.

At the hearing, material will be available for review between 10 a.m. and 11 p.m. A formal presentation followed by a public-comment period is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. A repeat of the presentation followed by public comment is scheduled for 7 p.m., according to the Transportation Policy Institute.

Copies of the Penns Neck area draft environmental impact statement are available for viewing at the West Windsor Public Library; the Plainsboro Public Library; the Princeton Township Clerk's Office; and the Princeton Borough Clerk's Office.

The document can also be viewed at the Transportation Policy Institute on Livingston Avenue in New Brunswick, and at state Department of Transportation headquarters on Parkway Avenue in Ewing Township, according to the institute.

Jon Carnegie, senior project manager with the institute, said the draft EIS is an information rather than a decision document, and does not recommend any one of the 19 roadway alternatives currently under consideration. There is also a no-build option.

The draft EIS is a compilation and comparison of alternatives. Findings presented there indicate that traffic problems along the Route 1 corridor will worsen if nothing is built, Mr. Carnegie said.

Preliminary cost estimates for the alternatives range from $12 million to $97.5 million, according data in the draft document. The most expensive variation includes Route 1 in a below-grade underpass of Washington Road, which the roundtable tentatively seems to favor.

However, members could not reach consensus on including an east-side connector road to Route 1 from Route 571 that would run through the Sarnoff Corp. property in West Windsor.

West Windsor Township Councilwoman Alison Miller, who has taken part in the roundtable discussions, said her community supports the necessity of three ways in and out of the township, and so believes an east-side connector is essential.

"We support the maximum access across Route 1, but we support a whole package, not pieces," Ms. Miller said.

West Windsor officials are preparing an official position to present at the June 30 hearings, the councilwoman said.

David Breithaupt, chairman of the Princeton Environmental Commission, said the commission opposes the east-side connector, while endorsing Route 1-in-a-cut with frontage roads and a Vaughn Drive connector road.

The east-side connector road, Mr. Breithaupt said, would cause ecological and archaeological damages no matter how it is run through the Sarnoff property.

Pam Hersh, director of community and state affairs at Princeton University and a roundtable participant, said she hopes the Rutgers team makes a strong case for building one of the proposals versus the no-build alternative.

"We believe it's very needed," Ms. Hersh said, stressing that something must be done to address Route 1 traffic problems.

Noelle MacKay of the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association, also a roundtable member, said her organization plans to make its recommendation at the public hearing.

"We plan to help provide balanced comments on the report," Ms. MacKay said. "We now need to look at it as a coherent whole."

The DOT is expected to prepare a final EIS using the draft document and input from the public. The final EIS will include a recommended alternative, which must then be approved by the Federal Highway Administration.

Written comments on the draft EIS are permitted and must be received no later that Aug. 1. If needed, a second public hearing will be held on Tuesday, July 1, the transportation institute said.

The former 2.3-mile Millstone Bypass has been in dispute since 1986, when the DOT first submitted the alignment to solve the traffic dilemma in the Penns Neck area of Route 1.

The state DOT enlisted the Transportation Policy Institute to draft the EIS after Gov. Christie Whitman rejected the DOT's recommendation favoring the bypass in 2000.

Bypass proposal on track
By: David Campbell , Staff Writer 05/06/2003
Federal highway agency expected to respond soon.

The draft environmental review of alternative solutions to traffic problems in the Penns Neck area of Route 1 - a document that grew out of the state Department of Transportation's former Millstone Bypass proposal - has been forwarded to the Federal Highway Administration for review.

The draft Environmental Impact Statement was sent to the Federal Highway Administration late last month, DOT spokeswoman Anna Farneski said.

Comments and approval of the draft document by the highway agency are expected this month, with public distribution of the document expected in June. The projected 45-day public-comment period, which will include formal hearings possibly as soon as June 30, is tentatively set to end July 25, Ms. Farneski said.

No date is set for the DOT's release of its final EIS, which will include input from the public-comment period and a recommended roadway alignment.

The draft EIS has been under preparation for around two years by Rutgers University's Transportation Policy Institute in cooperation with a community round table that was convened to resolve longstanding conflict over the former bypass proposal. The final meeting of the round table was held April 14.

Several members of the round table said they were satisfied with the timetable for public release of the document, despite some confusion about when it would be released to the public. The April 30 deadline for completion of the draft EIS was apparently for its submission to the Federal Highway Administration, and not to the general public as many had thought.

"I think we're right on schedule," said Pam Hersh, Princeton University's director of community and state relations and a round table participant.

Ms. Hersh said the round table, which brought together dozens of people from all sides of the debate, has been an effective though challenging mediation process.

"I have been amazed by the fact they really did get the participants to sit down and talk without hostility," Ms. Hersh said. "I thought it was a very positive process. It was painful. It was very labor-intensive."

Alan Goodheart, a Harrison Street resident who participated in round table meetings, commended the Rutgers team for delaying its release of the draft EIS to the Federal Highway Administration in order to include results from the "synthesis workshops" conducted during the round table's final two meetings.

The workshops were an attempt by the group to piece together the various elements of the 19 variations of seven broad road-alignment schemes under review, as well as a no-build alternative, to see what the group could agree upon.

Route 1 in a below-grade underpass of Washington Road is one possible solution the round table reached consensus on, as was a Vaughn Drive-connector road, the use of frontage roads along Route 1, and the need for a wildlife inventory.

The workshop participants were unable to reach consensus on an east-side connector road from Route 571 to Route 1, which, depending on how it is placed, could run along the Millstone River, the back of residences along Fisher Place, or down the middle of the Sarnoff Corp. property.

Mr. Goodheart said he hopes to seek ongoing discussions of problem areas such as the connector road while the draft document undergoes Federal Highway Administration review.

Laura Lynch of the Central New Jersey Sierra Club, who participated in the round table, said she was not troubled that the public release of the document is later than expected, and said the mediated round table was an effective exercise.

"I think we all deserve a degree in public policy after this," Ms. Lynch said. "A lot of things fell through the cracks that we ended up catching. I think it was a really good thing."

Noelle MacKay of the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association noted that the Rutgers team had extended the deadline for the draft EIS at the request of round table members who said the process was being rushed at the expense of thoroughness.

Ms. MacKay said now she hopes the scheduling of the public review phase in the summer, when people are out of town on vacations, will not exclude the fullest possible public input.

"You want to make sure you get people involved, that you can get people to come," she said.

The following letter appeared in the Princeton Packet on Friday, May 9, 2003. It is in response to the Packet article published on Tuesday, May 6, 2003 and reprinted below Paula's letter.

The Packet article (May 6) on the Penns Neck Area Environmental Impact Statement correctly states that the Roundtable could not reach consensus on an eastside connector road.

This was not, however, just a disagreement over the possible alignment of such a road, but also over whether or not any eastside connector road should be built with public funding. Participants had strong views on the question, from local concerns about traffic to broader concerns about the natural environment. It is not surprising that no consensus was reached - nor was the Roundtable required to reach consensus. The public should know that serious issues are still at stake and make every effort to inform themselves in advance of the public hearing that will be held at some future date.

No road, no overpass, no path has been built in connection with what was known as the Millstone Bypass, now knows as the Penns Neck Area Project. And no one knows if or when anything will be built. One structure has gone up, however--a bridge, created not by the civil engineers or traffic engineers, but the human behavior engineers.

During the past 22 months, a bridge has been built with papers, e-mails and countless meetings. These unusual building blocks have linked a bunch of warring lords and ladies, dubbed stakeholders of the "Partners' Roundtable," who now are breaking bread together and laughing together--and who may even miss one another when this whole process is over.

Two years ago I got rather chilled from:hiding and huddling in the frozen foods section of McCaffrey's in order to avoid a very chilly:reception from a group of hot and bothered and frustrated anti-Millstone Bypass advocates. They were blaming Princeton University; my employer,for the road which was going to have allegedly apocalyptic ramifications on their neighborhood and the entire region. The tension and frustration levels on both the pro-bypass and ant-bypass sides were so intense that neither set of advocates was hearing anything the other was saying.

The state Department of Transportation, acutely aware of the public policy challenges that the P.enns Neck Bypass presented, hired the Voorhees Transportation Policy Institute at Rutgers University "to design and manage the Penns Neck Area Environmental Impact Statement process."

This meant taking a large dysfunctional group of local officials and citizens and coming up with a negotiated set of agreements on parameters and goals for the project, and --maybe, just maybe--a consensus on an alignment.

Although I doubt whether every person on the:Partners' Roundtable will wholeheartedly endorse the same alignment, the partners, amazingly enough, are agreeing on many things,: agreeing to disagree on others, and doing so in a collegial environment. The process has been the couch potato's version of an Outward Bound expedition-- an inward-bound journey, during which the participants have been challenged by manmade elements of print and verbiage instead of Mother Nature.

At times, the Roundtable meetings had the feel of a kindergarten class filled with a bunch of hyperactive kids being forced to behave. People could speak only when called upon, in the order of when their hands went up--more accurately, when their tent card signs were placed standing up on their ends, an indication that they had something to say.

On other occasions, the experience was reminiscent of a support-group therapy session in which the therapists were trying to help us work out our "issues." And a few times I, felt as though I were attending a family gathering, at which the worst fights were about who was going to sit where and who was insulting whom by saying what.

Once we all began to play by the rules, the: members of the Roundtable talked honestly to one another, expressing what we did and did not like about the road, and trying to follow the sometimes mind-numbing details about the environmental traffic, archeological and historical impacts.

One of my favorite historical sites is the Sheep Wash, where they, well, used to wash sheep. But, more important from a social/cultural history point of view (in my opinion), is that the Sheep Wash was a big "make-out" spot in the days when we used to use the term "make-out." However, I doubt that tidbit will make it into the environmental
impact statement.

At this Passover-Easter time of the year, I admit to getting sentimental about the value of rebirth, rejuvenation and rethinking. I hope that as this process draws to a close, the stakeholders will restrain from regressing to the unproductive environment which characterized these road conversations prior to the Roundtable.

Although we may need Merlin to help us find a consensus, King Arthur had the right idea.

By: David Campbell , Staff Writer 03/07/2003
Mediation process termed a success -- sort of.

With a draft environmental study of alternatives to the Millstone Bypass expected by the end of next month, officials say the mediation process begun by the state Department of Transportation in 2001 to resolve controversy over the roadway has been a success - sort of.

"I think it has had a positive effect," said Martin Robins, director of the Voorhees Transportation Policy Institute at Rutgers University. "I think there is less controversy than when we started, but I don't think it has diffused the controversy."

A team from Rutgers held an open house Wednesday night at the New Jersey Hospital Association building on Alexander Road in West Windsor. The organization presented its findings on potential traffic, environmental and historical and cultural impacts from 19 variations of seven broad road alignment schemes, as well as a no-build alternative.

The DOT commissioned Rutgers to study possible solutions to traffic congestion in the Penns Neck area around Route 1 after former Gov. Christie Whitman in 2000 rejected the agency's recommendation favoring the Millstone Bypass.

A draft Environmental Impact Statement on alternatives to the former state-endorsed roadway is expected in late April. The DOT is expected to announce its preferred alignment based on the EIS data by August.

The 19 variations comprise different configurations of several interchangeable features. Among them are: Route 1 in a below-grade underpass of Washington Road; a Vaughn Drive connector road; frontage roads along Route 1; and connector roads to the east and/or west of Route 1 linking the highway with Route 571 to the east, and Harrison Street, Washington Road and Alexander Road to the west.

A configuration nearly identical to the former bypass is among the alternatives the DOT will consider as it prepares the final EIS.

The bypass was a 2.3-mile roadway that would have run northwest from Route 571 along the Millstone River, crossed Route 1 near Harrison Street and run along the Delaware & Raritan Canal to Washington Road, with a spur to Harrison Street. It was first submitted by the DOT in 1986 to remove three traffic lights from Route 1 in the Penns Neck area.

According to the data presented Wednesday, a key component of a successful alternative is unrestricted traffic flow on Route 1, which requires the removal of those lights, combined with at least one grade-separated east-west crossing of Route 1 north of Alexander Road. Nearly all the alternatives achieve these goals, according to the findings.

Alternatives having an east-side connector road - most of the alternatives do - would fragment "comparatively high quality" wildlife habitats in the Little Bear Brook wetland corridor and adjacent upland forest, according to the data.

All alternatives would result in permanent disturbance to from .6 to 4.1 of the study area's 820 acres of flood plains, and would bring between 3.2 and 33 acres of new road-related impervious surface.

The highest acreage of flood-plain disruption and new impervious surface would result from alternatives that most closely resemble the original Millstone Bypass, according to the findings.

Most alternatives would have a neutral or positive impact on the Penns Neck neighborhood in West Windsor Township, and a positive impact on the Lower Harrison Street neighborhood.

A Millstone Bypass-like alternative and one other are the only ones that don't bring negative impacts to residences on Bear Brook Road and the Windsor Haven neighborhood, according to the findings.

The field of possible alternatives has not been narrowed by the new data, according to officials, but Mr. Robins said some of the controversy has.

"We think that some of the controversy is narrowing," he said. "There's a greater understanding of the situation, and we're hoping we can get together on some of the ideas."

West Windsor Township Councilwoman Alison Miller said she thought the mediation process has been "somewhat effective for the people who have participated," but said she fears that mediation has only quieted dissent until the new DOT-preferred alignment is announced in August.

"I fear that when a conclusion comes out, people who were quiet all this time will become vocal with the very same arguments they had from the beginning," Ms. Miller said.

An advisory roundtable, which was convened to help resolve a long-running stalemate over the roadway, has met about 30 times since the process began, with a handful of meetings remaining, said Jon Carnegie, senior project manager with the Transportation Policy Institute.

The roundtable's job has been to assist Rutgers in building consensus on a solution to traffic woes in the Penns Neck area following more than a decade of controversy surrounding the former Millstone Bypass.

Pam Hersh, Princeton University's director of community and state affairs, described the mediated process as "an exhausting, exhaustive and excellent process, and in retrospect very, very worthwhile."

Report on planned Route 1-Turnpike link should become available to public in April

The first draft of an environmental study of the proposed Route 92, a 6.7-mile toll road that would connect the New Jersey Turnpike with Route 1 in South Brunswick, should be available for public review by late April.

The study has been three years in the making and is expected to lead to a decision by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on whether to grant the New Jersey Turnpike Authority a permit to destroy 14.8 acres of environmentally sensitive wetlands in South Brunswick.

In 2000, the Army Corps ordered the Turnpike Authority to conduct the environmental study after the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Environmental Protection split on whether to go forward and grant the permits.

The EPA opposed the project because it would destroy the wetlands, but the DEP granted the permit in 1999. The opposing decisions put the Turnpike Authority's permit application into the Army Corps' hands.

An e-mail authored by an officer with the Tri-State Transportation Campaign has been circulating among activist groups opposing the project. The e-mail claims the Army Corps has already decided to throw the project back into the state's hands and take no position on the permit.

But Rich Tomer, head of regulatory affairs for the Army Corps of Engineers, denied his agency has made any decision on the application.

"We're neither opposed or in favor of the project," Tomer said yesterday. "The Turnpike Authority has applied for a permit and we're awaiting the results of the environmental impact review. We'll use it to make our decision."

Corps officials said they are aware the road is in the restricted zone of the state's new land-use map, designed to fight sprawl and overdevelopment.

Anna Farneski, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation, said the state is waiting for the Army Corps' study before making any decision on the project's future.

The proposed Route 92 would connect Interchange 8A of the Turnpike with Route 1 at Ridge Road in South Brunswick, traversing through what is now farmland and wooded areas in South Brunswick.

The project has the support of the Middlesex County freeholders and the governing bodies in Monroe and Plainsboro, but officials and many residents in South Brunswick oppose it.

Supporters say the road is necessary to meet increasing traffic demands in one of the state's most rapidly developing areas. Opponents, however, say it will not lessen traffic on local roads, only destroy open space and endanger the historic village of Kingston, which is near the road's terminus.

Sue Epstein covers Middlesex County. She can be reached at sep stein@starledger.com or (732) 634-6482.

WEST WINDSOR - Despite township professionals' analysis showing that three versions of the Millstone Bypass could meet the township's needs, council and Planning Board members say they support only one option - the original bypass alignment.

Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh briefly outlined the analysis, conducted by Gary Davies, the township's traffic consultant, before the township Planning Board Wednesday night.

The mayor originally met with the Township Council in January to garner support for all or some of the three bypass alternatives, which include building the Millstone Bypass with additions like a Vaughn Drive connector road or depressing Route 1 under Washington Road.

On Wednesday, the board took no action and called supporting anything other than the Millstone Bypass as outlined in the township Master Plan "irresponsible" and "premature."

West Windsor has traditionally supported a bypass that would run northwest from Route 571 along the Millstone River, crossing Route 1 near Harrison Street and running near the Delaware & Raritan Canal to Washington Road with a spur to Harrison Street.

An advisory roundtable of area government leaders, citizens and other officials is currently working to help the Voorhees Transportation Policy Institute at Rutgers University craft an environmental impact statement for 18 roadway alternatives.

A draft EIS is expected in April. The state Department of Transportation is expected to make a final decision on the bypass by August.

The DOT commissioned Rutgers to conduct the EIS and study possible solutions to traffic congestion in the Penns Neck area after former Gov. Christie Whitman rejected the agency's recommendation favoring the Millstone Bypass in 2000.

WEST WINDSOR - Every alternative route being considered for relieving traffic congestion along Route 1 in the Penns Neck area would disturb small amounts of wetlands, flood plains and groundwater, but the majority of the environmentally sensitive areas would remain untouched, according to a recent study.

Environmentalists are reserving judgment on the study until water quality tests are completed.

"We don't have a big part of it, which is the water quality," said Noelle Mackey of the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association.

Relieving congestion in the Penns Neck area - generally where Route 1 and Washington Road intersect - has been discussed since a 1986 study. The solution proposed was a two-lane road - the Millstone Bypass - connecting routes 1 and 571 at a cost of about $50 million. The road would run near the Millstone River.

After years of delay, the project was revived in 1998. But after an environmental assessment failed to bring consensus, the state Transportation Department hired the Voorhees Transportation Policy Institute of Rutgers University to develop a new assessment with more public involvement. A round-table group has been meeting to consider options.

Several newly developed proposals are being considered for relieving traffic in the area. Most again recommend a new road running east from Route 1 through the Sarnoff Corp. property to Route 571.

An assessment of how the various proposals would affect the natural environment found all alternatives would result in:

-- Permanent wetlands disturbance ranging from .06 acres to .51 acres. The study area has 245 acres of wetlands.

-- Permanent upland vegetation disturbance, ranging from 1.34 acres to 19.54 acres.

-- Permanent flood plain disturbance, ranging from .63 acres to 4.1 acres. The study area has 821.2 acres of flood plains.

-- A .17 percent to 1.73 percent reduction in annual groundwater recharge capability.

The study found there are neither threatened nor endangered species living within the study area.

State Transportation Department spokeswoman Anna Farneski said it's too soon to comment on any findings until all information is gathered and the assessment is completed in the spring.

All factors will be considered and community ideas regarded before a final decision is made, she said.

Upcoming studies will analyze potential effects on cultural resources, residential neighborhoods, preserved open space, parks and businesses. Once that is completed, the cumulative effects will be considered, state officials said.

Mackey, who is part of the roundtable group formed to consider options, said a closer look for threatened and endangered species is needed.

Laura Lynch of the Sierra Club's New Jersey chapter agreed a closer look for endangered species is needed, especially because a bald eagle reportedly has been sighted near Carnegie Lake. Officials will try to find a nest to see if the bald eagle lives in the study area, she said.

Mackey and Lynch said several sites are being tested in an effort to determine how the alternatives would influence water quality. That information, Mackey said, will provide a clearer idea of the potential impact on the natural environment.

"Let's see the whole picture," Mackey said. "What are the pros and cons? What does that mean for the Millstone River?"

The proposed alternatives include slightly varying options within each design but fall generally within seven categories:

-- Alternative A would put Route 1 below grade at Washington Road and create a new intersection at Harrison Street. A new road would be built off Harrison Street near the Delaware & Raritan Canal to Route 1. East of Route 1, a new road would run through the northern edge of the Sarnoff property along the Millstone River to Route 571.

-- Alternative B would keep Route 1 at grade level with Washington Road but remove traffic lights at Washington Road, Fisher Place and Harrison Street. The lights would be replaced with a loop interchange near Harrison Street, with east-west access eliminated across Route 1 at Washington Road. A new road would connect Harrison Street and Washington Road, while a new road east of Route 1 would cut through the northern edge of the Sarnoff property to Route 571.

-- Alternative C would keep Route 1 at grade level, remove the traffic signals and include a new interchange at Harrison Street, but a new frontage road would be built along the west side of Route 1, connecting Washington Road and Harrison Street. Alexander and Washington roads would be connected west of Route 1, but no new road would be built east of Route 1.

-- Alternative D would place Route 1 below grade at Washington Road, while a new road would run from Harrison Street near the canal to Route 1. The road would cross Route 1 and into the center of the Sarnoff property to Route 571. A new interchange would be built at Harrison Street, with new frontage roads running alongside Route 1 connecting the new interchange to Washington Road.

-- Alternative E would put Route 1 below grade at Washington Road and provide the new frontage roads but would include a new interchange near Fisher Place, a more north-south angled Harrison Street connector road and a new road through the Sarnoff property's southern edge.

-- Alternative F is similar to Alternative A, except it would eliminate through access at Harrison Street. East-west traffic would have to use Washington Road to get to the Princetons, while Route 1 travelers would have to use Harrison Street to get into the Princetons. This proposal is meant to maintain equal traffic distribution into and out of the Princetons.

-- Alternative G provides turning lane modifications on every Route 1 approach to Harrison Street and Washington Road, including center turn lanes. The traffic signal at Fisher Place would be removed and Fisher Place would become right-in and right-out only.

Most of the alternatives propose extending Vaughn Drive north from its terminus at the Princeton Junction train station to Washington Road.

Lynch said the Sierra Club prefers the alignment that will least affect the environment. The water quality tests will help make that decision clearer, she said.

"We can't really pick a favorite right now because we don't have any hard data," Lynch said.

WEST WINDSOR Traditionally, when it comes to the Millstone Bypass, township officials have staunchly supported only one option the original bypass plan. But after careful study,
township professionals agree three versions of the plan meet West Windsor's needs and should be considered for support.

Gary Davies, the township's traffic consultant, took a look at 18 roadway alignment alternatives developed by an advisory roundtable responsible for crafting an environmental impact statement for the bypass, at the request of Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh.

"I wanted the professionals to take a look at the alternatives and find out which ones would be best from West Windsor's perspective," the mayor said. "I think it is important we take a proactive posture to get the bypass we want. I want to be able to go to the state Department of Transportation and recommend they build a configuration that best suits our needs, but I want to make sure we're supporting the right one."

Township Engineer Jim Parvesse analyzed Mr. Davies' findings with the help of the mayor, Councilwoman Alison Miller, Planning Board member Steve Decter and Penns Neck resident David Parris and found that three alternatives, known as B-1, A and A-1, all would be beneficial to nearby roads and neighborhoods. The alignments include the following:

Alternate B-1 includes the original alignment of the Millstone Bypass, which would run northwest from Route 571 along the Millstone River, crossing Route 1 near Harrison Street and
running near the Delaware & Raritan Canal to Washington Road with a spur to Harrison Street, with the addition of a Vaughn Drive connector road.

Alternate A includes the original alignment of the Millstone Bypass combined with depressing Route 1 underneath Washington Road, and a Vaughn Drive connector road.

Alternate A-1 includes the original Millstone Bypass, Route 1 cut below Washington Road, a Vaughn Drive connector road and several service roads on either side of Route 1.

The mayor presented this information to the Township Council on Jan. 13 and met with some resistance.

Councilwoman Rae Roeder objected to any change in the township's long-standing support of the original alignment of the Millstone Bypass and expressed concern that options A and A-1
would be too expensive to construct.

Councilwoman Kristin Appelget expressed similar sentiments and insisted the township needs to maintain a unified stand.

"What West Windsor has done well in the past is to speak with a unified voice," Ms. Appelget said. "The environmental study is coming to a close and we need to maintain our unanimity. It would be horrible to lose that at this critical juncture."

Several council members suggested holding a joint meeting of the Township Council and township Planning Board to allow everyone to discuss the options and get public input.

But on Wednesday, the Planning Board decided a joint meeting was not necessary. Instead, it will take up the issue itself at its Feb. 5 meeting.

"Members of council are welcome to attend," said Marvin Gardner, Planning Board chair. "We're going to hear a presentation from the mayor about the alternatives and then consider whether or not to support his recommendation. The public can comment as well."

A draft environmental impact statement, evaluating the 18 bypass alternatives, is expected in April.

The DOT commissioned the Voorhees Transportation Policy Institute at Rutgers University to conduct the EIS and study possible solutions to traffic congestion in the Penns Neck area
after former Gov. Christie Whitman rejected the agency's recommendation favoring the Millstone Bypass in 2000.

An advisory roundtable of area government leaders, citizens and other officials has since been convened to assist Rutgers in crafting the EIS and building a consensus on the proper solution to congestion in the Penns Neck area.

A draft environmental study of alternatives to the Millstone Bypass has been delayed four months to give more time to review environmental and historic impacts.

The release of a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) evaluating 18 roadway alignment alternatives to the former state-endorsed roadway was expected in late December, but has been delayed until April, said Jon Carnegie, senior project manager with the Voorhees Transportation Policy Institute at Rutgers University.

The state Department of Transportation, which commissioned Rutgers to study possible solutions to traffic congestion in the Penns Neck area around Route 1 after former Gov. Christie Whitman rejected the agency's recommendation favoring the Millstone Bypass, is now expected to announce its preferred alignment by August.

The schedule change follows outcries in October by conservation advocates that review of environmental and historic impacts was being rushed through, a charge a DOT spokesman called "completely groundless."

On Tuesday night, some members of an advisory roundtable to the Rutgers study team again pressed for greater attention to the environment, calling for an inventory of potentially endangered plants and wildlife, and a review of possible impacts from known contaminants on the Sarnoff campus in West Windsor Township.

Richard Barrett of Sensible Transportation Options Partnership asked the Rutgers team to take "the high road" and conduct a habitat assessment of rare plants and animals in accord with recommendations from a 2001 report commissioned by the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association.

Mr. Carnegie said the roundtable had agreed at an earlier meeting not to include such a study in the EIS process and opted to stick by that decision.

Mr. Barrett called the decision not to conduct the habitat assessment "arbitrary."

"We thought we were in a progressive process here," he said. "I think even under the guidelines we have set up they should be taken into consideration."

Also on Tuesday, Peggy Killmer of Millstone Bypass Alert brought to the roundtable's attention a 1999 report by the state Department of Environmental Protection detailing trichloroethylene contamination on the Sarnoff property, and questioned why the roundtable and the public weren't notified of the problem earlier.

Mr. Carnegie said the study team has been aware of the contamination and that it would be included in the roundtable's planned discussion on contaminated materials and sites.

Ms. Killmer said she worried that construction of an east-side connector road linking Route 571 with Route 1 through the Sarnoff property, one of the components of the 18 roadway alternatives, could stir up the contaminants and release them into the surrounding waterways and groundwater.

"This is a very, very serious situation," she said. "We had no idea this soil was contaminated."

Ms. Killmer said taxpayers could be billed for cleanup of contamination that the DEP has deemed Sarnoff's responsibility if a state roadway ends up being run through the technology campus.

Walter Schmidlin, Sarnoff's director of facilities management and a roundtable member, said the DEP has characterized the contamination as a "regional issue," not from dumping by Sarnoff.

Sarnoff has been voluntarily treating contaminated groundwater through carbon filtering since 1983, Mr. Schmidlin said.

In 2000, Gov. Christie Whitman rejected the DOT's recommendation favoring the Millstone Bypass.

The advisory roundtable has been convened to assist Rutgers in building consensus on a solution to traffic woes in the Penns Neck area following more than a decade of controversy surrounding the former Millstone Bypass.

The Princeton Environmental Commission on Wednesday night agreed to join with conservation advocates in urging the state Department of Transportation and state and local officials not to rush the review of environmental and historic impacts from alternatives to the Millstone Bypass.

By a unanimous motion, the commission agreed to sign a letter expected to be mailed today by Millstone Bypass Alert, a coalition of several area advocacy groups, that charges the DOT with "disregarding the environment as we round the last curve on the road" to a roadway solution to traffic congestion in the Penns Neck area.

"The run to create these revisions to Route 1 was stopped dead in its tracks by large numbers of people, including the Princeton Environmental Commission, who wanted the environmental impacts to be considered," said commission Vice Chair David Breithaupt.

"All the focus appears to be solely on multiple permutations of the layout of the roads," Mr. Breithaupt continued, "and none appear to be discussed in relation to mitigation of environmental impacts."

DOT spokesman Micah Rasmussen said flatly that the Millstone Bypass Alert charge is "not true" and "completely groundless.

"Neither the department nor anyone else is rushing this process," Mr. Rasmussen said. "The roundtable will have whatever time is necessary to review all of the data and all the criteria and come up with the most appropriate recommendations."

The Rutgers' Transportation Policy Institute, which the DOT commissioned last year to prepare an environmental impact statement in cooperation with a community advisory roundtable, recently unveiled 18 roadway alternatives, from which the DOT is expected to select one by April.

In 2000, Gov. Christie Whitman rejected the DOT's recommendation favoring the bypass, a 2.3-mile roadway that would have run northwest from Route 571 along the Millstone River, crossed Route 1 near Harrison Street and run along the Delaware & Raritan Canal to Washington Road, with a spur to Harrison Street.

According to Millstone Bypass Alert, approximately a year has gone into developing the roadway alternatives, but just a month will be devoted to environmental, cultural and historical review before a draft EIS is expected to be released in late December, with a public hearing on the alternatives slated for January.

The letter is expected to be sent today to the governor, the DOT commissioner, congressional representatives and state and local officials.

According to the letter, the EIS process has now "shifted into overdrive" at the risk of the "crucial part of this process being eviscerated.

"This will potentially result in a waste of taxpayer dollars," the letter goes on, "and further undermine our faith in government's ability to make a positive contribution to our lives."

According to Richard Barrett of Sensible Transportation Options Partnership, a member of the umbrella Bypass Alert group, the EIS process should not be open-ended but the April deadline should be extended. There is concern "that what should be a very substantive analysis will be short-circuited because of time constraints," Mr. Barrett said.

"We've spent a long time in the roundtable discussion on road-based mobility," he said. "What we haven't done is put those through the filter of the reason we're doing the EIS, which is the historic, cultural and environmental resources in the area."

But according to West Windsor Township Council Vice President Jackie Alberts, who has participated in the roundtable process, "People's specific environmental and historic concerns have been behind specific road considerations. To say a lot of time has been spent on roads and not the environment is an illusion because that's what created those road configurations."

Participation is not the same as attendance
To the editor:
In an article appearing Oct. 18, The Packet quotes West Windsor Council Vice President Jackie Alberts as defending the time spent on the environment in the Penns Neck EIS roundtable process and describes her as someone "who has participated in the roundtable process."
Ms. Alberts has the right to her opinion, which may be based on reports from her colleagues. Readers of The Packet also have the right to know, however, that Ms. Alberts is not a member of the roundtable and does not regularly attend roundtable meetings, as do many members of the public.

Subcommittee endorses creating a below-grade underpass of Washington Road for

Route 1 that would cost between $15 million and $25 million.
Princeton Planning Board members on Tuesday outlined preferences for a future roadway alternative to the former Millstone Bypass that they said should be put in place to distribute traffic evenly into and through Princeton.

The Circulation Subcommittee of the Princeton Regional Planning Board met to draft a recommendation to the Rutgers Transportation Policy Institute, which has been commissioned by the state Department of Transportation to resolve the longstanding stalemate over the bypass and congestion in the Penns Neck area.

Last week, the Rutgers team unveiled 18 roadway alternatives that comprise varying configurations of several basic features, one of which the DOT is expected to select as the locally preferred alternative by April.

Before a preferred alignment is selected, a draft environmental impact statement is expected to be released in late December, with a public hearing to follow in January, to gather testimony on the alternatives.

The Rutgers team also invited members of the public last week to submit input on the 18 alternatives.

On Tuesday, Princeton Borough mayor and subcommittee member Marvin Reed, who has sat on an advisory roundtable convened in June 2001 to help evaluate alternatives, said that if no action is taken by 2028 almost every intersection in Princeton will be glutted with traffic.

"Without any building we are going to be absolutely gridlocked with congestion," Mayor Reed said.

The mayor added, "I am convinced that whatever solution comes out will be much more extensive and much more expensive" than previously considered by the DOT.

One component the circulation subcommittee endorsed - Route 1 in a below-grade underpass of Washington Road - would cost between $15 million and $25 million, Mayor Reed said.

The subcommittee pointed to several other features it plans to recommend to the Rutgers team that would meet Princeton's objective in selecting a roadway alternative. That objective, Mayor Reed has said, is that traffic entering Princeton be evenly distributed along the three major intersections of Nassau Street at Harrison Street and Washington and Alexander roads.

A preferred feature is a connector road linking the existing Vaughn Drive to Route 571 in

West Windsor just to the west of the Northeast Corridor rail line.
Mayor Reed said "it seems increasingly important for Princeton to insist" on such a road, because it would help distribute traffic between Route 571 and the Princeton Junction Train Station, Carnegie Center and Toll Brothers' 1,165-unit Estates at Princeton Junction housing development planned for Bear Brook Road.

A Vaughn Drive connector road would alleviate traffic pressure on Route 1 intersections.

The subcommittee also supported a "diamond" rather than a "cloverleaf" interchange at Route 1 and Harrison Street and a connector road linking Canal Pointe Boulevard at Alexander Road with Washington Road to the west of Route 1.

Of the 18 alternatives, the subcommittee seemed most to support variations of what is referred to by the Penns Neck Area study team as Alternative D. It meets all of the preferred criteria except the Canal Pointe Boulevard connector road.

Like many of the proposed alignments, Alternative D includes an east-side connector road linking Route 571 near the Northeast Corridor line to Route 1 through the middle of the Sarnoff Corp. property, and a west-side connector road from Route 1 to Harrison Street near the Delaware & Raritan Canal.

Mayor Reed said this alternative provides a "logical" division of the Sarnoff property that roughly coincides with the division of land to be developed by the technology company and that owned by Princeton University for its long-term growth needs.

Alternative D also provides for an "irregular path" from Route 571 to Route 1 that would serve to slow the flow of traffic into Princeton.

Mayor Reed said the current review of alternatives has shown that the bypass alignment preferred by the DOT and still endorsed by officials in West Windsor Township "will not work."

The DOT commissioned the Rutgers institute last year after former Gov. Christie Whitman rejected the state agency's recommendation favoring the bypass, a 2.3-mile roadway alignment first submitted by the DOT in 1986.

That bypass would run northwest from Route 571 along the Millstone River, crossed Route 1 south of Harrison Street and continued along the Delaware & Raritan Canal to link with Washington Road, with a spur to Harrison Street.

More traffic is on the way. Much more-and one of the areas to be hardest hit is the stretch of Route 1 between the Plainsboro and West Windsor borders.

Improvements have been made to address the coming deluge, with overpasses being built at Meadow, Alexander, Scudders Mill, and College roads, but one major source of traffic tie-ups still remains-the troika of lights on Route 1 at Harrison Street, Fisher Place, and Washington Road.

Projections recently released by -the Voorhees Transportation Policy Institute of Rutgers University as part of the Penns Neck Area Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) show that the number of jobs in Plainsboro and West Windsor will jump by 83 percent in the next 20 years and the resulting traffic is bound to make things worse. The EIS study will ultimately determine whether the three lights will be eliminated, and what will be built in their place.

Area residents were presented with a smorgasbord of alternatives -18 in total-during a day-long in-progress review of the Penns Neck EIS at the New Jersey Hospital Association on Alexander Road in West Windsor on September 30.

Options range from doing nothing at all, to tunneling Route 1 under Washington Road; building an overpass; or constructing side access roads parallel to the highway. Also proposed is a the so-called Vaughn Drive connector road that would extend Vaughn Drive to run between Alexander Road, through the Princeton Junction train station, to Washington Road.

" There will be more jobs in the primary study area than in downtown Newark," said Jon Carnegie of the Voorhees Transportation Policy Institute, which sponsored the event. The institute has been working the last year with the EIS Partners Roundtable to come up with a plan. The Roundtable is a 32-member group representing sometimes conflicting community, historic preservation, environmental, corporate, retail, and government constituencies.

It is estimated that there were a total of 46,257 jobs in businesses along the Route 1 corridor in Plainsboro and West Windsor as of 2001. Based on planning information from both townships, it's projected that the number of jobs will almost double to 84,445 by the year 2028. It's also projected that by 2028 the primary study area which encompasses Plainsboro, West Windsor, and the Princeton will have 97,042 jobs by 2028.

The population of the primary study area is also expected to in crease, although not as dramatically as the employment numbers According to statistics, the population in 2001 was 76,777 and will increase by 12 percent to 85,693 by 2028.

Add the traffic generated by these population increases to inter sections that are already functioning poorly, and there are some real problems. According to Carnegie the three intersections now all currently function above capacity during peak traffic periods, and the average Route 1 delay can be as high as 2.1 minutes to get through the three intersections.

The delays were much worse or the east-west roads. The average delay during peak traffic periods on Washington Road at Route 1 range from two to five minutes with a maximum observed delay of 11.2 minutes. The average peak delay on Harrison Street range from 1.4 to 8.2 minutes with a maximum observed delay of 11.8 minutes.

"If growth and development trends continue as expected," Carnegie said, "it is reasonable to conclude that these conditions will worsen."

Area officials and residents say that based on those numbers, road improvements must be made. "It's very difficult for me to believe that they are going to select the no-build option," says David Parris, a member of the Partners Roundtable. "When looking at what's been approved (to be built) we have to look at doing something."

'We cannot expect any more that we are going to see the Millstone Bypass as we originally supported it" says Mayor Shing-Fe Hsueh. "We are now going to have to look at the hard data to see what is going to fit based on environmental concerns and the impact on historical sites."

Regardless of the plan chosen, he adds, there are three issue that must be addressed. One is that the Vaughn Drive connector is constructed. The second is that whatever is chosen cannot affect the Sarnoff Corporations approved plans for a 3-million-square-foot office complex on it's property in Penns Neck.

"Thirdly, we have to make sure Penns Neck is preserved and the traffic is taken off of Washington Road," says Hsueh. "That road is not designed to carry that level of traffic, and it is also a quality of life issue to the residents who live on that road."

Plainsboro Mayor Peter Cantu says he is pleased to see the process moving forward. "My main concern is that something gets done. These are improvements that are desperately needed. The traffic problems are not going to go away, and, from a selfish standpoint, my community is impacted, because the traffic is backing up into Plainsboro."

"I'm encouraged that it seems this thing isn't going to drag on forever and a timeline has been set that needs to be met," Cantu adds.

Last month, Governor McGreevey said that he wants the EIS process completed by April, 2003. The current schedule seems to meet that goal. A draft version of the EIS, which will list preferred options and likely also dissenting opinions, is expected to be released in December, followed by a public hearing in January. Comments will be accepted until the middle of February and the final EIS is scheduled for release in April.

In addition to seven main alternatives (and associated sub-options), a"no-build" alternative is included in the mix currently being looked at, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act. This baseline scenario will serve as the benchmark against which all of the build alternatives will be compared. No-build considers only routine maintenance and currently planned improvements to roadways in the primary (five-mile radius) and secondary (20-mile radius) study areas that are likely to be build by 2028.

The seven other alternatives on the table to deal with these demands are as follows:

A. Bury Route 1. AS with the other alternatives, these, teh A alternatives, have variations. All A alternatives, however, place Route 1 in a cut, and most: provide frontage roads. All provide a new grade-separated interchange in the vicinity of Harrison Street, and east-side connector road at the northern edge of the Sarnoff property along the Millstone River, and a Harrison Street connector road west of Route 1 between the D&R Canal and Route 1.

All A Alternatives provide direct access to and from Route 1 through either loop or diamond interchanges in the vicinity of Harrison Street. One A alternative removes all access between Washington Road and Route 1 and provides no frontage roads. Other A alternatives provide direct access to Route 1 southbound; access from Route 1 northbound and southbound and to Route 1 northbound is provided via frontage road connections to Harrison.

The A alternatives, like many other plans, includes the Vaughn Drive connector road.

B. The Millstone Bypass. These, the B alternatives, are similar to the former preferred alignment for the Millstone Bypass. Route 1 remains at grade and the traffic signals at Washington Road, Fisher Place, and Harrison Street are removed and replaced with a grade-separated loop interchange in the vicinity of Harrison Street. East-west access across Route 1 at Washington Road is eliminated.

Unlike the A alternatives, the B alternatives do not include frontage roads between Harrison Street and Washington Road. Instead B and B-1 connect:Harrison Street at Washington Road with a west-side connector road across Princeton University property, in the vicinity of the D&R Canal. In B-2, a similar connector road-between Harrison Street and Washington Road is aligned further to the east and extends south to Alexander.

C. A scaled down Millstone Bypass. Similar to alternative B, C alternatives provide an at-grade Route 1 and removes the traffic signals at Washington Road, Fisher Place, and Harrison Street. The C alternatives include a diamond interchange in the vicinity of Harrison Street and a 2-way frontage road running parallel to Route I on the west side, between Washington Road and Harrison Street.

One C alternative provides a west-east connector road between Alexander and Washington Roads, while another does not. The C alternative does not include the east-west connector road, through Sarnoff property, that is a main feature of the original Millstone Bypass configuration, and which is a prominent feature in B alternatives. C alternatives also make use of a Vaughn Drive extension.

D. The hybrid. D alternatives bury a portion of Route 1 at Washington Road, provide frontage roads between Washington Road and a new Harrison Street interchange, and make use of an east side connector road through Sarnoff property. The configuration envisioned in D plans puts the east-side connector as farther to the south, and farther away from the Millstone River than does the original Millstone River Bypass. D also puts a connector road from Route 1 to Harrison Street.

E. Another hybrid. E alternatives also bury a portion of Route 1, cut east-to-west across Sarnoff property, include a Harrison Street connector, and make use of a Vaughn Drive extension. A distinctive feature of E alternatives is that they put the east-west connector road the southern edge of Sarnoff property.

F. No throughput to Harrison Street. Like other plans, F alternatives include a Route 1 cut, a grade-separated loop interchange in the vicinity of Harrison Street, an east-side connector road, and a Harrison Street connector road. The big difference is that F alternatives prohibit through access from the east-side connector road to the west-side Harrison Street connector road. The elimination of through access at Harrison Street was designed to maintain an equal distribution of east-west traffic into and out of the Princeton.

In F alternatives, Route 1 traffic into Princeton would use the Harrison interchange, while east-west traffic would use Washington.

G. The minimally-invasive plan. The G alternatives involve working with lane changes and traffic signals to tame Route 1 traffic. Alternative G calls for turning lane modifications on all Route 1/Harrison Street and Route 1/Washington Road approaches, including center turn lanes on Route 1 at Washington Road and Harrison Street. The traffic signal at Fisher Place is removed and Fisher Place becomes a right-in/right-out intersection.

Alternative G-1 is similar to G, but replaces center left-turn lanes with jug handles at Washington Road and Harrison Street. The signal at Fisher Place