Latest News: Dec. 4, 2006

• The Turnpike Authority announced that it is canceling the Route 92 project. It is not known at this time whether the Army Corps will finalize the EIS. But still, very good news!
   
• The Army Corps of Engineers refuses to let 92 die. They have issued a final EIS that (illegal) does not make a recommendation at all. But, whenever the Turnpike can get the money, they can apply for permits. (Any questions about whether they’ll be granted?)
   
• Under orders from former Acting Governor Codey, the Turnpike Authority has transferred most of the money that they borrowed for Route 92 to pay for a project that’s really necessary - widening 20 miles of the Turnpike.
  

  A proud guardian of a proud heritage. Ed Hewitt of Kingston snapped this picture of a bald eagle soaring over Carnegie Lake, close to the proposed western terminus of 92. Bald eagles, an endangered species in New Jersey, have also been sighted at the east end of the 92 impact area at Sondek Park, and a breeding pair has hatched a chick near the Carnegie Lake end.

  
  But Michael Lapolla, director of the Turnpike Authority, says that they can still borrow more money for it, the state still owns the right-of-way, and Plainsboro Mayor Pete Cantu is still trying to push 92 - through Plainsboro’s own nature preserve!
  
  
• Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein stated in the press on Oct. 21 that she believes that Route 92 should not be built. This means that all three State representatives from the 14th district - which includes the worst part of the 92 impact zone - have publicly agreed that 92 is a bad idea. A truly bipartisan statement in the region’s best interest. Thank you, Assemblywoman Greenstein, Assemblyman Baroni, and Senator Inverso!
   
• Almost all of the towns impacted by 92 are now willing to hold roundtable talks to find a better way to relieve regional traffic - but Plainsboro Mayor Pete Cantu wants no discussion until the Army Corps rubber-stamps 92. We applaud the Mayors who are willing to talk regional problems over with their neighbors to find solutions to traffic that work for everyone.
   
• Over the 2004 Christmas holidays, the Turnpike Authority reapplied for permits to build 92.  These permits would let the Turnpike cut trees and add asphalt to wetlands - even before the Army Corps announces its decision on whether it will override the United States EPA and allow 92 to be built.
   
• The Sierra Club will oppose the Turnpike widening project unless 92 is scrapped. "If they don't stop Route 92, then we would fight the turnpike expansion," said Jeff Tittel, president of the NJ chapter. Tittel also warned that any benefits of the ‘Pike widening would be lost unless the state puts the brakes on new development in that region. And that means canceling 92.
   
• Both Princeton Township and Princeton Borough have approved resolutions supporting a mediated roundtable to give the impacted communities a voice on Route 92. This follows a report by the Princeton Environmental Commission that expressed serious concern on what 92’s traffic would do to the Princetons and to the environment throughout the region.
   
• The Army Corps of Engineers has released a draft environmental impact statement that supports Route 92. Public hearings were held on Thursday, May 20, and attracted a crowd of roughly 500. A large majority expressed their opposition to Route 92.
  
   
• Mayor Gambatese and Councilwoman Barrett of South Brunswick delivered 1,800 letters opposing 92 to former Governor James E. McGreevey on July 23. These letters include many from communities such as the Princetons and Plainsboro, whose elected officials have historically supported 92, as well as from the municipalities in the Coalition. These citizens realize that 92 will bring only more traffic to their home towns.
   
• The Environmental Protection Agency has issued a letter that renews their opposition to Route 92 and disputes the Army Corps’ draft environmental impact study. The EPA letter affirms our position that that the Army Corps’ DEIS has dismissed or failed to analyze viable alternatives to 92. Click here to get a copy of the EPA’s letter.
   
• The Army Corps, which was censured by the Department of Defense in 2001 for rubber-stamping construction projects, has ascribed near-miraculous properties to the road - unlike every other new superslab, they claim that 92 would evaporate traffic from every road in the region. Unanswered are the questions of where this traffic would come from, where it would go, and why Mayor Peter Cantu wants all of these miracles to happen in our townships, but not his.
   
• South Brunswick Township has hired attorney Michael Gerrard to defend itself against 92. Mr. Gerrard has a long and distinguished record of fighting questionable roadbuilding projects, including the defeat of the West Side Highway in New York and a successful campaign in our own Montgomery Township. His firm, Arnold and Porter, has the Federal-level connections needed to successfully deal with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency and help us win the 92 fight.

Mr. Gerrard’s time does not come cheap, but this is no time to be cheap. We feel he is worth the price. Well done, Mayor Gambatese, and good luck, Mr. Gerrard!
 

• No 92 has discovered substantial conflicts of interest between the Turnpike Authority and Camp Dresser McKee, the roadbuilding agency that the Army Corps hired to do the EIS. CDM did $700,000 worth of business with the Turnpike Authority in a single year (see page 17, and add up all the numbers.) As far as we have been able to determine through our Freedom of Information Act request for documents relating to conflicts of interest, this conduct on CDM’s part got a wink and a nod from the Army Corps. Fox. Henhouse. Guard.
   
• The 1999 NJ Department of Environmental Protection wetlands permits to build Route 92 have expired. Mayors in the Route 92 impact zone are standing firm against 92, and say that the battle isn’t over yet -- the New Jersey Turnpike Authority has announced its intention to reapply for permits to build Route 92.

NJDEP commissioner Bradley Campbell says he is “waiting for the EIS” before making a decision to grant the permits - this despite the fact that NJDEP has had access to the EIS for months. Impacted communities have had no such privilege.
 

What’s going on here?
 

• State Senator Peter Inverso has proposed using the Route 92 money to fund a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system along Route 1. This would use our public funds the right way - to relieve traffic congestion along Route 1, instead of promoting it.
   
• State Assemblyman John Wisnewski (D-Middlesex), chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee, has blocked the Inverso-Baroni bill to deauthorize construction of Route 92. Wisnewski called 92 “sorely needed” and said that it would be “premature” to decide to stop 92 before the Army Corps of Engineers releases its Environmental Impact Statement. This despite three rejections of 92 by the United States EPA and the desperate need for the 92 money to fix real transportation problems everywhere else in New Jersey.
  
  Please contact your State representatives and Governor Corzine to ask them to get the Inverso-Baroni bill moving again - or to kill 92, any way they can.
   
• South Brunswick Township has set up a trust fund to be used to fight 92 in the courts. Please encourage your Township Council to contribute to the region’s common defense!
   
• Even though the State badly needs money, Route 92 is still very much alive. Neither Corzine nor the Turnpike Authority have canceled it!

Can you help us stop 92?
Please contact us at no92@verizon.net.