Route 92 is still wrong

The N.J. Turnpike’s plan to build a 6.7-mile toll road between exit 8A of the turnpike and Route 1 in South Brunswick would damage the community, the environment and the already-stretched fiscal situation of the Turnpike Authority.

The project, estimated to cost about $400 million, will fill 12 acres of wetlands and temporarily fill another 3 acres during construction. The planned road will cut across much of the only rural open space in the township.

Neighbors to the south, including Plainsboro and Princeton, feel this roadway is needed to ease regional traffic congestion. We disagree.

There are several intersections in the area where the road will be built that will continue to fail state waiting standards even if the project is built, according to a study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

According to the draft environmental impact study released this week, intersections at Dey Road, and Schalk’s Crossing will still "fail" state tests for intersection efficiency despite the construction of Route 92.

South Brunswick, and especially Kingston residents, have the most to fear from this antiquated project. Thousands of cars may be unloaded on Route 1 at the Ridge Road intersection.

Route 1 is troublesome enough without the added burden this project would load onto that road.

The Army Corps study admits that the road will only meet expectations if "other agencies" complete work such as widening Route 1.

The N.J. Department of Transportation has said that increasing the number of lanes on Route 1 from four to six may take the better part of a decade to complete.

That agency already turned this project away for lack of funding in 1992.

Besides the immediate problems that this project would bring to the township, we wonder why a 60-year-old idea that has languished on a shelf for so long is so desperately needed now?

Perhaps one answer is that Princeton Forrestal Center on Route 1 is struggling.

The mall, which is owned by the financial arm of Princeton University, would benefit from a "driveway" of sorts from the turnpike.

This project should remain as it is, the oldest unfinished road construction project in the state.

The state and the authority can make better use of the money.

Perhaps they could use that money as a start to dismantle the toll roads in the state that should have been bulldozed years ago. Both the turnpike and the Garden State Parkway need projects like this to continue to build debt, and thus continue to collect tolls.

We are not holding our breath, but we are hoping that this project finally dies.