Toll increases detrimental to the Brunswick area
Gov. Jon Corzine's plan to increase tolls on the New Jersey Turnpike will undoubtedly have a negative effect on the townships of North and South Brunswick.

As it already stands, the area near Exit 8A of the turnpike, which is located in South Brunswick, is inundated with truck traffic. There are also other trucks that currently avoid the turnpike and instead use Route 130 or side roads, such as Davidson Mill Road, Ridge Road and Adams Lane. With these roads being too narrow, poorly paved or surrounded by residential units, the higher cost of driving on a major highway will cause these smaller roadways to become major thoroughfares for trucks.

Also, as a result of the addition of millions of square feet of warehouse space in South Brunswick, the number of trucks using the highway should technically increase because they have to drop off their shipments. Or, as stated by Gail Toth, the executive director of the New Jersey Motor Truck Association, perhaps those trucks will avoid driving through the state altogether. If that circumstance prevails, South Brunswick will be left with empty warehouses that residents warned of in the first place. This will be a financial burden to the township, and egg on the faces of township officials who approved such development.

The debate is not a new one: residents in the townships have always complained about truck traffic to their town councils and planning and zoning boards. There are already too many accidents occurring on Route 130 and Route 1 in the Brunswick area, with or without trucks, and forcing more trucks onto smaller highways is no doubt a recipe for disaster. Especially with the intersection where the end of Route 130 north meets Route 1 north, and themerging lanes onto Route 1 north past that, or even the area near Rutgers University on the Route 1 south side, it is nearly impossible for smaller cars to maneuver in and out of lanes safely. Imagine larger trucks trying to do the same. This is not a new issue, but one that will definitely be exacerbated by the proposed toll increases.

A different plan is needed to reduce the state's debt. With today's high cost of living, customers, besides their own personal commuting fees, will have to pay even more for their goods because of the toll and gasoline costs the trucks have to pay. Perhaps the state needs not just a constitutional convention to fund property taxes, but a large-scale meeting to devise ways to handle the state's debt. The accruement of $32 billion in debt did not happen overnight, so the reasons for that significant amount should be addressed and limited in the future. But for now, the idea of raising the tolls must keep on truckin'.