MOM line knocks Middlesex off the track
Corzine says the rail line will include Monmouth and Ocean counties
BY CHRIS MURINO Staff Writer
Gov. Jon Corzine made members of the South Brunswick government very happy during his town hall meeting at East Brunswick High School on Sunday when he told the audience that the new proposed rail line would be the MO line and not the MOM line.T

he line, which was to go through Monmouth, Ocean andMiddlesex counties, now apparently will leave Middlesex County out of the mix if it is up to the governor.

"It was very refreshing seeing Gov. Corzine put his foot down," said South Brunswick Councilman Chris Killmurray. "He basically told Monmouth and Ocean counties, 'We'll work with you on your problems, but we'll work with you in the context of Monmouth and Ocean."

Mayor Frank Gambatese was elated with what the governor told him.

"He said, 'It's ridiculous to even think we'd spend $850 million to come into Middlesex County when we could spend $600 million and go directly up north.'"

Officials in Monmouth and Ocean counties are angered by the comments made by the governor.

"The Monmouth Junction line is our best chance of relieving the growing traffic congestion on Route 9, Route 18, Route 130, Route 1 and the New Jersey Turnpike," said Monmouth County Freeholder Director Lillian Burry in a press release. "Without the Monmouth Junction line, traffic on Route 9will increase 42 percent in just 12 years, bringing that highway to a crawl."

Burry mentioned a recent poll commissioned by Monmouth and Ocean counties, and conducted by McLaughlin & Associates, that said that 78 percent of Middlesex County residents want the MOM line. Township officials have repeatedly refuted these polls as biased and flawed, due to only 200 residents from the county being surveyed.

"It was improper for the governor to have commented on the alternatives being studied in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement before the study is completed and before a locally preferred alternative is chosen," Burry said.

The Department of Transportation would not comment on the impact of the governor's statement. The study is expected to be completed sometime next year.

The governor also made township officials happy when he said that Route 440 would not be a toll road and that Route 1 would finally be widened.

"I still believe it will be a hybrid approach," Councilman Joe Camarota said of the governor's debt reduction plan. "The governor, to his credit, is responding to the legitimate concerns we have. He is listening to the mayor and the council of South Brunswick.

"He mentioned the widening of Route 1," he continued. "This is something we've all been lobbying and talking to him about."

Gambatese attended a meeting with Corzine and 17 mayors in Middlesex County after the town hall meeting on Sunday.

"He [Corzine] knows Exit 8A is busy," Gambatese said. "It's the most heavily used truck exit in the entire state. The governor has every intention of having Route 1 widened by the time the tolls go in."

The mayor requested that the widening begin sooner than when the tolls are implemented. He said the governor agreed that it was possible this could be done.

Camarota was also pleased with some other things the governor mentioned.

"There will be up to a 25 percent discount project, for frequent users, which is great," Camarota said.

However, more trying times may be ahead for the governor.

"On February 26, he will announce his budget and there will be a $2 [billion] to $2.5 billion reduction in spending," Camarota said. "I foresee even more people being upset over that."