New Jersey transportation and environmental organizations convened in Trenton today to voice opposition to plans to widen the Garden State Parkway, NJ Turnpike, and Atlantic City Expressway. The three projects in total are estimated to cost nearly $3 billion, even though they will provide no long-term congestion relief.
Earlier this week, over two dozen transportation and environmental organizations sent a letter to Governor Corzine voicing opposition to the road projects (PDF). “The highway expansion projects represent a leap backwards for New Jersey, a state nationally recognized for its smart growth-oriented transportation policies,” the letter said.
“Once and for all, New Jersey needs to move out of the era of wasteful road expansion projects and into an era of sustainability. Wider highways attract more cars and induce more driving, absent of demand management strategies,” said TSTC executive director Kate Slevin.
As currently designed, neither the Turnpike nor the Garden State Parkway projects included in the Governor’s plan will provide long-term congestion relief. In fact, according to state data, parts of the new lanes on the Parkway will be filled with traffic as soon as construction is complete (See MTR #552).
The organizations also asserted that alternatives, such as congestion pricing and cashless tolling, were not adequately studied in the environmental documents, despite their track record of providing long-term congestion relief at a fraction of the cost of highway expansion (See MTR #s 546, 565).
Jeff Tittel, Director of Sierra Club New Jersey, said, “These projects promote sprawling development, will not ease traffic congestion and are incompatible with the Governor’s stated goal to reduce global warming emissions by 20 percent by 2020.”
The groups contend that thousands of additional cars the lanes are designed to carry will contribute to already high levels of air pollution, and that acres of wetlands and habitat will be destroyed in favor of new impermeable roadway that will contribute to local water pollution.
“It is well documented that roads are the equivalent of a ‘Berlin Wall’ to wildlife species and the proposed road changes would not only further limit animal movement, but would result in additional habitat loss and disturbance that would adversely affect locally sensitive plant and animal communities” said Gylla A. MacGregor, Conservation Ecologist for the New Jersey Audubon Society.
According to Dave Pringle of NJ Environmental Federation, “You can’t build your way out of congestion. Instead of widening these highways and spurring sprawl through the Pinelands and coastal wetlands, we should increase capacity by investing even more in fix it first, rail, air, busses, HOV lanes, and congestion pricing.”
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It is time for our transportation planners to realize that rubber on asphalt is an obsolete method of transportation. In high population density areas, alternatives such as Personal Rapid Transit(PRT), dual mode mass transit and highspeed mag/lev vehicles need to be worked into the matrix. Spending billions on infrastructure that won’t resolve the problems is just not productive so why not look at soem new paradigms, expensive as they may be?
Is anybody doing anything about the Susquhanna-Roseland Project? PSE&G is putting electrical wires throughout New Jersey. These wires are three times the magnetic radiation as the existing lines. No experiments have been done to see if it will cause cancer to our families or harm our land or water. This is the website that every person in New Jersey needs to read. the website is http://www.stopthelines.com Here is some of the stuff on the site.
On June 6, 2008, PSE&G announced a “Reliability Project” that would bring power to Roseland NJ from Pennsylvania along 1 of 3 possible routes (A,B, or C). They quickly held 3 sparsely-attended public meetings in the end of June, as the public was not well informed or aware of this project. Some towns, including Wantage and Byram/Lake Mohawk, asked PSE&G to host additional meetings so that the public could voice their opinions, and those meeting were quickly scheduled and held in mid- to late-July.
On August 5th, PSE&G announced that Route “B” was chosen. The proposal is now being referred to as the Susquehanna Roseland Project. The New Jersey portion will pass through Hardwick Twp, Stillwater Twp, Fredon Twp, Newton, Andover Twp, Byram Twp, Sparta Twp, Jefferson Twp, Rockaway Twp, Kinnelon Boro, Boonton Twp, Montville Twp, Parsippany-Troy Hills Twp, East Hanover Twp, and end in Roseland Boro.
Facts as we understand them
-The current ~85 foot high towers will be replaced with 180-195 foot high lattice structures towers or monopoles !!!
*They plan on using “dual conductor” and “quad conductor” lines, which will have 6 lines for the 230Kv, and 12 lines for the 500Kv. A total of 18 wires!
-PSE&G will add 500 kilovolt lines to the existing 230 kilovolt lines, a combination that does not currently exist anywhere within the PSE&G system as far as we know! Not enough is known of the health effects of EMF’s on people living close to lines carrying this much voltage.
-There is at least 1 school with ~350 children in attendance that is in close proximity to the lines in Fredon (Fredon Elementary), as well as several athletic fields, public open space, and recreation areas along the route. They would also run behind middle school and ballfields in Montville Township. And by Newton High and two in Andover.
-PSE&G has publicly stated that they will not compensate adjacent property owners for any decrease in property value that may be caused by this project.
-Our rural vistas and scenic surroundings are at risk, as is our “quality of life”.
-Environmental impact during drilling for monopoles is of concern. Will they have to do any blasting?
-It is believed that a vast majority of the proposed additional power transmitted through these lines will not be accessible to existing homes along the route, but instead may be sold to the greater New York area and other areas east of the proposed route. This potentially puts more profits in PSE&G’s pockets, and leaves the residents of the towns along the route to suffer the consequences of the eyesore created by the 180+ foot high towers, the health concerns of increased exposure to EMF’s, and decreased property values. ►Link to PSE&G presentation showing future possible routes to NYC (See pg 15 and 52)◄
-Many wonder, why can’t they run the lines straight along Route 80, or run the power in to NYC from the North or South? Or further promote conservation and eliminate the need for this additional power. The public would like to be more involved in the decision process. Even Mayor Bloomberg in NYC is trying to promote green energy in New York City Mayor Bloomberg’s thoughts
(Note: PSE&G states that they can’t bury 500KV AC lines, and that they can’t run the lines above ground along route 80)
– but, aren’t other companies burying lines?!!
Dailypage Article Fight to bury lines in FL Forcing Power Companies to Bury Lines Transmission & Distribution World article
According to this article, more transmission alone will not improve reliability !
Conservation. Alternative energies. Demand-side management. Alternate route. There MUST be a better way to improve the reliability of transmitting power to Roseland NJ and points east, without having the enormous impact these towers will have on the neighborhoods along PSE&G’s chosen route. Bringing in energy from PA and VA to Eastern NJ and points east is not a practical solution. This seems to be a project of Greed, not a project of need.
► Link to info on PSE&G Political Donations◄ ◄ click if you want an 18″ X 24″ sign
[…] to raise tolls on the NJ Turnpike and Garden State Parkway to fund transportation projects met with intense public controversy, it seems that a plan may finally pass. In a letter sent to Gov. Corzine earlier this week, NJDOT […]
I think the “e” group idea is of depopulation and reduced economic activity.
The TSTC position makes it sound like the highway system we have today should always will remain exactly the same as it is now.
As population and the economy grow, it is essential that the highway system grow accordingly.
[…] of the Turnpike and Garden State Parkway. Environmentalists, transit advocates and others have called into question the ability of these expensive projects to reduce congestion in the […]