PENNS NECK AREA EIS

June 26, 2002 Correspondence from Paula McGuire & 
 July 3, 2002 Rutgers Project Team Response

Subject: Important clarification
Date: Wednesday, June 26, 2002 4:01 PM
From: Paula McGuire
To: Martin Robins, Jon Carnegie, Shing-Fu Hsueh, Marvin Reed, Phyllis Marchand 

Martin E. Robins/Jon A. Carnegie
Transportation Policy Institute
Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center
Rutgers University
33 Livingston Street Suite 500
New Brunswick, NJ  08901

Dear Martin and Jon,

At the meeting of the West Windsor Planning Board on June 20, West Windsor
Council Member Rae Roeder made a statement about a meeting she, the mayor, and the Council had held with Transportation Commissioner James P. Fox on the subject of the so-called Millstone Bypass and the Sarnoff General Development Plan. She indicated that Commissioner Fox said that passage of the GDP by the PB would be the driving force in getting the bypass constructed. She also asked Sarnoff for help in getting the bypass built.

As a member of the Environmental Impact Statement (E.I.S.) Roundtable that has been charged with objectively examining alternatives for mobility in the Penns Neck Area, I am asking for some clarification of this statement. From the onset of the E.I.S. process, members of the Roundtable were told that that the former preferred alignment of the bypass held no more weight than others. If the selection of the former preferred alignment is a foregone conclusion, as seems to be indicated by Ms.Roeder's remarks, then it appears that the E.I.S. would become strictly a pro forma exercise. This would
undermine mandated Federal regulations pertinent to the environmental review
and the public's trust.

I look forward to any information or explanation you may have.

Sincerely,
Paula McGuire

 cc:  James P. Fox, Commissioner of Transportation  (by fax)
        Shing-Fu Hseuh, Mayor, West Windsor Township
        Marvin Reed, Mayor, Princeton Borough
        Phyllis Marchand, Mayor, Princeton Township
Subject:  RE: Important clarification
Date: Wed, 3 Jul 2002 10:36:48 -0400
From: Jon A. Carnegie
To: Paula McGuire, Phyllis Marchand, Marvin Reed, Shing-Fu Hsueh, Martin Robins,  CC: Andy Fekete, Jules Oroszvary, Anthony Sabidussi, Paul Truban, David Schellinger, Leslie Roche, John Kovar, Gary Davies, Lonnie Weiss, Jon Carnegie, Andrea Lubin, Helen Neuhaus, Chitra Radin, Martin Robins


Paula,  

In response to your June 26, 2002 e-mail message, pleased be advised that, since the meeting that Commissioner Fox held with West Windsor officials to which Rae Roeder refers, we have met and conferred with NJDOT leadership, as none of the Rutgers team had attended that meeting.  

We can assure you that, with regard to the substantive outcome of the study and the effect of Sarnoff's GDP approval, the position stated in Andy Fekete's June 12, 2002 letter on behalf of the NJ Department of Transportation to Ed Steele, Chairperson of the West Windsor Planning Board, the Department's direction to the Rutgers team remains consistent.  We are continuing to evaluate a range of options to improve mobility in the Penns Neck area, and the former "preferred alignment" for the Millstone Bypass has no greater standing in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement than any other alignment or combination of improvements.  

In our consultations with NJDOT leadership, it has become clear that the Department has made swift completion of the EIS process a top priority.  At the July 9 Roundtable meeting, we will be sharing an updated schedule that complies with the Department's directive to complete the EIS process by April 2003.

Sincerely,  

Martin E. Robins & Jon Carnegie 
Voorhees Transportation Policy Institute