Consider this a first draft of Thursday’s Dispatches column:
Route 27 cannot handle more truck traffic – especially, extra-wide tandem trailers.
That’s why it is important that the South Brunswick and Franklin township councils join the two Princetons in trying to remove the roadway from the state’s new big-rig network.
Route 27 – along with numerous other county and state roads – have been included in the network, which was proposed by the state Department of Transportation to comply with a federal court decision invalidating a state truck route limiting big-rig access.
The 2006 decision by the federal Third Circuit Court of Appeals lifted restrictions on truck traffic put in place by then-Gov. Christie Todd Whitman that, according to the DOT, limited access to “state highways that have physical characteristics that detract from suitability to be included in the large truck network” if the truck routes either did not begin of end in New Jersey.
The new regulations give larger trucks access to a proposed statewide New Jersey Access Network — a series of local roadways and state highways that include Route 27 — if they are stopping for food and fuel or if they are attempting to reach the next terminal by the shortest distance or the most direct route.
The proposal has Kingston residents concerned, given how close many of the village’s buildings are to the roadway. They want the council in Franklin and South Brunswick to pass resolutions – which they plan to do on Feb. 13 — calling for Route 27 to be removed from the network, resolutions similar to those adopted by the two Princetons and Lawrence Township in January.
Lawrence officials are making the same argument about Route 206.
“We need trucks to make commerce work in the area,” Mayor Greg Pulitti said earlier this month. “But we don’t need large trucks putting wear and tear on our local roads, particularly when they are not involved in making local deliveries.”
To some, the arguments might seem narrow and parochial. A response on our Web site was highly critical of the Princetons’ plans to seek exemptions for Routes 27 and 206.
“Perhaps Princeton and Princeton Borough would like to experience life with out truck transport of product,” the writer said. “I used to work up near Princeton at Lawrenceville. I’m thinkin’ all those nice folks up there wouldn’t be pleased if the malls, etc., in that area suddenly ran out of consumable goods, industries couldn’t get their raw materials, etc.”
But no one is attempting to keep goods from the stores. Deliveries could still be made; short cuts, however, are another story.
And this seems wholly appropriate. Nassau Street (Route 27 through downtown Princeton) and Bayard and Stockton streets (Route 206) are not nearly wide enough for the big rigs. The same goes for Main Street (Route 27) in Kingston and Route 27 between Finnegan’s Lane and Henderson Road, while the section between Henderson and Route 518 is dotted with stores and housing developments and the stretch between Route 518 and Kingston is lined with housing.
Just as important is the availability of legitimate alternatives – especially Route 1, which is wider and designed to handle the traffic. So get the trucks off Routes 27 and 206.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
Hank Kalet 