Corrections or additions?
This article was prepared for the November 8, 2000 edition of U.S.
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Life in the Fast Lane: Millstone Bypass
The proposed Millstone Bypass has encountered another
roadblock, and from an unexpected quarter — Governor Christie
Whitman. Last week Whitman stepped into the increasingly acrimonious
battle between bypass opponents (Princeton residents and
environmentalists)
and proponents (West Windsor residents and officials). She ordered
an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the project, a move that
will certainly delay the project.
Putting aside the intriguing question of just who or what influenced
the governor to take this unusual step, what does her order mean?
On the surface, a delay. The EIS, an in-depth study of the roadway’s
impacts, could take 18 months or two years to complete. The New Jersey
Department of Transportation (DOT) had planned for the two-year
construction
period to begin in late 2003, and this would push it back to 2005
or 2006.
But does it truly mean a delay? Not necessarily. Whitman’s EIS order
actually preempted a lot of folderol that might have resulted in an
EIS being ordered by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) six
months from now, after lots of hearings, reviews, and reports.
“We could have held the public hearing, digested the comments,
made the responses, turned it over to the FHWA, and they could have
said we still think you need to go for a fullblown EIS,” says
DOT spokesperson Jim Berzok. The original hearing had been scheduled
for Monday, December 11, at the Sarnoff Center and will still be held
— but in the form of an information session.
To recap: the Millstone Bypass was planned to eliminate traffic lights
at three Route 1 intersections and ease congestion on Washington Road
in the Penn’s Neck section of West Windsor. The New Jersey Department
of Transportation just released an Environmental Assessment (EA)
report
intended to kick off the final round of the approval process for the
bypass’ construction. This hefty document was supposed to identify
all the potential social and environmental impacts of the DOT’s bypass
plan and help decide whether the in-depth EIS was necessary. Next
would come a public hearing, and then the various government agencies
would have to put their heads together to decide whether to issue
the EIS.
Whitman’s order bypassed all this palaver and cut
straight
to the EIS. Some observers say that the DOT document was faulty and
would eventually have precipitated an EIS anyway.
At issue is the state’s currently proposed “preferred
alignment,”
which has the bypass starting at Route 571 at the railroad bridge
near the Ellsworth’s shopping center in West Windsor, going through
Sarnoff property, using an overpass to cross Route 1 onto Harrison
Street, and veering off Harrison Street to go just east of the D&R
Canal to Washington Road. Washington Road would be open only to right
turns in and right turns out, and no traffic could cross Route 1 at
that point.
The plan has its supporters, and not all of them live in West Windsor.
“I don’t think people realize that Princeton is used as a bypass
anyway,” says Joseph O’Neill, borough vice chair of the Princeton
Regional Planning Board and a supporter of the current plan. “The
two north/south routes, 27 and 206, run right through Princeton.
Before
the Alexander Road overpass was built we had a parking lot on Route
1 from Quakerbridge Mall to Harrison Street. My guess is that the
bypass — with Washington Road as a right in and right out —
would take north/south traffic off Princeton streets.”
Now that the EIS is part of the process, many other options can be
considered or reconsidered, including the realignment of the
Harrison-to-Washington
Road section. Instead of running alongside of the D&R Canal (which
is causing a great deal of resistance from environmentalists) it could
run along the side of Route 1, as a frontage or service road.
A frontage road would feed traffic to almost the entire length of
Washington Road along the much lauded rows of elm trees. Princeton
University’s opposition to keeping Washington Road open is based on
how it could eventually create another safety hazard for pedestrian
traffic. “It would run traffic on a road that would bisect the
campus and duplicate the problems of traffic on Washington Road on
the Princeton side of the lake,” said Eugene McPartland four years
ago, when he was the university’s vice president of facilities (U.S.
1, October 23, 1996).
“The frontage road would run between Harrison and Washington roads
and would allow Princeton to have three distinct entrances,”
counters
Alan Goodheart, a landscape architect (and Harrison Street resident)
who chaired the Good Options planning task force for Sensible
Transportation
Options Partnership (STOP) (E-mail: agoodheart@earthlink.net).
“Along
with other ideas, this would be a simple way to deal with university’s
issue of land taking. But the EIS is a great device for comparing
alternatives.”
“The governor’s welcome decision calls for a study that will be
bigger in vision, more thorough, and more inclusive,” says
Goodheart,
who terms the EA document “severely flawed.” He says the EIS
“will be more complicated and expensive but has a chance of
serving
the entire region well into the future.”
“We always knew an EIS was a very distinct possibility and, as
the only landowner on this side of Route 1, we intend to participate
in the process,” says Pam Hersh, spokesperson for Princeton
University.
“We have said relief is needed on Route 1, and that we would
support
an alignment that fulfills the original goals, including preserving
the integrity of the land for future educational development.”
So what did prompt Governor Whitman to go out on the EIS limb and
issue a statement like the following: “Before we consider taking
action that would so permanently change this Princeton landmark (the
removal of a number of trees along the historic Elm Alle’), we must
convince ourselves that we are taking the route that least affects
the area’s environment and character.”
“It’s not that unusual for the governor to get involved in an
issue that one of the departments is working on,” claims Jayne
O’Connor, a spokesperson in the governor’s office. “This is an
issue that has been going on for years, so the governor has been aware
of it for a long time. Recently she has had numerous contacts from
people interested in the project, asking for her to get involved,
and she did.”
O‘Connor cites two other examples: Canceling the move
of the revenue department to Hamilton (“That didn’t make sense,
given the overall state plan, to move the building out of Trenton
into the suburbs”) and the proposed watershed rules limiting sewer
growth as a way of controlling sprawl. If passed, this rule will
infuriate
builders. But neither example has anything to do with transportation,
and not even avid Christie watchers remember her interceding on a
traffic plan.
Also puzzling is that Whitman is Republican, and the plan’s opponents
come from a jurisdiction that is largely Democratic. “This is
not a political issue in her mind,” says O’Connor. “The
governor
is known as someone who does what she believes is the right thing
to do.”
Another possible motive concerns Christie Whitman’s future. She has
been burnishing her reputation as an environmentalist and was seen
on the last weekend before the election making campaign appearances
at environmentally crucial locations with George W. Bush. “She
wants a cabinet position,” says one insider, “and she is
positioning
herself as Ms. Environment.”
— Barbara Fox
The Chauncey Group International, 664 RosedaleRoad, Princeton 08540-0001. Judith D. Moore, president & CEO.609-720-6500;fax, 609-720-6550. Www.chauncey.comThe for-profit arm of Educational Testing Service signed a lease fora 4,500 square-foot fulfillment center at 1580 Reed Road. Paul Goldmanrepresented the tenant and landlord. The group does testing andcertificationfor corporations, professions, and government.ClinPhone, 29 Emmons Drive, Building C-40,Princeton08540. Howard Goldberg, vice president. 609-734-4800; fax,609-734-0502.Www.clinphone.comThis pharmaceutical service company is expanding to 6,200 square feetat 1009 Lenox Drive and is expected to move at the end of November.The firm does data capture and project management services to supportpharmaceutical and biotechnology companies during the clinicalresearchprocess. It was represented by Paul Goldman of Commercial PropertyNetwork.Delphi Technology, 303 George Street, New Brunswick08901. Daihwan Choi, office manager. 732-418-0008; fax, 732-418-0858.This software development company specializing in applications forthe insurance and pharmaceutical industries moved from 7,000 squarefeet at Carnegie Professional Center to a larger space in NewBrunswick.It has 69 employees at this location The company’s president, SamFang (Princeton ’73), operates out of Santa Cruz, California.Epam Systems, 29 Emmons Drive, Building C-80,Princeton08540. 609-452-1701; fax, 609-452-1704. Www.epam.comThe computer consulting firm is expanding from 3,800 to 8,000 squarefeet at Princeton Commerce Center. Bill Barish of Commercial PropertyNetwork represented owner and tenant.Founded in Belarus, Russia, Epam Systems does consulting in salesforce automation on PCs for various industries, domestic and foreign.The programs are webcentric and adaptable for either Internet andintranet use.JDS Uniphase – EPITAXX Division (JDSU), 7 GraphicsDrive, West Trenton 08628. Yves Dzialowski, general manager.609-538-1800;fax, 609-538-8122. Www.epitaxx.comThe fiber optics firm has expanded to Ewing Mercer Commerce Center.First it took 98,400 square feet at 200 Ludlow, and now it has signeda lease at both 100 and 200 Ludlow for a total of 130,000 square feet.It will move into the new space early in 2001. It is headquarteredat Graphics Drive. Paul Goldman of Commercial Property Networkrepresentedthe tenant. The building owner is Peter Sorce Companies.Founded by Greg Olsen (who just sold his current company, SensorsUnlimited) this firm was formerly known as EPITAXX OptoelectronicDevices Inc. It was bought first by a Japanese-owned company and thenby JDS Uniphase Corporation, based in San Jose. The company sprangfrom the David Sarnoff Research Laboratory in 1982. It manufacturesand develops optoelectronic devices for fiber optic communicationsnetworks.STB (Sturhahn, Dickenson & Bernard), 152 AlexanderRoad, Princeton 08540. Jay Bernard, president. 609-921-6880; fax,609-924-8991.On November 1 the insurance company moved from Rider Furniture’sbuildingat 12-14 Main Street in Kingston to what is known as the Yellow BookBuilding, formerly owned by Joe Boyd, founder of the Consumer Bureau.Jay Bernard, represented by Al Toto of Commercial Property Network,bought the building.Velocient Technologies Inc., 666 Plainsboro Road,Building 200, Suite 200A, Plainsboro 08536. Upinder Zutshi, president& COO. 609-750-9595; fax, 609-750-9510. Home page:www.velocient.comThe software development company moved to 5,720 square feet atPrincetonMeadows Office Center. It does onsite or offsite software developmentin USA, Europe and Asia. Paul Goldman of Commercial Property Networkrepresented the tenant.Top Of PageContracts AwardedMedarex (MEDX), 707 State Road, Princeton Gateway,Suite 206, Princeton 08540. Donald L. Drakeman, president.609-430-2880;fax, 609-430-2850. Home page: www.medarex.comEli Lilly and Company has signed an agreement for Medarex to producefully human antibodies for various disease targets; Lilly will tryto develop these antibodies as therapeutic pharmaceutical products.Medarex will get a fee for each target against which it raises anantibody and could also receive license fee, payments, and royaltieswhen further progress is made.The agreement, the 26th partnership for Medarex to make humanantibodies,was signed November 6.Top Of PageLeaving TownAmerican ELTEC Inc., 2401 Windjammer Way, Las Vegas89107. Janet Romano Ferris, manager. 609-452-1555; fax, 609-452-7374.Home page: www.eltec.de.Janet Romano Ferris, a “trailing spouse,” has managed notonly to keep her job but is now working poolside from a home-basedoffice. Ferris has moved the United States sales office of a Germancomputer company from 101 College Road to Las Vegas. Currently, sheis working from her Nevada home, but by next month will have anofficialaddress.She is the spouse of Harris Ferris, former general manager of theAmerican Repertory Ballet, now in a similar position at Nevada BalletTheater.Janet Ferris went to the State University of New York at Buffalo andworked in the banking industry before being hired as office managerfor the company based in Mainz, Germany, in 1996. Now she is bothoffice manager and sales rep. For clients such as Boeing, LockheedMartin, and the University of California, Eltec provides computerhardware — circuit boards, embedded systems, and smart camerasfor manufacturing and research — for aviation and industrialsecuritypurposes.Century Capital Associates LLC, 215 Morris Avenue,Spring Lake 07762. Tom Gifford, vice president. 609-720-0500; fax,609-720-0703.After two years at Princeton Forrestal Village, Tom Gifford has movedthis office to Spring Lake. A Duke graduate, he does healthcareinvestmentbanking focused on the life science industry. The headquarters isin Research Triangle Park.Pronto Solutions LLC, 301 Oxford Valley Road, Suite1721, Yardley 19067. Jolly Joseph Paily, president. 215-369-4500;fax, 215-369-4704. Home page: prontosol.comCiting Pennsylvania’s support of technology companies, ProntoSolutionshas consolidated its 3,000-foot office on Franklin Corner Road andin Pittsburgh to a 4,500 square foot space in Yardley, where 25 peopleare working. In addition, 100 software consultants are doing offshoredevelopment in Bombay.Pronto recently landed a long-term contract for a web-basedinformationsystem for Delaware’s department of natural resources. The firm offerswebsite designing, portal development, and web-based applications.A computer engineer at the University of Bombay, Class of 1991, Pailyspent five years in technical jobs and then moved to businessdevelopment.He moved to the United States in 1996, first as a founding memberand director of ERP services for a Pittsburgh consulting company,United Breweries Information and Consulting Services, that went publicin 1997. Pronto was founded that year.Top Of PageStock NewsITXC Corp. (Internet Telephony Exchange Carrier)(ITXC),600 College Road East, Princeton 08540. Tom Evslin, CEO. 609-419-1500;fax, 609-419-1511. Home page: www.itxc.comITXC shares rose after a quarterly report showing 26 percent increasein revenues over the previous quarter, a 259 percent increase overlast year’s results. ITXC is an international Internet telephonyservicescarrier.Pharmacopeia Inc. (PCOP), 3000 Eastpark Boulevard,CN 5350, Princeton 08543-5350. Joseph A. Mollica, chairman and CEO.609-452-3600; fax, 609-452-3672. Www.pcop.comPhamacopeia’s stock jumped on Thursday, November 2, after quarterlyearnings were released. The results showed a revenue increase of 10cents per diluted share versus two cents in the previous quarter.It has patented chemical screening libraries for early drug testingand development.Top Of PageCorrectionBovis Lend Lease Inc., 821 Alexander Road,Princeton08540. Stephen C. Steelman, executive vice president. 609-951-0500;fax, 609-951-0038. Home page: www.bovis.comThe name of this company has changed from Bovis Construction (asprintedon November 1) to Bovis Lend Lease. Last year it was acquired by LendLease, an Australian-based company.Top Of PageDeathsJoseph F. Wilson on August 31. He had been science andmathematics editor at Princeton University Press and president ofParallel Computing Development Corp.Peter J. Giacomozzi on November 3. He had been chief ofpolice in Jamesburg.Shanley E. Flicker, 82, on November 4. He was the formerpresident and vice-chairman of Homasote Co.Elizabeth Eisenmann Petrillo on November 5. She was aretired postmaster with the Kingston Post Office.Brian R. Brooks, 49, on November 12. He worked atEducationalTesting Service.Previous StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
