Assemblywoman Yvonne Lopez
211 Front Street,
Perth Amboy, NJ 08861.
Dear Assemblywoman Lopez
I am writing to you today about a very serious matter that has arisen for me and my neighbors in Carteret regarding a project that is being funded by the State of New Jersey, which will be a huge negative for our community if it goes forward in its present form.
The project I am talking about is the extension of Carteret Avenue through the apartment complex I live in and the rest of our quiet residential neighborhood that stretches several blocks to the waterfront
The borough says the road extension is necessary to divert traffic to a new ferry terminal the mayor has planned, along with other massive waterfront developments. The mayor is attempting to use the power of eminent domain to condemn a significant part of our apartment complex so the borough can build the commuter road to carry speeding cars and buses to a ferry. That does not make sense and it is dangerous.
Adjacent to our complex is a grammar school that will also be impacted by the proposed new road and the traffic it will bring to our neighborhood. I fear for the safety of not only adult residents but for the children and their parents who drop off and pick their children twice a day.
Instead of a quiet and peaceful neighborhood of about 1,000 people or so, our community will be inundated with traffic, noise, pollution and the ever- present danger of car collisions. Moreover, the parking spaces in our complex used by parents who are dropping off or picking up their children from school will disappear. Where will those parents park? Does the state want children to be forced to cross busy streets to get to and from school?
The state Department of Transportation and the state legislature are pouring millions of dollars of taxpayer money into the ferry project and other aspects of the mayor’s waterfront redevelopment that virtually no one in our neighborhood knows anything about. There has not been one public hearing on the mayor’s waterfront proposal.
Assemblywoman Lopez, you are uniquely positioned to get answers from the state DOT as to why they are funding this road that will endanger an entire neighborhood and a school. I hope you will come to our aid and get the DOT to take a deeper look into the Carteret project and help avoid the destruction of our neighborhood.
Sincerely,