New Jersey's plan to widen the Turnpike has been met with significant opposition, emphasizing that the recent implementation of congestion pricing has already reduced car trips. Local officials, such as Newark's Mayor Ras Baraka, argue that expanding the highway could exacerbate traffic and pollution issues, urging a pause to re-evaluate the necessity of the project. The Turnpike Authority's decision to advance the widening despite regional dissent raises concerns regarding environmental impacts and fiscal responsibility amidst federal calls to minimize wasteful spending.
What we are having an issue with is creating more lanes and creating more opportunity for traffic to move in and out of this community, said Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.
Congestion pricing is justification to press the pause button and to see if the expansion is even necessary, said Hoboken Mayor Rhavi Balla. It simply doesn't make sense and it's a massive waste of taxpayer dollars.
The air pollution is incredible. It feels like one’s head is in the tailpipe of a very badly polluting vehicle, said Bayonne resident Lina Drillman.
We're just moving the bottleneck from here to there. That doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to me, just well, Band-Aid here and forget about the festering sore somewhere else, said Drillman.
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