Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, a Democratic candidate for Congress in the 8th District, is urging Gov. Phil Murphy (D) to nix the $10.7 billion Turnpike widening plan “that will do far more harm than good.”
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“More lanes mean more cars on our highways. This will not only increase carbon emissions, making it more difficult for New Jersey to meet its climate goals; it will further jeopardize the health of residents living along the Turnpike corridor as they will be exposed to more air pollution,” Bhalla said in a statement.
“Instead of wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on this misguided highway expansion, we should be investing in public transit, creating a sustainable source of funding for NJ Transit that will enable the reversing of the unaffordable 30% fare hikes.”
The Mile Square City mayor’s position was telegraphed, given that he wrote an Op-Ed in The Jersey Journal opposing the project last week. He also called on his June 4th primary opponent, U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez (D-8), to join him in denouncing the project.
“Unlike my opponent, Representative Rob Menendez Jr., I strongly oppose this ill-advised project, and call on Governor Murphy to pull the plug,” Bhalla continued.
“As a member of Congress, I will fight hard for funding to strengthen our mass transit infrastructure, as opposed to wasteful projects like the Turnpike extension that will do far more harm than good.”
The Menendez campaign did not return an email seeking comment, but as a candidate in 2022, he suggested a compromise.
Prior to being elected, the congressman proposed having any new lanes added to Exit 14 between Jersey City and Bayonne to be dedicated bus lanes, as well as allocating a lane exclusively for trucks.
This is the second time this month that Bhalla has called on Murphy to take executive action, asking him to veto NJ Transit’s adoption of 15 percent fare hikes two weeks ago.
While Bhallas point on climate/emissions is well taken, the fact is we need wider roads just to handle the cars that are already out there He needs to look out the windows of his chauffeur driven vehicles and see what is going on in the real world. Mass transit does not work for every trip/commute – and he should have considered that before doubling the size of our city without a reasonable plan for how to move people around.