In June 1997, The City Of Jersey City awarded Dames & Moore a $279,000 contract to secure the permits to fill in a portion of Mill Creek at the northern end of Liberty State Park. Jersey City property taxpayers paid for the contract, which is unprecedented. Usually State or Federal $$$ fund any new highways or extensions. The Jersey Avenue extension will connect Jersey Avenue to Audrey Zapp Drive and Phillips Drive in Liberty State Park. This would require filling in the Morris Basin Canal, which is a wetland, or building a bridge over it at a cost of $3-$5 Million. As of this date, the application to the DEP has not been submitted. The City is aware of the opposition to this road, primarily from our group, Concerned Residents Against the Jersey Ave Expressway (CRAJAE). A 30 day public comment period follows the official application to DEP.

In the same area, across the street, Jersey City is planning on building a new School 3 complex of 2 schools. The Elementary School is currently designed to cover 1.12 acres and educate 550 students with a staff of 82 and 64 parking spaces. The Middle School is designed on 7.81 acres, 775 students with 103 employees and 68 parking spaces.

The proposed School 3 complex site is the "Sabrett Site" bordered by Grand Street to the south, Monmouth Street to the west and Bright Street to the north. The site runs all the way to Grove except for the seven buildings around the corner of Jersey and Bright which includes the historic district houses. It is 5.5 acres. The south side on Grand Street is directly across the street from the proposed Jersey City Medical Center.

The new soon to be constructed $200 Million 330 bed Jersey City Medical Center will be bordered by Grand Street to the north, Jersey Avenue to the east and Moumouth Street to the west. It will have 3 structures of seven or four stories each and a parking garage for 500 cars. The 390,000 sq. ft. site is on 18 acres. The facilities will include a walk-in clinic and a diagnostic center. Ground breaking is scheduled for fall 1999 and will take 30-36 months to complete. In November 1998, The City Council approved the relinquishment of its rights to the public streets in the project area, clearing the way for the long-awaited development at the corner of Jersey Avenue and Grand Street.

Next door is the "Liberty Harbor North" site which runs along Grand Street from Jersey Avenue to Grove Street. It skirts the Boys Club but basically goes south to the Light Rail alignment at what would be the extension of Morris Street to Jersey Avenue. It is 8 acres and owned by developer Peter Mocco, a major political campaign contributor. Planned are 1500 residential homes and a hotel. A developer was recently designated for this project.

In addition, the $1.2 Billion Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Transit System will cross Jersey Avenue at Aetna Street and continues to the Paulus Hook Area and the JC Waterfront with a scheduled train every 2 minutes at rush hour! The system is expected to begin operating in March 2000. In November 1998, the 1300 space Gateway Park-and-Ride lot at Liberty State Park off Johnson Avenue, about 2 miles from Jersey Avenue, began operating. It was built to complement the $1.2 Billion Hudson-Bergen light rail system. Most of the commuters get off the NJ Turnpike at Exit 14B drive to the parking lot or can continue driving down Johnson Avenue to Grand Street into this quagmire to get to the waterfront. The cost which includes parking and the bus is $150 monthly or $7 daily. This fare hardly encourages anyone to use the park-and-ride lot since parking near Harborside or the Grove Street PATH is approx $105 monthly with no waiting for a bus!

Imagine what the area of Jersey Avenue and Grand Street will be like with 2 schools of 1325 students, 185 staff/teachers with their cars, dozens of school buses and a new 330 bed Medical Center with their flow of patients, ambulances and clinic patients! This Jersey Avenue Extension is a disaster in the making and all for Peter Mocco's Liberty Harbor North Development with his proposed hundreds of new homes and cars. Currently the intersection of Jersey Avenue and Grand Street handles over 570 cars/ hour during rush hours and is at maximum capacity.

The air in Jersey City, particularly dense with particulates, is hazardous to our health. Respiratory problems are rampant here. Additional vehicular traffic only makes things worse. This area can't support hundreds of additional cars getting off NJ Turnpike exit 14B, cutting through Liberty State Park and spilling onto Grand Street and Jersey Avenue into the flow of school buses, ambulances and school children.

Help us stop this senseless road which could potentially kill students and pedestrians and the squandering of more of our local, state & federal tax dollars. Contact Mayor Bret Schundler, 547-5200 or at 280 Grove Street, Jersey City NJ 07302 and voice your opposition to this road. Send letters to the Jersey Journal and the Jersey City Reporter. If you're interested in keeping abreast of this matter, please contact me with your email address and you'll be added to our updates. A public hearing will be required by the DEP once the application is filed by the City and we'll need your support!

Mia Scanga, Jersey City, 201-200-1958, email- mia_ariesgrp@compuserve.com. Map of the area to be provided on this site.