The New Jersey Turnpike Authority has submitted a draft Environmental Assessment of Phase 1 of I-78 Turnpike Expansion to the US Coast Guard for review. The public comment period closes July 11, 2024, and we need your help.

Despite unanimous opposition from Mayor Fulop, Mayor Bhalla, the full Jersey City City Council, the full Hoboken City Council, a super coalition of NJ environmental groups, safe streets and transportation groups, and local neighborhood associations, the NJTA is plowing ahead with their plan to waste $10.7 billion dollars on widening the I-78 Turnpike Extension instead of investing in mass transit. Phase 1, from exit 14 in Newark to exit 14A in Jersey City and Bayonne is under review and proposes to spend over $6 billion dollars to build not one but *two* new bridges over the Hackensack and tear down the existing Newark Bay Bridge. They are ignoring their own engineering report that finds there is a 20X cheaper alternative of repairing the bridge for just $260 million and extending its lifespan by 40 years.

The NJTA alternates between claims that it will speed traffic to queue at the Holland Tunnel bottleneck – a purported benefit mentioned in their own engineering report – and a new claim that the doubling of traffic is not destined for New York but for squeezing into Hudson County itself – a questionable marketing tactic to the people that live here and completely preposterous if we want clean air, safe streets, less congestion, and livable communities.

Your comments about the negative impacts this project could have will be sent to the Coast Guard's public comment email address as a part of the Environmental Assessment process and entered into the public record. Under Federal law, the Turnpike Authority must incorporate public comments into the final environmental assessment if it is to be approved.

Make your opposition clear. Ask pointed questions, point out flaws, and explain how you, your family, your neighbors, our communities, and our region will be affected if this project were really to become a reality. Ask for study of alternatives and investments in transit and freight rail instead.

We need your help to spread the word to your friends and neighbors and asking them to comment as well!