PROJECTS LISTED FOR LIBERTY CORRIDOR PROGRAM
A list of ten projects which would be funded all or in part under the Liberty Corridor program has been unveiled.

Several years ago, U.S. Senator Robert Menendez persuaded Congress to provide New Jersey with $100 million for economic development projects in the northeastern area of the state. Additional funding that some of the projects will require is supposed to come from the State Department of Transportation, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.

$10 million for each of the following projects:
-Create a rapid transit system serving Montclair, Newark and the port terminals.
-Toward $29.6 million in improvements on Route 1 in North Brunswick.
-Improve access between the New Brunswick train center and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.
-Toward $209 million in work for North Avenue in Elizabeth near the port.
-For the $90.5 million Trembley Point connector road between Carteret and Linden.
-Toward $91 million for work on the Wittpenn Bridge on Route 7 between Jersey City and Kearny.

-$5 million toward $13.4 million in Somerset County freight rail improvements.
-$11 million toward the $15.3 realignment of the Routes 35 and 36 intersection in Eatontown.
-$12 million toward $24 million in improvements to a Conrail Line in Hudson County.
-$12 million toward the $51.5 million job of extending Route 18 in Piscataway to connect with Route 287.

FINAL CALL FOR UTILITY CONSTRUCTION CONFERENCE RESERVATIONS
Requests for reservations are growing fast for the Alliance for Action hosted program on Wednesday December 12, where top utility executives will report on billions of dollars of planned construction projects. In cooperation with the New Jersey Utilities Association, the program at the Lafayette Yard Marriott Conference Center, Trenton, will begin with registration at 8 a.m. and presentations at 9 a.m.

Speakers will include:
Dennis Bone, President of Verizon New Jersey
Jeff DuBois, Senior Vice President of Operations for South Jersey Gas Co.
Don Lynch, Regional President for JCP&L
Craig Lynch, Vice President of Energy Delivery for NJ Natural Gas
Bill Gausman, Vice President Asset Management for Pepco Holdings, Inc. (parent company of Atlantic City Electric)
Don Carter, Vice President and General Manager of Elizabethtown Gas Co.
John Bigelow, President of New Jersey American Water Co.
Rodney Dickens, Vice President for Asset Management and Centralized Services of PSE&G
Laurie Beppler, Brown Project Director for British Petroleum (BP). To ensure your place at this meeting which will provide another preview of New Jersey’s economic future, Go Here

$1 BILLION ENCAP MEADOWLANDS PROJECT GETS NEW EXTENSION
EnCap, the $1 billion Meadowlands development project, has been given an extension until January 11, 2008, by State Attorney General Anne Milgram to fix its environmental and financial problem. The extension was granted in a letter to attorneys for EnCap and to Donald Trump, who is taking over management of the project.

After two previous extensions, the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission has stated that EnCap could be ousted from the project if the new deadline is not met.

JOHNSON & JOHNSON WINS NEW WOMEN’S INITIATIVE AWARD
Johnson & Johnson is the first winner of the new Healthcare Business Women’s Association Award to recognize companies that design successful initiatives for the “advancement, commitment and engagement” of women in the healthcare industry.

The award cites Johnson & Johnson’s Women’s Leadership Initiative, a grassroots employee organization with 47 chapters worldwide and membership in all business segments of the company.

TRENTON WANTS TO SELL ITS SUBURBAN WATER INFRASTRUCTURE
The Trenton City Council was asked by Mayor Douglas Palmer to approve the $100 million sale of the pipelines that carry water from the Trenton Water Works to suburban communities.

The agreement would be to sell the suburban infrastructure of Trenton’s water utility to the New Jersey American Water Company. In a related deal, the city wants to enter into a 30-year-agreement to sell bulk water to the company for distribution to Hamilton, Ewing, Lawrence and Hopewell Townships. Palmer said the goals are to upgrade the city’s water utility and to focus on selling its water to its own residents.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WILL REVIEW POWER-LINE PLAN
The U.S. Department of Energy agreed to re-examine its decision to make it easier to build high-voltage electric transmission lines in the mid-Atlantic region, including all of New Jersey.

The Energy Department said it would grant a rehearing on its October designation of two “national interest electric transmission corridors.” The Department at that time declared that it would have relieved congestion on the region’s power grid and improved the reliability of systems where electricity demand has outpaced supply.

NEW ATLANTIC CITY CASINO-HOTEL RECEIVES COASTAL PERMIT
Revel Entertainment Group, LLC, received a Coastal Area Facilities Review Permit to move ahead on a new Atlantic City beachfront casino resort. Revel also has preliminary site plan approval from the Atlantic City Planning Board.

The project will include two hotel towers with about 1,500 rooms each, 150,000 square feet of casino space and 500,000 square feet of dining, retail space and a 5,500 seat theatre. Attached to the property will be a one-acre private beach.

DOT HAS NEW 511 SYSTEM FOR INFORMATION ON TRAFFIC CONDITIONS
The State Department of Transportation has launched a 511 service that allows drivers to check on traffic conditions by dialing those three numbers.

Although the 511 system is fully operational, it will not be formally introduced to the public until sometime in the spring of 2008. However, motorists may now call for real-time information about accidents, construction delays and other highway incidents. The system organizes information by 10 urban areas --- Newark, Elizabeth, New Brunswick, Jersey City, Paterson, Trenton, Toms River, Camden, Atlantic City and Vineland.

IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO SUBMIT TESTIMONY ON PORT AUTHORITY CAPITAL PLAN
The Alliance for Action urges our members to submit testimony in support of the Port Authority’s proposed toll and fare increases. To review the plan details or to submit testimony Go Here.

PLANS TO REVIVE WEST TRENTON RAIL STATION GAINING STEAM
The public will have an opportunity to comment on revival of the West Trenton Train Station at a hearing on Thursday, December 6 from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Ewing Senior/Community Center, 999 Lower Ferry Road. NJ Transit will accept comments on the plan until Jan. 15.

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
-Dennis R. Robinson On December 1, 2007, succeeded George Zoffinger as CEO of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.
-Michael Della Rocca has been appointed President, North America of Halcrow, Inc. Halcrow specializes in planning, design and management services for infrastructure worldwide..
-John R. Seitter was named president of the South Jersey Tourism Corporation, which promotes tourism in Mercer, Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem Counties.
-Elizabeth Spinelli, Executive Director of the Hudson County Economic Development, Inc. has been elected President of the Economic Development Association of New Jersey and will start her term in office on Dec. 6, 2007.
-Christine A. Stearns of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association has been named Co-Chair of the Health Care Payers Coalition of New Jersey.    

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