ROUTE 29 EXTENSION

At the present time, Route 29 starts in Bordentown, New Jersey and travels North along the Delaware River to Frenchtown, New Jesery. An old master plan calls for Route 29 to extend along the Delaware River as a scenic trail.

I encourage anyone who can afford the price of gasoline to take a sentimental journey along the Delaware River, through the 'Narrows', North of Milford, New Jersey. February 17, 2006 I stopped to check out the rock formation of Shale and Sentiment Conglomerate. This section of road has been a 'bottleneck' to the completion of Route 29 for fifty years. At several sections of the 'Narrows', the width of road is only 20 feet. On one side of the road there is a cliff, and on the other side of the road there are Railroad tracks and the Delaware River.

WHAT TO DO ?

To complete Route 29 through the 'Narrows' will require a Summer of rock blasting to widen the passage along the River. Examining the rock formations, it appears the Shale formation is made of soft layers of sentiment. The rock almost peels and crumbles when it is touched. I'm not a demolition expert, however; the rock formation looks similar to the Route 78, Jugtown Mountain overpass. It's just a guess, when blasted, rock will fall away like powder. The two biggest problems might be the height of the wall and the cleanup of the rock once it falls into the road below.

I'm not a Highway construction expert, but it looks like the fallen stone could become the new raised foundation for the new highway.

Completion of this section of Route 29 will connect Milford, New Jersey to Riegelsville, New Jersey and create a scenic route along that section of the Delaware River. New housing will be introduced and new manufacturing firms will be able to locate to this area. More jobs, more housing, more tax income for the State. We used to call that "PROGRESS". Remember my objective, facilitate progress in ways that benefit all residents.