By Miri Ascarelli
Journal staff writer

The Bergen Arches is not the only major roadway project planned for the new millennium.

If all goes as planned, a new 1 1/2-mile road called the Secaucus Interchange wrn connect the New Jersey Turnpike near the Allied Junction transfer station in Secaucus to Tonnelle Avenue in Jersey City.

The road will then flow into the Bergen Arches, which will connect Tonnelle Avenue to the Jersey City waterfront.

So far, the N.J. Turnpike Authority has secured a wetlands permit, and is nearly ready to submit an environmental impact statement to the State Department of Environmental Protection, said Ed Gross, executive director of the authority. Once the regulatory process is completed, engineers will come up with the final construction plans and then construction can begin.

"Our time schedule, which is subject to change, is: between the year 2002 and 2003 should be the completion of the project," he said.

The railroad transfer station being built by NJ Transit in Secaucus - expected to be the biggest switching station in that rail system - is expected to open in the 2002.

Though it is still too early to nail down a price tag for the Secaucus Interchange, Gross said an estimated ballpark figure is about $300 million. "When you get closer to final design, then you can start hardening your numbers," he said.

Traditionally the Turnpike Authority funds its projects by issuing bonds, but in this case, "I would expect there might be other forms of support for this project so the Turnipke doesn't do it all itself, but I haven't addressed that," Gross said.