A senior aide to U.S. Senator Robert Torricelli (D-NJ) met with members of the Hudson Alliance for Rational Transportation (HART) on December 1, noting Torricelli's office was responsible for identifying federal funds for use on the Bergen Arches in Jersey City. But the aide appeared surprised that anyone -- let alone the numerous representatives present at the meeting -- might question the use of such funds for a highway project.

HART members questioned whether the funds could be used for other transportation modes, including LRT. Replied the senator's aide: "Our job is to get the money; it's up to the state how it is spent."

Sen. Torricelli's representative stressed that a Bergen Arches highway would facilitate growing intermodal container movement through the area, in order to meet the needs of the Port of New York and New Jersey in the next century. That's a brand new justification for the highway project; local leaders have stressed local traffic benefits for Jersey City residents -- not more truck capacity.

(NJ-ARP believes the Bergen Arches highway is, in effect, a driveway designed to funnel cars from the New Jersey Turnpike to the Jersey City waterfront -- where massive parking decks would be required to handle the load.)