The Courier-News from Bridgewater, New Jersey • Page 12

FIELD OF DREAMS THE COURIER-NEWS A-12 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1996 Proposed traffic plan for ballpark Transit wants to go along for ride il WWW. Widen 1-287 overpass and add turn-only lanes in and out of proposed retail center on Route 28. Planners considering ballpark service iir-ri yym tt- prop.se WJ Rock Rd. Add traffic signals -m i at I-2A7 on and off KVV U-1 Zmk 11 have to walk two to three blocks to the park." If the shopping center and ballpark are built, it's also likely that NJ Transit would want to upgrade the Bridgewater station, which is now little more than platforms and the type of shelters used to serve bus passengers, Coleman said. NJ Transit would have to renegotiate its existing lease with American Home Products to make changes there, Coleman said.

The agency would consider building additional shelters and high-level passenger platforms, which would make the station accessible to handicapped people. "Right now, we are monitoring what happens," Coleman said. "Assuming this comes to fruition, we would like to be part of it." "Transit would be the best option to access that site," he said. It is possible, he said, that NJ Transit would add bus service specifically to get people to and from the ballpark. But that's unlikely given past experience.

In 1994, when Waterfront Park opened in Trenton, NJ Transit's No. 607 bus made two stops at the stadium before and after each game. Because of low ridership, the stadium stops were discontinued after the first season, Coleman said. "But for people who want to go to the games, the 607 still runs from the Trenton train station to the downtown area," he said. "They Widen intersection, adding a left turn only lane, a through lane and right turn onto Route 28.

Bridgewater Proposed retail center 1 lramPs- Bridgewater station, formerly called Calco station, which is a short walk from the proposed stadium site near the Main Street traffic circle. Eighteen westbound trains and 17 eastbound trains make daily stops at the station. Adding service possible Steve Coleman, a spokesman for NJ Transit, said, "We would be more than pleased to participate in discussions, in terms of serving whatever ends up there, and, if the need arose, to adjust the schedule to allow people to arrive there." Given the long-term plans township officials are considering for the rest of the Cyanamid property either using it for offices or parkland Coleman said that adding mass transit would make sense. Coleman said both shoppers and baseball fans may find it easier to use mass transit than to drive. pilllilfllllllftintlltlHflMllIltlllHlllllMllllllullllMllllllllillllllllllllllllllMllllllllltltli rllHlltHMMIlltlll tota iiiiiiuiiiiiimiiinjjiO HJTrvuM Kit nrJrttSlir Mill' IlLM By ARON PILHOFER C-N Transportation Writer If a proposed shopping center and ballpark are built in Bridgewater, mass transit must be part of the project plan from the beginning, said Robert Bzik, Somerset County planning director.

"There are very few sites that have the level of mass transit access that this site does," Bzik said. "There needs to be a lot of thought put in to how to maximize those services." NJ Transit's Raritan Valley Line passes through the former American Cyanamid tract in Bridgewater, the proposed site of the ballpark and shopping center. The agency also has two existing bus routes that pass near the site, the 117, which runs along Route 22, and the 114, which runs along Route 28. NJ Transit already serves the Ce3 litis TOLL TRAFFIC: Study incomplete Add traffic signal to intersection of Main St. and entrance to proposed retail center.

a C-N map by Mike Scott The series Sunday: Some see Bridgewater's Cyanamid site as a diamond in the rough: a potential center for recreation, shopping and a minor-league baseball team. Monday: The potential economic impact of retail plans for the Cyanamid site. Tuesday: How the stadium could be financed. TODAY: Plans to handle the heavier highway traffic that a stadium and shopping center would bring. Thursday: Panelists say they'd buy season tickets for a minor-league baseball team but not higher taxes to finance a oiauiuni.

can spend maybe 10 minutes, tops. But that's because you have a conscious effort on getting people out." William Krame, president of Krame Development said the traffic at the Bridgewater site should not be any worse than in Trenton. Given the project's proximity to Interstate 287, traffic likely will be better, Krame said. Danny Hughes, who lives on Pearl Street in the Finderne section Bridge-water, near the proposed facility, fears a baseball stadium will cause massive traffic jams. "I have no problem with the shopping center," Hughes said.

But he believes the traffic generated by a stadium would be more than Find-erne's streets can handle. Either way, Krame agrees traffic will be a major factor in whether the shopping center and ballpark plans are approved. "It will be the big issue," he said. 7 Health in the '90s FREE Annual Health Event Thursday, October 24, 1996 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center's annual FREE program includes lectures by health care professionals and round table discussions. Women may attend one of the following: Breast Health Menopause Thyroid Disease Free parking and refreshments. Enrollment is limited and pre-registration is required. Breast Screening Program Saturday, October 26, 1996 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center will offer an educational program, a breast exam by a physician and an opportunity to schedule a low-cost mammogram.

Call today to make an appointment if you: are 40 years of age and have never had a mammogram. haven't had a mammogram in more than two years. rONOAY-JTODAV, A.M. TO 9 P.M., SATURDAY, A.M. TO 3 P.M.

to cat a Home Equity Credit Line at these numbers number FREE banking at its best! FIXED FOR 6 MONTHS FIXED FOR 12 MONTHS FOLLOWED BY A LOW ON-G01NQ RATE OF HJHeJUU JUST PRIME 1.25 JSgS Apply by phone and choose the tax smart Home Equity Credit Line rate you like absolutely NO FEES'! For more information or to register for either program, call (908) 668-2633. Since 1887. SOfTlERSET SAVINGS BANK MUHLENBERG REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER, INC. Park Avenue Randolph Road, Plainfield, NJ 07061 Amlutnt with rhr lnwMty i Mrttkinrand DwtMtn at Srtt Robert Kiul iraun Medial Sthjd omen Wiiner Healthier Large Crisp California CELERY Crisp Green CABBAGE Large Variety IMPORTED PASTA ti ba Cotonna OLIVE OIL FLORIDA 111 tmi Pesartaa fca WPH you fltoosa aVwr 9M AW to awn or 6 to tt rrnrtfaj ounrSMd and go elatf si fcw ct cfaenf TV MnM at mi tain you rtosctoy rstt pared snd ipct to sftarqt baaed swtlFlsipirtT)WSrtMm(flritiSiri torn cap 1 tMk APR Note Prcpirb; twnnoi mqund. OA Continued from Page A-1 traffic," said attorney William Savo, who is representing Krame.

"But that will be mitigated by the improvements we will make." But township and county officials say that assessment is premature. "We haven't really done much with their traffic study, because it wasn't a complete study," said Michael Sarkissian, township planner. "They really haven't done a comprehensive study, studying all the impacted intersections. Without that, I couldn't comment whether I agree or disagree." Bzik added that the comprehensive study must also take into account other future developments, such as the proposed Tea Street shopping center in Bound Brook. According to the preliminary report given to the township, the shopping center would generate 2,564 vehicle trips during weekday evening peak periods and as many as 3,042 trips on Saturday afternoons, usually the heaviest shopping period of the week.

The preliminary report does not take into account stadium traffic. Krame officials say that will be addressed when the project goes to the Planning Board for site-plan approval. A comparable facility, the Mercer County Waterfront Park, home of the Trenton Thunder, typically draws 1,200 to 1,500 cars per game, said Todd Pae, director of operations for the Thunder. John Madden, a planning consultant hired by Krame, said the projected traffic would be a problem only on heavy shopping days. "Your real problem time would be Saturday afternoons.

That's when retail peaks," he said. "The way to resolve that is by holding Saturday games at night." Another problem would be getting a lot of cars in and out quickly before and after games. At Waterfront Park, cars have only a short trip from the ballpark parking lots to highways. "It is very easy to get in or out," Pae said. "From the second week of June on, we're pretty much sold out.

You Paparazzi on lookout for baby Madonna i LOS ANGELES (AP) A swarm of reporters, paparazzi and TV camera crews Tuesday staked out the hospital where Madonna gave birth, hoping for even one precious image of the 6-pound, 9-ounce Material Baby. "World photo rights to Madonna's baby would get $250,000 to $350,000," said Steve Coz, editor of the National Enquirer. "She's huge overseas. This is right up there with JFK Redding." Her publicist, though, declined to Say when the 38-year-old pop diva would leave the Hospital of the Good Samaritan, where she gave birth Monday to Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon. "She doing great.

She looks very radiant, but tired because she was in labor a long time. All is well," Madonna publicist Liz Rosenberg said Tuesday. Should Madonna eschew publicity, it would be easy to exit unseen through the hospital's maze of corridors and doors, including a rooftop helipad. "Nobody will see her leave," Rosenberg predicted, and hospital spokeswoman Hind Baki said she couldn't release any information. Unlike St.

John's Hospital and Health Center, UCLA Medical Center or the so-called hospital to the stars Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 111-year-old Good Samaritan doesn't see a lot of celebrities. "This is a great hospital and it's L.A.'s best kept secret," Baki boasted. Some hospital workers tried sneaking up to the eighth-floor maternity ward to see the baby. "We went up to the eighth floor in the elevators and that's as far as you get," said paramedic Ingrid Cutter. ft i muni mii mi Fresh Fruit Vegetable Market Sweet Juicy FLORIDA GRAPEFRUIT II Extra Fancy Sugar Sweet I HTA XT'TET TATTOO Sugar Sweet POMAGRANATES Anjouoreosc JLilJ.

VJLwJlVllJWI RpsM pears mm Hi ram rlHL0 ffi mm 0 I ii VmP'l I dCJCJ I ajjtt IlLJUaCJcJgp EI may to mm i I Il Extra Fancy Washington State Red Delicious apples ram ncilcLL MUSHROOMS men 0 Crisp Green BELL PEPPERS CJC Gourmet YELLOW ONIONS men ia lb bag DiLUSSO SALAMI A Auricchk) SHARP PROVOLONE Z5 Jumbo Le Rouge RED ROASTING PEPPERS Extra Large Vine Ripe SLICING TOMATOES Hormel PEPPERONI STICKS ir lb Terra Sola BALSAMIC VINEGAR MM il 4 mm mm rn ll cue to oz pfcg Idaho BAKING POTATOES 0 5 la bag SLICING PROVOLONE 2 Gil Imported Pecorlno Romano GRATING CHEESE I).