Matawan Requests Impact Study for Transportation of BRSA Wind Turbine Through Borough

The Matawan Borough Council passed a resolution requesting that the county study the potential impact to borough infrastructure if components of the wind turbine are transported through Matawan at their regular action meeting Tuesday night.

According to an official email received by the borough on Oct. 6 from the project manager at Conti Enterprises, the company contracted to build the turbine, it will take an estimated ten minutes for the seven separate components of the turbine, carried on tractor trailors, to pass through Matawan.

The route has changed since initially planned, wrote Project Manager Eric Millard. Each road along the route is owned by either the state or the county. Conti is applying for transportation permits through both agencies. 

A map provided with the email to borough officials indicates that the seven componentsof the turbine will travel along Freneau Avenue to Main Street, at which point they will cross Route 34. From there, they will continue along Main Street to Lower Main Street, across the train tracks and toward Route 35. The rest of the route was not included.

The email states that, "Conti has performed the appropriate due diligence and route surveys to safely and efficiently transport these components through your town."

However, according to Matawan Mayor Paul Buccellato, the council is concerned that the weight of the compenents will damage water and sewer lines that run beneath the roads.

The council previously , stating the the borough, "shares the concerns expressed by the residents and governing body particularly in light of what appears to be at best a limited effort by BRSA to reach out to residents of the Bayshore and a lack of transparency in this matter."

The borough has expressed their opposition to the construction of the wind turbine, but since the components will travel on state and county roads, Matawan cannot deny Conti transportation permits.

Millard notes in his email that the transportation is expected to take place in Feb. of 2012.