Time running out for comment on Middlesex County's proposed $66 million sports complex

EDISON - With the public comment period on the proposed athletic complex at Thomas A. Edison Park ending Sept. 3, the Middlesex Greenway Coalition will host a presentation on the project by environmentalist Walter Stochel on Thursday.

The presentation by Stochel, vice president of the Edison Greenways Group, and others will be held 7 p.m. Thursday at the Clara Barton First Aid Squad, 1070 Amboy Ave.The county is looking to convert the 161-acre park next to Middlesex College to a sports complex with 83.34 acres in a National Park Service deed-restricted area.

The public comments will be used in the National Park Service's evaluation of the project and its decision whether it should be undertaken.

The plan calls for more than a dozen artificial turf fields, a championship artificial field and track with large grandstands, the reconfiguration of 16 tennis courts, and a cricket field.

The project also proposes lighting, bleachers, a fieldhouse for concessions, restrooms, and maintenance equipment, remote comfort stations and concessions and parking for 1,350 cars, a playground and pedestrian and bicycle pathways.

Since the project, part of the county's Community Innovation and Opportunity Strategic Investment Plan, was announced in 2022, residents have raised questions about the cost and the traffic impact it will have on Woodbridge Avenue and Mill Road. Concerns have also been raised about trees and animals in the wooded areas, groundwater, and access to the park's facilities.

Residents can comment to the National Park Service on the project's environmental assessment report . Comments can be posted online at parkplanning.nps.gov/EdisonParkNJ or mailed to Diane Keith, NER Program Manager National Park Service Federal Lands to Parks c/o 54 Portsmouth St. Concord, N.H. 03301.

Earlier: What's the environmental impact of the new Middlesex County sports complex? Report due

The environmental assessment lists two alternatives, one in which no action is taken and the park would continue to be maintained by the county in its current state. The second alternative permits construction of the proposed $66 million sports complex.

Stochel has said the no-action alternative would have the least environmental impact.

However, the report details the possible environmental impact of the artificial turf.

"Conversion of the grassed athletic fields would create a barrier on the soil surface blocking access to the soil for burrowing insects, reducing options for pollinators, eliminating plants whose flowers provide food for other insects and also food sources for invertebrates including the caterpillars of some butterflies and moths, affecting ground-feeding birds that use them to forage for food such as grubs, insects, and worms. Small mammals such as squirrels, wood mice, shrews and hedgehogs, as well as lizards, frogs, toads, finches and sparrows and any animal that that feeds on the seed produced by natural grass would be affected," the environmental assessment states.

While the report acknowledges the bald eagle, northern harrier, osprey, snowy egret and yellow crown night heron are found within or next to the project area, the state DEP landscape maps show "no habitat for state or federal threatened or endangered species are located within the project’s limit of disturbance."

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The report also details the other possible effects of artificial turf, including elevated surface temperatures and stormwater management.

Thomas A. Edison Park occupies the site of the former Raritan Arsenal that was developed for militaryshipments during World War I, and decommissioned in 1961. Acquired by the county for use as parkland in 1964through the National Park Service’s Federal Lands to Parks Program, the property was repurposed, and construction of the park commenced in 1974.

According to the report, both Edison and Middlesex County population increases have placed pressures on existing recreational spaces. The county's population has increase from 809,858 in 2010 to 863,162 in 2020 while Edison's population has increased from 99,967 to 107,588 during that same time.

Email: srussell@gannettnj.com

Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

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This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Time running out for comment on Middlesex County's proposed $66 million sports complex