Description

The Belle Meade Trap Rock Quarry is running six-wheeler, heavy dump trucks up Elm Road (and Great Road) at all hours of the day and night. This morning, it started before 4:00 a.m., but a few days ago, it was at 2:30 a.m..
The trucks are harmful in several ways.
First, it is impossible to sleep through a passing truck, even in the early morning, because of the vibration and the noise of the exhaust pipes which are not muffled sufficiently.
Then, the acrid smell of the diesel exhaust lingers and doesn't dissipate.
The question of the damage they do to the municipal roadway should be considered, as well.
They have the option of using Carter Road, which is a County Highway, and undeveloped, for the most part, but they choose to "roar into Princeton."
The company that runs this show (the Belle Meade Quarry) has been bought out of Kingston by South Brunswick, and paid not to get started in Bay of Fundy, Canada, by the Canadian Government. I suspect that they have lawyers on the line who are telling them to be just as loud and obnoxious as they want, since they are thereby increasing their chances of another buyout at their Belle Meade location. They have several quarries in the Mid-Atlantic region, and Belle Meade is probably the closest to heavy residential development while affecting nearby Princeton, as well. It's a natural for a buyout.
I would like to pursue the possibility of banning trucks of the kind used by the Belle Meade Quarry from Princeton's residential neighborhoods, including Elm Road. The trucks could reach Carter Road and Route 206 by either turning west on Cherry Valley Road and traveling a mile to where it intersects with Carter Road, or by going into Hopewell (not recommended), and turning onto Carter Road where it starts, there. Again, Carter Road is a County highway.