Sale of highways would be regretted for generations Again New Jerseyans are exposed to the "p" word: privatization. I'm sure we have not forgotten the debacle of the privatization of Motor Vehicle Commission. Perhaps you have seen the privatization of the "Garden" State Arts Center? What was once a beautifully landscaped venue is now a beer garden! Privatization is all about making money. We are now faced with the proposals to sell our roads. We should all be aware that the very first thing a private owner/lessee would do is raise the tolls. Would the new owner spread as much salt and plow the roads as well as the authorities now do? I highly doubt it - salt and plowing contractors cost big bucks, with many storms costing over a million dollars to clean up. Thousands of tons of refuse are picked up off the roadways each year, which is very costly. Would the parkway become the "Garbage" State Parkway? Would there still be tow trucks on standby at the Driscoll Bridge every morning to clear up accidents and breakdowns as soon as they happen? Or will it become a six-lane parking lot for hours? It is still heard around that the tolls were to be taken off the roads as soon as the initial bonds were paid off. Those bonds were for a two-lane highway in each direction. Can we not see the expansion and improvements that have taken place since 1952? The parkway is the causing factor that has made South Jersey prosper! We pay $7 or more to cross bridges into New York that are unimproved since they were built in the 1920s. I doubt the new owners would be quick to expand the roadway or add new interchanges as our southern areas grow, unlike the Turnpike Authority that recently invested $500 million into the expansion of the Driscoll bridge. While driving the parkway for 32 years, I cannot recall the last time I hit a pothole in the road. Would a private owner have an aggressive repaving program as the parkway and turnpike? Not one dollar of state taxes goes into these toll roads; they are totally self-sufficient on user-fee tolls. Even New Jersey's finest - our state police - are totally subsidized from police academy through retirement by tolls that are collected by the authorities. Since the '50s and '60s, thousands of workers have retired from these authorities. Would the new owners pay for their hard-earned benefits which are now paid for by the authorities, or would their costs shift to the state? Once these main assets of our state are sold or leased, they are gone for our lifetime and our children's. Yes, the money will roll in now, but I am sure it will dwindle away fast and we will be left with nothing. Please write, call or e-mail your legislators and ask them to carefully scrutinize all aspects of a lease or sale of our roads before making a decision we will all regret for generations. Tell them New Jersey is not for sale! Thank you. Joseph Davino Hazlet past President, Local 193-B International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers