Federal judge Mary Cooper reserved decision on a request by Trenton citizens, Tri-State, and major environmental groups in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, to enjoin NJDOT's construction of the last section of Rt. 29 in Trenton. The link would destroy the last remaining section of Trenton's waterfront not already obscured by highway, preventing anglers, beachgoers and pedestrians from accessing the water.

Although a judge's reactions during oral arguments are not an accurate prediction of a ruling, the judge, in this case, was very tough on DOT and FHWA. Their attorneys had to justify why the agencies refused to perform a congestion management study, major investment study or a supplemental environmental impact statements on the project, when the preferred alternative selected in the final EIS was different than the one proposed for the original link.

The original link was approved by FHWA in 1980, but was successfully put off by the City of Trenton until late 1996. In between 1980 and 1996, ISTEA changed the way state DOTs must look at highway projects that increase single occupant vehicle travel as Rt 29 would. The Tri-State Campaign argued that Rt. 29 was covered by ISTEA since it was not approved until 1997. The agencies responded that the project is "grandfathered," despite federal regulations that fix 1992 as the trigger for ISTEA-mandated studies.

Specific complaints focused on the significant pedestrian safety impacts expected when the highway is built between a low-income south Trenton neighborhood and a baseball stadium that attracts 450,000 people each year. Large numbers of residents walk from their homes to the stadium. DOT claimed that either the problem was not significant enough to warrant additional study or that it had been remedied by the creation of a pedestrian refuge island between the north and southbound lanes of the highway.

DOT showed how out-of-touch it is with the affected community when its attorney ridiculed the idea that anyone would want to swim in the Delaware River at Trenton. Yet, the Delaware at Trenton and north has been promoted as a wild and scenic river in Congress because of its unspoiled beauty. Further, most citizens swimming and fishing there are people of color who cannot afford to drive to the beach an hour away, or access inland country club pools.

FHWA's attorney similarly shocked citizens in attendance by continually deferring to (indeed applauding) NJDOT's judgments, terming FHWA's role that of a "venture capitalist" for capital construction, rather than a regulatory agency. A decision in the case against the controversial highway expansion is expected soon.