Long-time local opponents of the project, including officials from South Brunswick, Hopewell, Franklin, and Montgomery townships, applauded the Corps decision to delve more deeply into the highway's likely problems. South Brunswick Mayor Debra Johnson told the Home News she is convinced that a federal EIS will show the highway to be bad for the region. Road foes contend that traffic flow problems in the region would be better addressed by intersection and signal improvements and that, in fact, Route 92 is likely to bring more congestion to the surrounding counties, increasing, for example, north-south traffic on Route 1 by almost 30,000 trips per day. Though a limited access highway, Route 92 is also expected to propel development pressure along its route, creating more traffic.

The Tri-State Campaign hailed the decision, noting that Route 92 would have set off a domino effect of more traffic, trucks and sprawl in the area.

The EIS is likely to take eighteen months to two years to complete and will be paid for by the Turnpike Authority. In its response statement, the Turnpike made clear it would cooperate fully with the Army Corps during the EIS process, but that it was still committed to pursuing the project despite formidable obstacles.