A “Railroad Map” for Governor Sherrill
In the most densely populated area of the most densely populated region of the most densely populated state, the single most impactful thing that Mikie Sherrill, New Jersey’s governor-elect, can do is this: Invest in and expand mass transit. Despite President Donald Trump’s recent illegal and capricious withholding of federal funds to “cancel” the Gateway project, New Jersey must not shy away from critical mass transit infrastructure investment.
Strong, reliable transit is not just about moving people. It’s about making New Jersey more affordable, advancing our climate and energy goals, supporting new housing, and building a fairer economy. Yet too many communities (especially in Hudson County and the surrounding areas) are still cut off from fast, frequent, and reliable transit options.
Better Blocks NJ has identified four long-term capital projects and four immediate actions that together would transform mobility in the region, reducing congestion while making transit a first choice for more New Jerseyans.
- HBLR – Northern Branch Corridor
The Northern Branch Corridor project will provide a transit rail connection between a densely populated Bergen County and Hoboken and Jersey City, where passengers can connect to PATH trains to access New York City. Currently, this region of Bergen County does not have any convenient rail transit options. The cost to bring service as far north as Tenafly is estimated to be around $2 billion.
2. HBLR – Extension to connect the Hudson and Newark Light Rail Network
This project will extend the HBLR from Jersey City into Newark via the already planned Route 440 expansion, providing additional transit capacity between the state’s two largest cities and transit options between Jersey City and the underserved yet heavily populated Ironbound neighborhood. Restoring bridges and laying new track on this route would likely cost $2.5 to $3 billion.
The next governor can take the immediate step of directing the state to fund the Bayfront / Route 440 extension.
3. NJ Transit Commuter Rail – Portal South
The Portal South Bridge project would double capacity and increase speeds from 60 to 90 miles per hour on the Northeast Corridor between Newark and New York City. The additional trackage provides critical redundancy to keep trains moving in the event of equipment failures that have plagued the agency in recent years. The project cost is estimated to be $2.5-$3 billion.
4. NJ Transit Commuter Rail – Hunter Flyover
This project will eliminate a bottleneck on NJT’s Raritan Valley Line (RVL) service by no longer requiring trains to cross over the entire Northeast Corridor to access Newark Penn Station. Eliminating bottlenecks between the RVL and NEC would allow for future service expansion into Hunterdon and Warren County, helping commuters avoid traffic on the congested I-78 corridor. In conjunction with the Gateway project’s increased capacity to serve New York City, the Hunter Flyover would make a one-seat rush hour commute to New York feasible for RVL riders. The estimated project cost is around $300 million.
These projects will take time to construct and build. But at a total price tag of around $7.8 billion, these are both cheaper and more effective than the planned $11 billion Turnpike widening project proposed by the Murphy administration. And with the Portal North project, New Jersey showed that it was able to complete the project both ahead of schedule and under budget.
Immediate Improvements to NJTransit
While focusing on these long-term improvements is critical, if Governor Sherrill is eager for good transit news on day 1, then she can take the following actions to immediately begin transforming the region and helping beleaguered commuters:
- Increase off-peak Hudson-Bergen Light Rail service, to improve service and mobility in the county with the highest population density and lowest rate of car ownership in the state.
- Expand weekend and off-peak commuter rail frequencies, especially on the Raritan Valley and Main/Bergen Lines and add regular service from Hoboken to the Meadowlands to serve the American Dream Mall.
- Commit to building on-the-books HBLR Bayfront / RT 440 extension project AND to study a future extension to Newark. This project is estimated to cost around $220 million.
- Build the on-the-books HBLR Hoboken Wye Bypass, a long-planned fix to reduce delays and improve service reliability on the HBLR.
Mass transit infrastructure is not just transportation infrastructure. It’s essential to housing and jobs. Our economy grows faster and richer when transit is well-funded and reliable.
Other Ambitious Projects Worthy of Consideration
These are just a handful of plans that New Jersey’s next governor should consider in and around Hudson County. There are even more ambitious projects worth revisiting if the state can make good progress on these priorities:
1) electrification of the remaining diesel service in New Jersey;
2) a Raritan Valley Line extension to Phillipsburg to alleviate congestion on the I-78 corridor;
3) restoring service from West Trenton to Newark via Flemington and Bridgewater;
4) reactivating the West Shore Railway to better serve commuters in Bergen County, NJ and Rockland County, NY; and
5) creating better rail connections between Paterson and Newark as well as Paterson and Hudson County.
New Jersey has a rich legacy of rail transit and many preserved right of ways that can be easily and efficiently reactivated if NJTransit were allowed to rebuild its lost in-house capacity. And many of these transit projects will do more to help commuters and relieve congestion on I-78, I-80, and the Turnpike than Governor Phil Murphy’s wasteful $11 billion plans to widen highways in Hudson County.
This was a guest post written by Jesse Halpern, a railroad industry veteran and electrical engineer.
One response to “Transit Improvements: Four Long-Term and Four Immediate NJTransit Improvements”
The HBLR Northern Branch must include a bike path that will open up a myriad of connections in all 4 directions. The path should then extend south from Tonnelle Station along 1/9 to Jersey City and the Greenway being built west to Bloomfield. A spur from on Paterson Plank road leading to a path over the route 3 bridges should be built for easy access to the mall and stadium and towns to the west. Lastly, we need to connect the waterfront at Edgewater to the bike path in Fairview using the abandoned rail tunnel. With that you’ve opened up a myriad of cycling and commuting opportunities for people in 4-5 counties, bypassing numerous man-made and natural obstacles. Northeast NJ could become a cycling and commuter paradise and significantly reduce car traffic.