NEWARK, N.J. — Funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is accelerating seven transit projects in northern and central New Jersey that will build system capacity, extend accessibility and ensure service reliability for decades to come.
Pending approval by the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority on Friday, N.J. Transit will target a total of $342 million in ARRA funds at northern and central New Jersey projects, enabling N.J. Transit to get shovels in the ground in the coming months.
These projects will complement an array of capital projects already underway throughout the region and will create and preserve jobs as well as leave significant and lasting assets to future generations.
“This investment plan complies with the strict federal requirements for stimulus funds and follows Governor Corzine’s direction to create and preserve jobs while also benefitting transit riders statewide,” said Stephen Dilts, DOT Commissioner and Chairman of the N.J. Transit Board.
“Our investments maintain our system in a state of good repair and will range from the once-in-a-lifetime Mass Transit Tunnel to a new parking facility at a commuter rail station,” said N.J. Transit Executive Director Richard Sarles. “While vastly different in scope, these projects share a common thread of increasing mobility, which helps New Jersey compete in a global marketplace.”
Among the projects being accelerated with ARRA funding are:
- Lower Hack Drawbridge – $30 million for phase II of this rehabilitation project. This bridge carries Morris & Essex Lines trains over the Hackensack River between Jersey City and Kearny.
- Morristown Line signal system – $25 million to accommodate bi-directional train operation on each track between Summit and Denville, which will provide more flexibility and reduces delays.
- Newark Penn Station Plaza – $17.3 million project to improve pedestrian and vehicular traffic circulation along Raymond Plaza West.
- Plauderville Station – $15 million for a new Plauderville Station adjacent a commuter parking and to make it fully ADA accessible to all customers.
- Hudson-Bergen Light Rail – $15 million project for new interlocking near Danforth Station that allows for more local service.
- Edison Station Park & Ride – $11 million to add nearly 500 parking spaces, more than doubling current parking capacity.
- Bloomfield Bus Shelters – $1 million for new shelters to support enhanced bus service along Bloomfield Avenue.
- Mass Transit Tunnel – $130 million to advance final design of this $8.7 billion project featuring two new trans-Hudson commuter rail tunnels and an expanded Penn Station in New York. The first two construction contracts will be advertised this week.
In addition, a portion of $22 million in ARRA funds for track work will be used to replace track on the Montclair-Boonton Line and the Main Line for state-of-good-repair.
Nearly $71 million is funding rail and bus preventive maintenance, including major component rebuilding and equipment overhaul.
Another $20.8 million in ARRA funding will support the purchase of minibuses for N.J. Transit Access Link para-transit service and rural and other transit vehicles.
A total of $2.5 million will fund a program to install new bus shelters statewide.
The ARRA-funded projects will complement other investments that build capacity and accessibility in northern and central New Jersey, including the $46 million South Amboy Station high-level platform project, the $47 million Metropark Station platform reconstruction project, the $41 million Ridgewood Station accessibility project and the $26 million Somerville Station accessibility project.
