A decade ago, when many of the transportation plans were being finalized for Hudson County, the future seemed bright. Development was at its peak and local, state, and federal officials envisioned projects that would transform Hudson County’s economy into a hub of regional growth.
While the region remains a center for commuter trains, buses, ferries, and light rail, the county got a reality check last year when newly-elected Gov. Christopher Christie canceled the Access to the Regions Core (ARC) tunnel, one of the largest and most expensive infrastructure projects in U.S. history, claiming the nearly bankrupt state of New Jersey could not afford the expected cost overruns of the project. The new project would have provided an additional rail route through the county to Manhattan, doubling trips from 23 per hour to 48 and providing 44,000 permanent jobs. The cancellation of the tunnel could cost as many as 6,000 local construction jobs, according to reports.
However, Amtrak recently announced that it may build the tunnel instead, and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has since revived an old plan that would connect the Secaucus Transfer Station to the existing No. 7 subway line.
The Amtrak project, already on the drawing board, proposes a tunnel that would follow the same route as ARC. Trains would run through Secaucus, under the Hudson River, and connect to new tracks in an expanded Penn Station.
“The governor’s decision to withdraw from the ARC tunnel project dramatically re-cast how resources will be spent.” – Tom DeGise
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As for the 7 train project, it is estimated to cost $5.3 billion — less than the $9.78 billion low-end projection for ARC. Subways on that line travel to the east side of Manhattan and on into Queens. Besides extending to Secaucus, there is talk of a Hoboken stop. The expansion was first proposed in the 1970s when the line was envisioned connecting the Meadowlands Sport Complex with Manhattan.
Some money to be used for existing projects
“The governor’s decision to withdraw from the ARC tunnel project dramatically re-cast how resources will be spent on infrastructure on this side of the Hudson River,” said County Executive Tom DeGise.
Now, state money will go to various improvements throughout New Jersey, some of which date back to recommendations by the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority more than a decade ago to rebuild local bridges and improve other local infrastructure.
Among the most important of these, said Freeholder Bill O’Dea, is part of what is called “The Portway Project.”
“Portway is the network of new roadways, bridges and traffic interchanges built over the last decade to swiftly move cargo from the Port of New York and New Jersey through Hudson County,” said DeGise. “It will soon be substantially complete thanks to improvements at the Charlotte and Tonnelle Circles and along Doremus Avenue. However, two pieces of Portway remain on the drawing board – a new bridge across the Passaic River and the completion of the Portway truck route network from Charlotte Circle to Secaucus Road.”
Money formerly intended for ARC will also be used to build a new Route 7/Wittpenn Bridge – important because it links Route 139 with Route 1&9 East and the New Jersey Turnpike Interchange 15W.
“This is key because it will promote Port Related Development that will create thousands of blue collar jobs and help develop Kopper’s Koke,” O’Dea said.
Hudson County had hopes for the ARC project because it expected NJ Transit to acquire the 100-acre county-owned site called Kopper’s Koke in Kearny, creating revenue for future budgets.
DeGise, however, said the demise of ARC had a positive impact.
“The shadow of the ARC Tunnel project loomed large over Koppers,” DeGise said. “It was clear from 2008 on that the property was likely to be targeted for acquisition by the state through sale or eminent domain. This lowered interest from developers.”
O’Dea said private developers are now interested again, partly because the property ties into the Portway transportation network and could serve as a warehouse site for goods out of the port.
“A completed Portway network,” DeGise said, “would allow companies to bring parts through the port for assembly and storage at sites nearby like a new Koppers Koke industrial park.”
To discuss the issues of the Portway, DeGise will be hosting a conference in the spring at Hudson Community College.
“We will invite officials from New Jersey Department of Transportation to attend,” DeGise said. “During this conference, representatives from the trucking industry, the business community and local government will describe how investment in the Portway’s completion will mean a stronger port and more jobs.”
In this regard, the Hudson County Board of Freeholders has passed a resolution strongly supporting Christie’s proposed transportation plan, urging the governor and the state legislature to “fast track” funding for these projects in Hudson County.
The Bayonne Bridge raising
O’Dea said raising the Bayonne Bridge is “obviously priority number one,” since it has such a regional impact.
The $1 billion project, which Gov. Christie announced last fall, will raise the bridge’s roadbed to 215 feet, allowing newer, larger ships to access the ports of Elizabeth and Newark.
Raising the bridge, DeGise pointed out, will allow the enormous new panamax class supertanker cargo ships to pass under the bridge to access port facilities along Newark Bay.
The proposed plan to raise the roadbed rather than the replace or rebuild the bridge allows the Port Authority to meet a pressing timetable, as the new ships are expected to start arriving with the widening of the Panama Canal in 2014.
Light rail expansion
The southern-most stop on the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail system is a newly constructed station on 8th Street in Bayonne, and there have been hints that the line might be extended into Staten Island at some future point.
Rep. Albio Sires, however, said he is pushing for expansion up the west side of Jersey City from the current stop at West Side Avenue – possibly connecting to Journal Square.
“The extension of the HBLR to Route 440-Valley Fair site [a mall complex] will help promote over $1 billion in mixed use development,” O’Dea said.
When it was first proposed, the HBLR was to extend to Bergen County, but so far it has terminated in North Bergen.
New ferry stops
Thanks to a $9 million, three-year contract awarded to Billybey Ferry Co. by New York City, commuters using the NY Waterway ferry service out of Hoboken and Weehawken will be able to land at new stops in Queens and Brooklyn. Billybey contracts with Waterway to operate its 16 ferries.
The new stops will open in June.
Two extra stops, at Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn (Brooklyn Bridge Park) and Governors Island, will operate during summer weekends.
Other projects
Going out to bid shortly is the long-awaited 14th Street Viaduct project for the elevated roadway that connects Union City and Jersey City Heights with Hoboken. The road will be renovated, expanded, and a park will be built underneath.
Another transportation issue Hudson County officials are pushing for will be the repair of the Pulaski Skyway, which is essential because of the safety concerns with the current roadway.
O’Dea, as freeholder chairman, is still pressing to get the Port Authority to consider creating a PATH station at the Marion/Route 1&9 area in Jersey City.
“It will both encourage residential development in that area,” he said, “but more important on the Newark Avenue side, [it will] create another Urban Transit Hub eligible for tax credits that could create thousands of new jobs.”
Possible stalling
But not all of the promised funding for projects is coming. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg blasted Congressional Republicans last month, saying they had cut over $50 million in federal grants that were marked to come to New Jersey for four transportation and infrastructure projects – including work on a replaced rail bridge in Secaucus, a traffic reduction project in Bergen and Hudson Counties, and a huge redevelopment project in Jersey City.
The cuts came as part of the House of Representatives’ version of the “Continuing Resolution (CR)” to fund the government for Fiscal Year 2011, Lautenberg said. The bill was approved in the House last week, and the Senate is now working on its own version of the budget.
Funding threatened includes $38.5 million to complete the design for a new rail bridge over the Hackensack River between Kearny and Secaucus. The new Portal Bridge would help improve the reliability of Amtrak and NJ Transit trains and reduce wait times for commuters.
The House-passed budget will also eliminate $10 million to improve traffic flows in Bergen and Hudson Counties along U.S. Routes 1&9 and 46 and state Routes 7, 17 and 120.