BAYONNE — Mayor Mark A. Smith and Public Safety Director Jason O’Donnell announced that an emergency drill will take place Saturday, Dec. 11, in preparation for the opening of the Eighth Street Light Rail Station. The station is expected to begin operations in early 2011 at a date to be announced by New Jersey Transit. Smith said, “The opening of the new train station requires public safety agencies to practice managing emergencies at the new transit hub. The city of Bayonne is grateful for the participation of county, state, and federal agencies in the drill on Saturday.”
Director O’Donnell said, “Downtown residents should understand that the emergency vehicles and personnel that they see on Saturday will be part of this emergency exercise. The exercise will affect parking and traffic in the area. I would like to thank our residents for their patience and cooperation during the drill.”
The participating public safety agencies will begin staging at 8 a.m. at the incident command post at the 8th Street Station. A safety briefing will be held at 8:30 a.m. before the start of the exercise. The emergency egress stairway at 12th Street and Avenue E will be used to evacuate participants during the exercise.
The Traffic Unit of the Bayonne Police Department will post “No Parking” signs on both sides of 8th Street between Broadway and Avenue C. That same portion of 8th Street will be closed for the duration of the exercise, which will last until noon at the latest. The Traffic Unit will also post “No Parking” signs on both sides of Avenue E between 12th Street and 14thStreet. The parking restrictions will be in effect from 7 a.m. until noon on Saturday. During the drill, two-way traffic flow will continue on Avenue E. Variable message signs will be posted at two locations: 1) 14th Street and Avenue E, and 2) 8th Street and Avenue C.
The following agencies are participating in the drill: the New Jersey Transit Police Department, Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, the Bayonne Police Department, the Bayonne Fire Department, McCabe Ambulance EMS, the Bayonne Office of Emergency Management, the Hudson County Office of Emergency Management, the New Jersey State Police Office of Emergency Management, the New Jersey State EMS Task Force, and the FBI-Joint Terrorism Task Force.