The Hudson-Bergen Light Rail system had an important passenger on Tuesday – Minnesota Congressman Jim Oberstar, the chairman of the House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
“Next year, Congress will be voting on a new transportation funding reauthorization bill, and we had to show [Oberstar] our funding needs so he’ll know why I’ll be asking for money,” Rep. Albio Sires told the Reporter Tuesday.
Oberstar took an all-day tour of Hudson County accompanied by Sires (D-13th Dist., NJ) and other county officials. The tour started in Bayonne and ended in North Bergen.
There was a break in the tour for a noon press conference at Exchange Place in Jersey City. There was also a working lunch (closed to the press) hosted by Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise, in which officials presented various transportation-related projects and their impact upon the county.
At the press conference, Oberstar said his observations of Hudson County’s transportation infrastructure were “positive” and that he was particularly impressed with the 16-mile NJ Transit light rail system.
The system presently runs from 22nd Street in Bayonne to 48th Street in North Bergen, and there are plans for the line to ultimately terminate in Ridgewood in Bergen County.Projects at hand
But Hudson County will be demanding more federal money for fix-ups and new transportation routes in the coming years. Here are some of the projects on officials’ minds:
* Extending the light rail to the Meadowlands and to the Xanadu recreation complex, and extending the westward line in Jersey City from the current stop on West Side and Claremont avenues to Route 440.
* Construction on several major roadways and bridges including repairs of the Pulaski Skyway that spans from Jersey City; replacement of the St. Paul’s Avenue Viaduct in Jersey City, and rehabilitation of the Route 3 Hackensack River bridge between Secaucus and East Rutherford.
* Construction of the $7 billion ARC (Access to the Region’s Core) project, which extends from Frank R. Lautenberg/Secaucus Junction station in Secaucus to Sixth Avenue/Broadway and West 34th Street in Manhattan. The project would include the construction of a new track connection between the Main/Bergen/Pascack Valley Lines and the Northeast Corridor (NEC) at Secaucus Junction, a new rail yard in Kearny, and two new tunnels under the Palisades and the Hudson River that would connect to a facility under West 34th street with passenger connections to Penn Station and New York City Transit.
* A $1 billion project to lift the Bayonne Bridge, which spans from Bayonne to Staten Island, to allow container ships to sail under the bridge.
NJ Transit Executive Director Richard Sarles, who took part in the tour, said he could not estimate the cost of the possible light rail extensions, except to say that the construction cost for the existing 16 miles was $2.2 billion, which works out to $138 million per mile of rail.
Estimated costs for the repairs to the Pulaski Skyway, according to the NJ Department of Transportation, are upwards of $1 billion.
The replacement of the St. Paul’s Avenue Viaduct in Jersey City will cost $250 million, and the rehabilitation of the Route 3 Hackensack River Bridge will cost $40 million. Officials making their case
On Tuesday, the light rail tour stopped several times, not only to show Rep. Oberstar the progress made on its development, but to pick up officials along the way.
Later, DeGise said, “I think the point we are trying to make to [Oberstar] is that we have the proper foundation and infrastructure. We can continue to build out the county and help grow the economy of the state.”
Hudson County is the sixth-most densely populated county in the United States, right behind four of New York City’s boroughs and San Francisco County in California. Comments on this story can be sent to rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com