Either option would use the Arches to connect the Secaucus Transfer Station to Hudson County's waterfront as well as to sections of lower Bergen County.
The Bergen Arches is the collective name for the arches of the now defunct Bergen Line Railroad, a freight line which ran through Jersey City to the Hudson River. Cut out the Palisades at the turn of the last century, the line has a series of five street arches at various locations.
"I would be would be in favor of bringing light rail into Secaucus," Elwell said in an interview last week. "The entire circle of mobility light rail up Hudson River to Vince Lombardi rest area is a good thing, but the line needs to be expanded into Bergen County. We need to see it circle the Sports Complex, come back to the Secaucus Transfer Station then go back to Jersey City."
In addition to being a member on Bergen Arches Task Force, Elwell is also a member of the Comprehensive Port Improvement Organization, which speculates on a variety of transportation issues for the waterfront area.
"If the light rail comes into Secaucus' Allied Junction, I think we would be able to make other necessary changes," he said. "When the tunnels and bridges into Manhattan were blocked after Sept. 11, we saw the access roads to New York had no traffic. That means much of the congestion in this area is a result of commuting into Manhattan. We have to find better ways for people to make that commute. That means better mass transit."
But Elwell said this comes with certain requirements. "It has to be reliable. It has to get people to where they need to go. And it can't be too expensive."
If the region supplies a functional transportation network into Manhattan, then regional officials can setup restrictions such as a minimum number of passengers in cars accessing the tunnels and bridges to Manhattan.
"But before we can do that we have to have an alternative in place," Elwell said. "We also have to be reasonable. If someone has to go to Mt. Sinai Hospital for treatment and has to drive himself, we can't restrict that."
Light Rail, Elwell said, can connect to numerous other public transportation networks, such as ferries, Path, and buses.
"The congestion is not a result of people coming out of Hoboken and Jersey City. Many of them already use mass transportation," Elwell said. "We have to begin to encourage people from Secaucus, Rutherford, Clifton and points west of here to use it. If you look down Route 80 in the morning, you'll see people commuting to Manhattan all the way from the Delaware Water Gap. "
Elwell said having the light rail in Secaucus would maintain and increase property values.
"Good public transportation into a community is similar to good school where property values are concerned," he said.
The three plans
At a public meeting held at Dickinson High School in Jersey City on Oct. 23, representatives from the State Department of Transportation outlined three alternative plans to utilize the Arches for increased accessibility to Jersey City. One involved the light rail, while two involved highways.
According to DOT Project Manager for the Bergen Arches Jody Barankin, the first plan would call for the extension of the Light Rail system from the Secaucus Transfer Station through the Arches, and then linking to the Light Rail System already in place at Newport.
The second and third plans call for the construction of an extension from the Turnpike in Secaucus that would extend along the old Bergen Line to 11th Street Viaduct. Washington Avenue would serve as the turning point for traffic, which would move to 18th Street in order to exit the Newport area.
"One plan would have three lanes for the highway," said Barankin, noting that two lanes would be "one-way" going into the city in the morning and then the other way going out in the evening.
The other plan would have the highway as a mixed-use roadway. "This would have three lanes," Barankin said. "One would be for buses and two for high occupancy lanes for vehicles with three or more people."
Barankin stressed that the three plans were only recommendations and that none of them had been decided on. The purpose of the meeting was to collect public input, which would be added to the final report that will be given to the North Jersey Transportation Authority (NJTPA) in December.
The NJTPA is the transportation authority for the 13 counties of Northern New Jersey. The NJTPA not only allocates federal funds allocated for transportation works, but designs proposed projects it passes approval on, such as any work done on the Bergen Arches.
To make any public input on possible transportation projects for the Bergen Arches, send messages to dbehrend@njtpa.org or Jody.Barankin@dot.state.nj.us. You can mail comments to: New Jersey Department of Transportation, Mr. Jody Barankin, 11035 Parkway Ave., Trenton, NJ, 08625 All public comments will become part of the report from the DOT to the NJTPA, which will be finished in December. The NJTPA board will likely decide whether to do a feasibility study on the plans for the Bergen Arches in February of next year. Any project approved by the NJTPA would take between seven to nine years to complete.
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