The New Jersey Transit Board of Directors advanced a project that would extend Hudson-Bergen Light Rail service farther west in Jersey City.
The project would help support Jersey City’s planned development on the Newark Bay waterfront while easing traffic congestion along the busy Route 440 corridor.
“The selection of a Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) is the next step toward improving transit options near the redevelopment and existing residential areas along the heavily-used Route 440,” said Transportation Commissioner and NJ TRANSIT Board Chairman James Simpson.
“An extension of light rail to this area would both support the development and address traffic congestion along Route 440 and secondary roads.”
Following NJ Transit’s completion of an alternatives analysis to explore the feasibility of a western light rail extension across Route 440, the Board adopted a Locally Preferred Alternative and authorised its submission to the North Jersey Transportation Authority (NJTPA) for designation and inclusion in the agency’s Long Range Regional Transportation Plan.
The project must be included in the NJTPA’s Long Range Plan in order to be eligible for federal funding.
“A westward extension of the light rail from West Side Avenue would provide customers with ready access to light rail service from the busy Route 440 corridor,” said NJ TRANSIT Executive Director James Weinstein.
“Today, customers in this area must access the light rail system via side streets.”
NJ Transit began the alternatives analysis in September 2009, marking the first step in the federal environmental process for an extension. Among the specific items evaluated were potential alignments, station planning, operational needs, cost estimates and integration with redevelopment.
Under the LPA, the project would include construction of a 0.7-mile, two-track extension of the light rail system from the existing West Side Avenue Station across Route 440 to the northern end of a redevelopment zone along the Hackensack Riverfront. The extension would be constructed entirely on an elevated viaduct and would include a new center-island platform station.
The new station would link the Jersey City waterfront and North Hudson to new residential, commercial and retail development the municipality is planning approximately one-half mile west of West Side Avenue Station.
Since opening 11 years ago, Hudson-Bergen Light Rail has driven economic development along its corridor, transforming underutilized tracts of land for productive use through the construction of mixed-use buildings, including office space and housing built near light rail stations.
