A proposed bill that could mean running a rail line through Jamesburg and Monroe will pull into the Assembly Thursday. Local officials plan to begin a mail campaign to fight it.
By: Matthew Armstrong
A proposed bill that could mean running a rail line through Jamesburg and Monroe will pull into the Assembly next Thursday.
Assembly Speaker Jack Collins announced Tuesday that Assembly Bill 2245, which would add a proposed rail line in central New Jersey to the Circle of Mobility, will go before the Assembly for a vote May 25.
“If we want to keep our economy on the right track, we must have a transportation network that is second to none,” said Mr. Collins (R-Salem). “This rail line will bring significant economic benefits to the entire region, and is also likely to raise property values in the surrounding communities.”
The proposed rail line, which would run from Lakewood in Ocean County to connect with the Northeast Corridor line in Monmouth Junction, has been moving closer to becoming a reality.
The co-sponsor of the bill, Assemblyman David Wolfe (R-Brick), said concerns based on inaccurate information should not be allowed to derail the plan.
The Circle of Mobility is a list of transportation projects considered a priority by the Legislature, making them eligible for federal funding.
The bill was passed in the Assembly Transportation Committee last week by a 6-1 vote, moving it into the hands of the Assembly. The one dissenting vote on the committee came from Assemblyman John Wisnieski (D-Middlesex), who said he was sympathetic to the concerns of Jamesburg, Monroe and South Brunswick.
The Senate version of the bill (S-239) was held for further discussion in the state Senate Transportation Committee. Committee Chairman Sen. Andrew Ciesla (R-Ocean) heeded the concerns of representatives from South Brunswick, Jamesburg and Monroe, and said more information was needed about the proposed rail line and possible alternatives.
Neither the Assembly nor the Senate bill specifies an alignment of the proposed rail line, only stating that it would terminate in Lakewood or another location in Ocean County. The bills state the alignment would be up to the judgment of NJ Transit. NJ Transit has said it would like to see a line built that would run from Lakehurst to Monmouth Junction through Jamesburg and Monroe.
Officials in South Brunswick, Jamesburg and Monroe and the Middlesex County freeholders oppose the line.
“This rail line is a complete waste of taxpayers money,” said Middlesex Freeholder David Crabiel on Thursday.
South Brunswick met Tuesday to organize a letter-writing campaign to urge state legislators to vote against a proposed rail line in South Brunswick.
The South Brunswick Council held the meeting to discuss strategies to fight the proposed rail line and to inform residents of recent developments in the rail proposal.
Jamesburg Councilman Otto Kostbar attended the South Brunswick meeting and said Jamesburg also would join the letter-writing campaign.
“This is life or death,” Mr. Kostbar said. “This train would destroy Jamesburg.”
Monroe Mayor Richard Pucci said Thursday that Monroe would join South Brunswick and Jamesburg in the letter-writing campaign.
“This train would have significant negative impacts on our town and offers absolutely no benefits of service,” said Mayor Pucci. “This train is all to serve Ocean and Monmouth County, but they oppose alignments that would have the train run through their towns and negatively impact them.”
A few weeks ago, South Brunswick officials spoke with NJ Transit and requested more information on the train line and the alternatives that were analyzed in a 1996 study. South Brunswick recently received information from NJ Transit, but it was not the comprehensive information they were seeking.
“It only included information on our line,” said South Brunswick Mayor Debra Johnson. “There was nothing about the alternatives, no cost analysis, no analysis of a train station. What we wanted is information that proves that this is the best alternative, the most efficient at the least cost. We have not received any information saying that.”
“This is just a self-serving letter,” said South Brunswick Councilman Ed Luciano. “It’s not worth the paper it’s printed on.”
The council blasted the Assembly Transportation approval of the bill, calling it irresponsible.
“We have a very clever attempt to get this passed,” said South Brunswick Councilman Ted Van Hessen. “Neither bill says anything about an alignment. It doesn’t say how or where it will run. I think it very deliberately leaves it unclear.”
Both the Senate and the Assembly bills state the train would begin in Lakewood and run through central New Jersey.
NJ Transit Executive Director Jeffrey Warsh has said the alignment through Jamesburg, Monroe, and South Brunswick is the alignment the agency is seeking funding for and that other alignments would not accomplish mass transit goals for the region.
South Brunswick officials recognize that Monmouth and Ocean counties have a need for mass transit, but have said Middlesex County should not have to suffer because of that.
“We didn’t tell them to live there and we shouldn’t have to suffer to make their commute easier,” Mr. Luciano said.
Though the council said it will fight to keep the train out of its back yard, they insisted this is not a NIMBY issue. They said there were less costly alternatives that would make the commute quicker to New York.
“The Lakewood to Freehold to Matawan alternative is the preferred alignment,” said Mr. Van Hessen. “It estimates the same ridership at $100 million less cost. For political reasons that alternative was not studied further. They made sure that the train would not run through their back yard — and we are the ones who are NIMBY?”
The council said it will print postcards opposing the Lakewood-to-Monmouth Junction alignment and urge residents to send them to the Senate Transportation Committee, Mr. Collins and to state Senate President Donald DiFrancesco (R-Union).
Council members said they also will lobby the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority if the federal funding is allocated for the rail proposal. The North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority was created by the federal government as a way to regulate nationwide planning issues. Federal money goes through this association before it goes to NJ Transit.
The association allocated $3 million to NJ Transit early this year to further study the rail line, according to Freeholder Crabiel who is a voting member on the authority
If funding is allocated for an impact study, South Brunswick officials said they will urge the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority to require NJ Transit to use that money to study alternative rail alignments, and not just focus on the Lakewood to Monmouth Junction alignment.
U.S. Rep. Bob Franks (R-Union) in April asked Rep. Frank Wolff (R- Virginia), chairman of the House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, to provide $2 million to finance an environmental impact statement on the MOM line. The subcommittee is expected to begin work shortly to determine whether the money will be allocated, said Rep. Franks.
Residents at the meeting said they would help circulate the postcards and organize the community against the rail proposal.
“I live over in Monmouth Walk and this train would run 20 feet away from my house,” said South Brunswick resident Bob Kerns.
“I want to help out any way I can to stop this train line,” said South Brunswick resident Karen Woodward.
Residents can contact the Jamesburg Borough Hall or Monroe Township Hall for more information.