BY ELAINE VAN DEVELDE
Staff Writer
MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Improvements to the Edison train station, on Plainfield Avenue, are coming soon. But people are wondering where 800 more parking spots will go. EDISON — As plans to revamp the train station chug along, some residents and commuters are wondering what sacrifices, if any, will have to be made for the sake of 800 new parking spots.
The slated $1 million worth of improvements have been planned for some time, but some people weren’t aware of the pending changes, part of $145 million worth of grants doled out by the federal government for transportation and economic development projects throughout New Jersey.
The improvements have been pending for the past year, Mayor George A. Spadoro said.
But some people at the station during the holidays were unaware of what was to come.
The plan for the Edison station is the construction of an 800-car park-and-ride facility on the commercial side of the station, or Central Avenue.
The mayor said the improvements were designed to take parked cars off the surrounding roads. There are several signs prohibiting parking in residential neighborhoods.
There are 160 spaces at the train station and people are wondering where 800 more parking spaces will go and how much more traffic they will generate.
“I don’t know how they’re going to fit more in this area,” resident Anthony Russomanno said. “Improvements are good, but is this really going to improve the area? Where is the traffic going to go? Better yet, are they going to be able to fill those 800 spaces.”
Visitor Barbara Santanerio, who arrived in Edison for the holiday, said she didn’t see the harm in improvements.
“I really don’t know anything about it,” she said. “But coming from New York, this looks like a smaller train station that could stand to be a little bigger. I guess a parking garage would be nice for commuters, but I’m looking around and I can’t see where they’ll fit it.”
Spadoro has said that the township is in negotiations with some landowners around the station because the township was planning on acquiring some property for the revamp.
He declined to comment on which properties were being acquired, and no one at the surrounding businesses would comment.
“They would definitely have to knock something down around here,” said commuter Lynn Resnick, who said she usually uses the Metropark train station because there is ample parking.
“It will help bring more commuters in,” she said. “Sometimes it’s hard to find a space here. But, then again, I have to wonder how the traffic will be with 800 more spaces. At least with Metropark, the station is suited for a lot of spaces and it’s right off the parkway. It doesn’t go into residential areas.”
Commuter Peter Shah said he looks forward to the change, but he was skeptical about the extra traffic the extra spaces might bring in.
“I hope it will be easy to get through these streets,” he said. “I guess they know what they are doing, but I don’t know how the streets will handle the people coming through in the morning and evening.”
The improvements are in accordance with the state Smart Growth initiative, state Department of Transportation officials said.