MOM Line Foes Need Own Rally
By: Hank Kalet
Local MOM opponents should fight fire with fire.
Commuter rail line supporters in Monmouth and Ocean counties are planning a rally for May 11 at the Monmouth County Library in Manalapan.
Supporters hope that a show of numbers might help create the momentum for the line, forcing NJ Transit to back an alignment that would take the line west through Jamesburg, Monroe and South Brunswick.
Local officials are critical, but that’s not enough. What is needed is a competing rally, bringing residents of the three Middlesex County towns together to remind NJ Transit that the western route is not only the most expensive but also faces serious opposition.
The Monmouth Junction alignment is one of three so-called MOM lines being considered. A new commuter line was proposed as part of a Middlesex-Ocean-Monmouth transportation corridor study in the mid-1990s designed to alleviate traffic in the three counties.
NJ Transit initially backed an enhanced bus plan for Route 9, but Shore-area legislators forced the Monmouth Junction alignment back on the table. In response, state Sen. Peter Inverso, a Republican who represents Jamesburg, Monroe and South Brunswick, fought to expand the study to include other options alignments that would link with the Jersey Coast line in Monmouth County at Red Bank or Matawan.
MOM supporters say that it is important to look at the "big picture." Heavy congestion along Route 9 requires a solution. And the best one, they say, is the Monmouth Junction alignment.
"We need to give more mobility to our citizens and workers," said Ben Waldron, executive director of the Monmouth-Ocean Development Council. "This would not just be good for Ocean and Monmouth, but it would have a positive impact on Middlesex County, too."
Officials in Middlesex County disagree. Not only have the councils in Jamesburg, Monroe and South Brunswick approved resolutions condemning the line, but the Middlesex County freeholders are on record opposing it, as well.
The key is to look at the numbers, according to a 2005 NJ Transit study: The Monmouth Junction option would cost $860 million to construct and $49 million to operate; Red Bank would cost $600 million and $42 million; and Matawan $730 million and $45 million.
Monmouth Junction also would have the longest travel times 1 hour and 50 minutes from Lakehurst to Newark Penn Station through Monmouth Junction, 1 hour and 37 minutes through Red Bank, and 1 hour and 35 minutes through Matawan. Those numbers could change, however, once a new rail tunnel is constructed along the Northeast Corridor line under the Hudson River into New York, which would allow the trains to travel all the way to New York without a changeover in Newark.
A Draft Environmental Impact Statement including final cost estimates, environmental impacts and ridership numbers will be submitted to the Federal Transit Administration in late 2008 to determine if the project qualifies for funding.
In the meantime, the two sides are likely to engage in a public debate over the project.
Supporters are hoping to control the terms of debate. Opponents in Middlesex County shouldn’t let them.

