Bergen County Expansion Projects

This is a pretty hefty article; there's nothing really new to report here, but it's an interesting perspective: NJ.com
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A train delay for the ages: boosting service in Bergen County among stalled plans

Bringing more rail service to Bergen County may be North Jersey’s most stubborn transportation dream. Even now, depending on how one counts, there are between six and 11 efforts to return passenger service to historic train lines. And although passenger trains, bus lines and highways have spread across the region in the post-World War II era, people here have pushed, planned, schemed and begged for even more commuter rail, either to reduce traffic congestion or to connect places that are difficult to reach by mass transit. And the problem grows more acute the closer one gets to New York City. For densely populated towns in eastern Bergen County, like Englewood, Fort Lee and Tenafly, trains simply are not an option, as state Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck, often points out.

I think the article correctly sums up the impossibility of restoring the West Shore; CSX will never go for it. And the (lack of) utility of some of the other projects.

Feel free to slice this up and quote the article in some of the project threads.

Extending light rail to Newark Airport and south to Elizabeth seemed less far-fetched. NJ Transit’s planning for the project was “well under way” in 1996, according to the Regional Plan Association. The project was later removed from the agency’s capital plan.

That's the one I'd like to see (put on wish list...). Light rail service from Broad St. to E'port and up to the airport and onward... Well, we can dream. Tis the season and all.

Extending the Newark Light Rail through Passaic and Paterson using a combo of underused ROWs and street-running would be a guaranteed winner. The population density can certainly support it nearly all hours of the day. Would also probably do wonders for spurring development.

Shame the people in those towns don't have enough money to buy an NJ politician that could get this done.

As much as all these pet projects would be nice, can we get to the point where we're probably stuck at what we have for a while and should focus on making sure we can upgrade what we have?

Building shiny new things are nice, but let's focus on stuff like PORTAL, which needs the money and the replacement.

Newly passed Congressional Transportation Bill mentions replacement of Portal, and possibly N River tunnel/s

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"Englewood mayor hopes to jump-start Bergen County light rail plan"

ENGLEWOOD — Mayor Frank Huttle III hopes to jump-start a long stalled plan to bring light rail service to Bergen County by emphasizing the economic benefits a thriving light rail system can bring to the rest of the state.

Huttle, joined by Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, on Monday held the first meeting of the “Mayors’ Hudson/Bergen Light Rail Commission” at bergenPAC where more than a dozen officials began crafting a strategy for moving the project closer to construction.

Three years ago, there appeared to be some movement on the project when a proposal called for extending the light rail to Tenafly, but strong opposition from that town in 2012 forced NJ Transit to eliminate that option and bring the proposed terminus to Englewood.

Since then, a new proposal had emerged that would allow the line to continue on from Tonnelle Avenue to stops in Ridgefield, Palisades Park and Leonia, before ending in Englewood. Once constructed, the nine-mile stretch would take 33 minutes, said Linda Mosch, a senior director in NJ Transit’s capital planning office. New to the latest proposal is the addition of a parking garage at Englewood Hospital – the first of three proposed stops in the city — and the possibility of additional parking in downtown Englewood, Huttle said Monday.

John C. Leon, NJ Transit’s senior director of government and community relations, told the group that NJ Transit staff is currently working on a new supplemental document to send to the Federal Transit Administration that will outline the changes. He said that document should be ready to submit to the FTA this fall, and that public hearings will likely be scheduled for the spring of 2015.

Funding, however, has been one of the main obstacles to the project. No source of cash has been identified.

An official from Congressman Bill Pascrell’s office told the group that the project, expected to cost nearly $1 billion, could apply for funding that would require a state match. He said the state has to have a solid plan and a commitment to contributing a 50 percent match to qualify for the federal funding program.

“We want to coordinate an effort, multi-county, and create the understanding it’s a statewide issue,” said Fulop. “It creates jobs. It makes Jersey more competitive and it’s important to the entire state.”

Huttle said he expects a final document to go to the FTA in the summer of 2015.

So apparently, all the moving parts are/were underway, except for the funding. Does anyone know whether these timelines were met? The service would help me personally as well. I do not think the people can crowd onto the overfilled, slow buses for too long.