NJ Transit announced earlier this week that representatives from Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean counties had reached consensus on a commuter line, routing it from Lakehurst to Red Bank.
That was Wednesday. On Thursday, that consensus appeared to be crumbling, according to The
Asbury Park Press:
Monmouth County’s support for a new rail line to Red Bank appeared completely gone on Thursday, a day after NJ Transit officials claimed to have won Freeholder John D’Amico Jr.’s backing for the proposal.
Instead, D’Amico backpedaled, saying his support for the Red Bank route was only conditional because the transit agency “has made its mind up” against rail options relying on routes through Middlesex County.
Republican Freeholders Lillian G. Burry and Robert D. Clifton said they would not support the Red Bank route and D’Amico failed to gain backup from his two Democratic colleagues at the board meeting at the Hall of Records.
I guess this should have been expected, though it does make you wonder about D’Amico and how this process played out. It seems odd to me that NJ Transit could have so badly misunderstood the Monmouth County freeholder, moving ahead with an announcement of a compromise that he claims was never agreed to.
In any case, the Monmouth folks continue their campaign of misinformation — claiming, for instance, that Red Bank had never been on the table when it clearly is part of the environmental impact study being conducted and all of the earlier studies on the project, or that this is about Western Monmouth County and not the Route 9 corridor.
Admittedly, ridership projections for the Middlesex route are higher, but so is the cost to build and to operate by significant margins. Part of the reason is that the project will require significant track upgrades and other improved infrastructure and a host of permits and environmental approvals. Plus, the ridership figures are predicated on new rail stations that are not included in the cost estimates.
It seems to me that the Monmouth folk are doing what they have long accused Middlesex officials of doing — pandering to the NIMBYs.
Hank Kalet 