Tag: MOM line

The state Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Parks and Forestry has apparently given ” thumbs down to the Monmouth Junction route’s proposed crossing” of the Monmouth Battleground State Park, according to the Asbury Park Press.

A May letter from the division, the paper says,

cites adverse effects from commuter trains on the park — which is crossed by rails where a freight train runs — and from more drivers using Route 522 to reach a proposed station in Manalapan near the park.

The effort to upgrade the Monmouth Junction line across the preserved battlefield could be prevented by federal officials, now that the DEP has rendered an opinion about the effects, a prominent historian said.

“They can’t proceed without the permission of the New Jersey Historic Sites Council, and if they approve, the National Parks Service would not approve,” said Garry Wheeler Stone, Monmouth Battlefield State Park historian.

The Post and Press will have more on this story as it develops.

The latest news on the Middlesex-Ocean-Monmouth rail line is not good — if you’re opposed to the line, as we are at the Post and the Press. A press release from U.S. Rep. James Saxton (R-Monmouth) announces an infusion of cash to help pay for additional studies with the goal being to push the line through Middlesex County.

Here is the release:

WASHINGTON, DC – New Jersey Transit will receive more than a $1 million for its proposed Monmouth, Ocean, Middlesex (MOM) Passenger Rail Line, said Congressmen Chris Smith (NJ-04) and Jim Saxton (NJ-03), who had worked for years to have the money included in the federal budget.

The MOM Alternatives Analysis Program will receive $1.25 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation budget as a direct result from Smith’s and Saxton’s efforts to fund the project in 2005, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act – A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU or SAFETEA). This act authorizes federal surface transportation programs through the end of 2009.

The MOM Passenger Rail Line is expected to relieve traffic congestion in the region, the fastest growing area in central New Jersey. The MOM Line would extend passenger rail service from New York City, Newark, and other urban areas of North Jersey into Central New Jersey, according to State and local planners.

“The MOM line is a critical project aimed at relieving congestion and its related health problems in one of the fastest growing regions in New Jersey,” said Rep. Smith. “The federal government’s continued commitment and funding will help move the MOM line forward.”

“Chris and I feel that this is a worthwhile public transportation effort,” said Saxton. “New Jersey is the most densely populated state, and this rail line could improve commuting and transportation systems by creating a rail service link between North Jersey and South Jersey. That could reduce cars on the roads, and give travelers an option to get to their destinations.”

In March, Smith and Saxton asked New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine to reconsider his plan to eliminate the Middlesex portion of the MOM Passenger Rail Line. Smith and Saxton helped authorize the project in 2005 legislation that allowed them to seek appropriations over six years.

The final potential stop of the MOM Line would be Lakehurst Borough, which is home to a U.S. Navy base, the Lakehurst Naval Air Engineering Station (NAES), the largest employer in Ocean County.

The release is rather benign, speaking in general terms about a general rail project that on the surface would appear to have little downside. That is, if you ignore the second to last paragraph. Both Smith and Saxton have previously been on the record supporting the line through Jamesburg and Monmouth Junction and the reality is that the money they have put on the table is designed to make the Shore communities’ favorite alternative the favored alternative — even with the governor’s somewhat lukewarm assurances that the Middlesex alternative is dead.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

E-mail me by clicking here.

The Red Bank Borough Council passed a resolution that puts it on record as officially opposing the Red Bank route for the MOM line. The argument, as reported in The Asbury Park Press, sounds eerily familiar:

RED BANK — The Borough Council officially opposed the Red Bank route of the proposed Monmouth-Ocean-Middlesex rail line because its 30 trains a day would gridlock local streets when added to the current 80 North Jersey Coast Line trains that stop here.

The council voted to oppose that route and support the Monmouth Junction route, which would serve western Monmouth and southern Middlesex County towns.

“Trains cross (borough streets) 80 times a day. The amount of train service they’re asking to add will create havoc,” Council President Arthur Murphy III said. “We are not in favor of this; it impacts parking and a lot of things.”

There’s more:

Borough officials said adding a second commuter line to Red Bank would affect the quality of life in an already congested municipality. It would send commuter trains over two additional railroad crossings, adding to the four Coast Line grade crossings.

“It will strangle this municipality,” Mayor Pasquale “Pat” Menna said. “This municipality will have no movement.”

Councilwoman Mary Grace Cangemi, who lives near the North Jersey Coast Line railroad tracks, said that it’s the wait at the grade crossings, not train horns or bells, that affect her and her neighbors.

“It’s the six to seven minutes it takes to get out of my street,” Cangemi said. “There are so many grade crossings — this is not optimal.”

I’ve heard officials in South Barunswick, Jamesburg and Monroe make this argument dozens — hundres? — of times. But when these arguments are made in southern Middlesex County, it is decried as the worst form of NIMBYism.

The hypocrisy of it blowes my mind.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

E-mail me by clicking here.

OK. That’s an awful pun, but I couldn’t resist. Our story on the governor’s exceedingly wise decision on the MOM line — now the MO Line — is available here and here.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

E-mail me by clicking here.