| Northern Branch Corridor Project |
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Legend
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The Northern Branch Corridor Project is a proposed extension of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) from it northern terminus into eastern Bergen County, New Jersey. While initial studies have been conducted, as of December 2011, construction funding for the line planned by New Jersey Transit (NJT) is not in place. If built as planned the new service would use 12 miles of the right-of-way of the Northern Branch on which passenger service was terminated in 1966.[1]and is currently a lightly used, stub-ended freight rail line owned by CSX Transportation. The Northern Branch Corridor is at the foot of the west side of the Hudson Palisades in the Hackensack River valley, running for much of its length parallel to Overpeck Creek. A separately conceived and funded bridge necessary for operation of the system is partially built.
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Original proposals for the HBLR called for a terminus at the New Jersey Turnpike Vince Lombardi Park-and-Ride in Ridgefield in Bergen County.[2] Despite its name, it currently operates only in Hudson County. Service began its initial operating segment in April 2000, expanded in phases during the next decade, and was completed with the opening of its southern terminus on January 31, 2011. The line generally runs parallel to the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay, while its western branch and its northern end and travel through the lower Hudson Palisades. HBLR has twenty-four stations along a total trackage length of just over 21 miles (34 km) and serves over 40,000 weekday passengers. From it southern terminus at 8th Street in Bayonne the HBLR travels through Jersey City, Hoboken, and North Hudson to its current northern terminus at Tonnelle Avenue.
The region along the corridor was known as the English Neighborhood during the post-colonial era and was largelyy developed after the introduction of rail service in the mid-1800s.[3] Until the 1960s the area and neighboring communities in the valley were served by regular passenger rail service.[1] to intermodal terminals on the Hudson River, where passengers were able to transfer to ferries to a variety of slips on the West Side of Manhattan. The West Shore Line to Weehawken Terminal was discontinued in the 1959.[4] Service on the Northern Branch to Pavonia Terminal, and in the 1960s to Hoboken Terminal, ended in 1966.[5]
A Major Investment Study and environmental impact statement for the corridor project were first authorized by the Federal Transit Administration and New Jersey Transit in 2001 to examine the possibility of extending Hudson-Bergen Light Rail along the right of way of the Northern Branch[6] Transportation advocates supported the idea since it would provide single seat access between Bergen and Hudson municipalities along the Hudson River. Because light rail cannot operate concurrently with freight service, these plans would have required installation of additional track or scheduling freight traffic late at night or on weekends. Light rail would also required installation of catenary above the tracks and required substations to feed those wires.
The construction and operational conflicts and cost considerations led NJT to consider using FRA-compliant diesel multiple unit (DMU) vehicles[1] which would have used the existing trackage and thus minimize interference with freight service on the line. On February 13, 2006, the agency received $3.6 million in federal funding to conduct engineering and environmental studies. Had it been built it would have essentially been a separate service, with trains travelling south from Tenafly terminating in North Bergen at station providing connecting service to the HBLR. The DMU alternative was criticized by rail transit advocates who argued that a system which required an additional transfer for Bergen commuters would be inefficient and that the original light rail plan be implemented instead.[7] The proposal was dropped when the manufacturer of DMUs, Colorado Railcar, went bankrupt.[8]
The estimated cost of the project is $900 million. Approximately $40 million has been allocated to the project, which was expected to begin in 2012, be completed in 2015 and projected to have estimated 24,000 passengers daily.[8] After nearly three years since it's submission, the Federal Transit Administration authorized the release of a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) in December 2011.[9][10]
The proposal includes two possible options for the northern end of the line.[11] One build option in the current proposal will utilize electrically powered light rail with stations in North Bergen (at the Fairview border/county line} , Ridgefield, Palisades Park, Leonia, and Englewood.[12][13] where a terminal would be build at a park and ride adjacent to New Jersey Route 4.
A second build option and the "preferred alternative" put forth by NJT is for an extension through Englewood, with addtional stations, and Tenafly to two stations, the last of which would be a terminus at the Cresskill town line.[12][14] Tenafly officials intend to resist the preferred plan at public hearings in January 2012. [15] Voters had already rejected the plan to re-establish rail service to the town in a non-binding referedum in November 2010. [16]
While not officially part of the HBLR Northern Branch extension project the partially built 69th Street Bridge in North Bergen is seen as a significant component in success of its operations. The future bridge will replace the current grade crossing near the CSX & NYSW railyard between Tonnelle Avenue and West Side Avenue parallel to the Hackensack River.[17] Signicant delays caused by long trains create considerable congestion for those working and shopping in the area.[18] Located midway between the current terminus near 49th Street and the first propsed station at 91st Street, no stop is planned for the location.[17]
Estimated to cost $67 million in 2005, the project has had sporadic funding since its inception.[19] In May 2006, NJT announced that $38 million had been allocated for the project.[20] Approval for construction was given in 2007.[21] and ground was broken in October 2008.[18] The New Jersey Department of Transportation has allocated multi-year funding for the project in its Capital Program: $10 million in 2009,[22] $15 million in 2010[23] $10 million in 2011[24][25] at which time remaining construction costs were estimated to be $55 million.[25] There was no allocation made for the 2012.[26]
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