NEWARK, N.J. — The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has approved a project that will provide the ability for local residents to use the Newark Airport station on the Northeast Corridor, previously accessible only for NJ Transit and Amtrak passengers going to the airport.
NorthJersey.com reports the Port Authority board this week approved a $160 million project that will build a pedestrian bridge and a plaza for pedestrians, cyclists, and those being dropped off by car or bus, opening up the station for use by residents of Newark and Elizabeth, N.J. A construction project is expected to be awarded next year, with construction completed in 2026. The project will provide easy access to the airport via the Newark AirTrain, as well as more direct service to other Northeast Corridor locations.
Currently, bus trips to the airport from the neighborhoods adjacent to the station can take an hour. The project will cut travel time to the airport to 7 minutes.
“This is righting a wrong,” said Port Authority commissioner Leecia Eve, according to the news site. “In addition to all the economic benefits, we can’t fully quantify how truly game-changing this will be for people who call Elizabeth home and the South Ward home.”
I love the replies that are like “I’m no expert and I haven’t been there in 30 years” but then offer 5 paragraphs of opinion anyway.
From a guy who was in that area this week – the issue is that without pedestrian access at the Airport, the NEC has no local access between North Elizabeth and Newark Penn – that’s a 5 mile stretch in a densely populated area of NJ. Without pedestrian access at the Airport, it cuts off a whole section of Elizabeth and Newark, specifically the Weequahic section of Newark (south ward) and the Clinton Hill area of Newark above route 78.
When I have to work in those areas, I always try to find a train option – but that’s rough. Its generally a train ride, then multiple bus routes to get there from Newark Penn. To walk there is more than an hour from Penn Staton. It looks like this new pedestrian bridge will cut that walk from over an hour down to 20 minutes. Because I have a car, I have the option of skipping the train ride, two bus routes and a walk and just driving there. But for many residents without a car, access to public transportation is an issue. If someone from that neighborhood wants to get to NYC or New Brunswick for work, this opens up a lot of transportation options. It also opens employment options for them.
Is the pedestrain bridge the way to do it? That could be debated – but I’ll bet a pedestrian bridge costs less than building an entirely new rail line and can be done more quickly.
PATH extension would have been better…
Like any other public transportation improvement this will fill a need and make it better for some people. But at what cost.?
“Neighborhood access” ??? I may be wrong, but as far as I can tell from various maps, there’s no neighborhood and this is as nonresidential as it gets. So it’s $160 Million to turn a park-ride into a reconfigured park-ride, a park-ride that will have more options as to how to serve people getting there by automobile or by bus.
NEC needs a whole lot of money to keep itself going — the Gateway Tunnels, the Frederick Douglass Tunnels, the Portal Bridge, and doubtless other projects. NEC is in no shape to go looking for more ways to spend this kind of money.
At 5% capital recovery, this is $22,000 per day. Which is a lot of new passengers that need to be attracted — especially in that no passenger comes close to supporting the existing capital infrastructure.
I’m certainly no expert on EWR Airport or surroundings (I’ve been there about three times, most recently thirty years ago). If I’m wrong don’t hesitate to say so.