STATEMENT BY
THE NEW JERSEY ASSOCIATION OF RAILROAD PASSENGERS (NJ-ARP)
to the
NORTH JERSEY TRANSPORTATION PLANNING AUTHORITY (NJTPA)
regarding
DEVELOPMENT OF THE BERGEN ARCHES
February 12, 1999

If the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) is a true steward of the region it serves, it must endorse the use of the ex-Erie Railroad Bergen Arches (Jersey City) for intermodal freight rail access-and a key link to the future success of the Port of New York & New Jersey.

The New Jersey Association of Railroad Passengers (NJ-ARP) believes such containerized maritime/freight rail use takes precedence over passenger rail needs-and certainly outstrips any possible benefits of a highway/truck plan which would only add to traffic congestion in Hudson County.

Both Norfolk Southern Corp. (NS) and CSX Corp. have stated publicly that the Bergen Arches is perfect for enhancing the port's container movements-a critical economic advantage to the entire region which must not be squandered. The growing size of marine container ships have three choices for future East Coast operations in the 21st century: Halifax, Baltimore, and New York/New Jersey.

But a New York-New Jersey port can only compete by utilizing the Military Ocean Terminal of Bayonne (MOTBY), soon to pass from Army to civilian use. MOTBY can handle container ships requiring up to 60-ft. water depths; it can also be developed for on-dock rail container use. Both are key to the region's transportation future as an intermodal ship/rail hub.

NJTPA, as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for Northern New Jersey, must pursue the development of MOTBY-and the use of ship-to-rail intermodal access. The Bergen Arches can play a critical part in such development. Failure to tap the Arches for such use begs the question: How else can port container traffic be served? The thousands of containers envisioned moving to and through MOTBY cannot possibly move by truck; a Bergen Arches truckway would be wholly inadequate to the task, even if other traffic demands magically vanished.

But NJTPA has been asked to evaluate the conversion of the Bergen Arches for mixed highway use, letting trucks compete with the congestion caused by induced automobile traffic headed for downtown New York and the New Jersey waterfront. Worse, NJDOT's desire to link the waterfront with Tonnelle Circle and Allied Junction (New Jersey Turnpike) with an expanded Route 139 seeks to tie together locales, such as Allied Junction, Pavonia/Newport, and Exchange Place, which have good (and improving) transit access-already in place as an option to automotive congestion. (more…)

NJ-ARP rejects this short-term, short-sighted conversion of yet another railroad right-of-way-a policy forwarded by New Jersey's Department of Transportation (NJDOT), intent on ignoring its own disclaimer that New Jersey "can't build its way out of congestion."

NJ-ARP rejects this short-term, short-sighted conversion of yet another railroad right-of-way-a policy forwarded by New Jersey's Department of Transportation (NJDOT), intent on ignoring its own disclaimer that New Jersey "can't build its way out of congestion."

We respectfully request NJTPA to seek cooperation from NJDOT and New Jersey Transit, among other entities, to evaluate all the options available for using the Bergen Arches, and not accept more dubious highway construction as the best boost to the region's economic well-being.

Douglas John Bowen
President, NJ-ARP
(201) 798-6137
February 12, 1999