Re: (erielack) Rail plan meets critics in Sussex

[secbyte_@_squarework.com]

Frankly I think putting garbage on that line and getting it off the highways is a great 
idea.  I would be for rebuilding the line just for that.

George Mason

KSmollin_@_aol.com wrote:

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> Rail plan meets critics in Sussex 
> Cost, cargo draw interest at second forum 
> Wednesday, June 30, 2004 
> BY JIM LOCKWOOD 
> Star-Ledger Staff 
> Garbage, noise, development and money dominated a public forum in Byram 
> yesterday on a $350 million plan to revive passenger rail service between Hoboken 
> and Scranton, Pa., via the defunct Lackawanna Cutoff. 
> Residents questioned whether trash would ever be hauled on the rail line 
> through northwest New Jersey to landfills in Pennsylvania. 
> 
> Try Our Classifieds
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> 
>  
> They were concerned about whether the noise from the trains would disrupt 
> rural neighborhoods and whether a railroad would encourage more development. 
> And the cost was a factor. The project's price tag has soared from $200 
> million in 1996 to $350 million today. Because NJ Transit estimates the line would 
> accommodate 2,800 people a day and remove 800 cars daily from Route 80 by 
> 2025, some wondered whether the project would be worth all the money. 
> "I'm very skeptical. Just start with the costs," Byram Councilman Earl Riley 
> said. "They're projecting 800 fewer cars. I think that's an insignificant 
> number. At what cost? How much is that per car?" 
> Of the 2,800 riders, 2,700 would come from Pennsylvania and the other 100 
> from New Jersey, according to NJ Transit estimates. 
> "It's primarily a rail service for people in Pennsylvania," Riley said. 
> Rail proponents argued NJ Transit's estimates are low. For example, the 
> agency estimates that stations in Andover Township and Blairstown each would have 
> only 30 eastbound riders a day by 2025. 
> "Some of the estimates seem to be on the low side," said Sussex County 
> Transportation Planner Tom Drabic. He said he finds it hard to believe only 30 
> people in Sussex would ride the rails by 2025 because there are already some 3,000 
> commuters living near the proposed Andover station that travel southeast to 
> jobs. 
> Sussex County Chamber of Commerce President Tammie Horsfield said many 
> commuters would likely "see the train as a benefit, to get some work done instead of 
> fighting traffic. We need transportation options. Think of 800 cars off the 
> road." 
> The study calls for an initial eight trains daily and stations in Andover and 
> Blairstown in New Jersey, and in Delaware Water Gap, East Stroudsburg, 
> Analomink, Mount Pocono, Tobyhanna and Scranton in Pennsylvania. 
> Geri Anglum, who lives in Byram's Forest Lakes neighborhood, said, "Our 
> biggest fear is it's not going to only be passengers, it will be garbage and God 
> only knows what other kinds of waste products" carted on the railroad. 
> Anglum and Riley said that when they posed the question of garbage to NJ 
> Transit officials, they would not rule it out. 
> "They're not telling us it's not going to happen," Anglum said. "They never 
> addressed it." 
> Drabic said he never heard any discussions about garbage. 
> "You can't guarantee anything with freight. But all the plans since 1986 
> never mentioned freight, let alone garbage," he said. "I'd be curious to see where 
> that garbage rumor came from." 
> The 10 officials and consultants from NJ Transit who were on hand to answer 
> questions said none of them were allowed to talk to the media. They referred 
> questions to superiors who were not present. A spokesman who had attended the 
> forum left around 5:30 p.m., and requests for comment made by telephone to NJ 
> Transit headquarters were not returned last night. 
> The public forum held at the Adam Todd restaurant was the second of three on 
> the rail project. The first forum was Monday at Delaware Water Gap, Pa., and 
> the third one is being held today in Scranton. 
> The rail plan's environmental assessment, which is due for completion this 
> fall, is one of the preliminary stages imposed by the Federal Transit 
> Administration before a project can be considered as a possible candidate for funding 
> and before engineering can begin. 
> Agreements also are needed between New Jersey and Pennsylvania to divide the 
> cost of the project
> 
> --d1.1052a6e3_alt_bound
> 
> 

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