[Date Prev][Date Next] [Chronological] [Thread] [Top]

(erielack) Will the Lackawanna Cutoff rail line pay off?

http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080601/NEWS05/806010358/1203

Will the Lackawanna Cutoff rail line pay off?
June 1, 2008

We know that highways fueled housing development in formerly rural communities, but does mass transit still have that kind of clout?

We doubt it, but the New Jersey Sierra Club is raising the dreaded specter of sprawl after the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority unveiled plans last week to build a seven-mile rail line between Roxbury and Andover.

The line would be the first link in the proposed 88-mile Lackawanna Cutoff train line to Scranton, Pa., that the Sierra Club also opposes. Construction would start just west of the current NJ Transit stop in Roxbury's Landing section.

Why the Sierra Club's disapproval?  We thought environmental groups liked the idea of fewer cars on the highway, which is the whole point of the long-sought Lackawanna Cutoff.

Sierra Club executive director Jeff Tittel maintains that running a commuter line through rural Morris and Sussex and into Pennsylvania would backfire.

"You're going to end up with more (housing) development in the middle of nowhere," Tittel said.

"When you run a railroad into a rural area, it's no different than running a highway."

At 7.3 miles, the new rail line would be less than a tenth of the total Lackawanna Cutoff route.  It would cost under $37 million, a fraction of the estimated $551 million - and climbing - cost for the entire project.

Supporters of the Lackawanna Cutoff maintain that it would provide another option to long highway drivers to and from work.  Morris County motorists, in particular, often complain - fairly or not - about "Pennsylvania drivers" clogging up Route 80 and other thoroughfares.

However, the Sierra Club and other critics maintain that expanding train service into traditionally rural communities only can worsen the far-flung development that created the traffic problems in the first place.

The problem with the Sierra Club's objection is that the housing sprawl already is in place.  Spiking the Roxbury/Andover link, or the rest of the Lackawanna Cutoff, will not make it go away.

Admittedly, a new train line might provide an additional enticement to developers.  It is worth noting, though, that easy train access has benefited property values in Madison, Chatham and scores of other places.

Residents in the more rural parts of Morris County and elsewhere pay taxes like everyone else; they should not be ineligible for mass transit consideration.

A more valid criticism is whether enough new riders would use the Port Morris/Andover line, or the Lackawanna Cutoff as a whole, to make one or the other worth the hefty effort and price tag.

Recall how some derided the Mount Arlington station, which opened in January, as little more than a glorified, $16 million train shuttle to Dover - four miles away - because some Dover commuters from Morris and Sussex simply opted for the borough's less-crowded parking lot.  Current numbers were not available on Friday, but within two weeks of opening, the station was averaging 100 riders a day.

Would a new line running from Port Morris to Andover bring in new riders, or mostly redistribute the existing pool?

Expect NJTPA officials to address those and other issues when they discuss their expected approval of the Port Morris/Andover link on Tuesday.

...

The Road Crew column appears every Sunday. Rob Jennings can be reached at (973) 428-6667. Visit www.zoomiac.com for traffic information or assistance. Read his blog at www.dailyrecord.com/roadcrew.


Gary R. Kazin
DL&W Milepost R35.7
Rockaway, New Jersey


      

	The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List
	http://EL-List.railfan.net/
	To Unsubscribe: http://Lists.Railfan.net/erielackunsub.html

------------------------------