(rshsdepot) Montclair State University/Little Falls, NJ

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

McGreevey announces train station funding
Tuesday, June 11, 2002

By ROMY VARGHESE
Special to The Record


LITTLE FALLS - Governor McGreevey on Monday officially announced the funding
of the construction of a new train station and parking area at Montclair
State University.

Speaking at the site on Clove Road, McGreevey said more than $8 million in
the 2003 budget would be invested into the NJ Transit station - which would
provide direct rail service to New York - and a parking area with about
1,300 spaces under construction.

On Wednesday, the NJ Transit board of directors are to authorize the
agreement between the transportation system and the university. The New
Jersey Transportation Trust Fund and bonds from the New Jersey Economic
Development Authority would finance the construction.

The station would be on the Boonton Line and is scheduled to open in the
spring of 2004.

It will be part of the Montclair Connection, which will start Sept. 30, said
NJ Transit spokeswoman Janet Hines. The connection will provide commuters
with a direct link to Manhattan, called Midtown Direct.

At the new station, commuters could go to New York's Penn Station, the
Hoboken terminal, and other stations along the Boonton Line and Montclair
branch.

But it would also provide new, direct access to and from the university for
students, staff, and visitors.

An 800-foot center island, a high-level platform with canopies and a
pickup/dropoff area are among the features of the new station.

Clove Road will be realigned near the new station.

The station and parking lot are being constructed on a 30-acre parcel on
Clove Road the university acquired through eminent domain.

Little Falls officials were upset about the acquisition because state
institutions do not pay property taxes.

Township officials have received complaints from neighbors about the
construction, they said.

While local politicians assembled for McGreevey's announcement, only one
member of the Township Committee attended, Marti Kennedy, who is also a
professor at MSU.

She said the news conference, which for the most part reiterated old news,
may have been an attempt by the state to reach out to the local
municipalities as a "meeting of goodwill."

Bernie Wagenblast
Transportation Communications Newsletter
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/transport-communications/


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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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