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(rshsdepot) Trenton, NJ
From the Trenton (NJ) Times=2E=2E=2E
Train hub upgrade sought=20
Sunday, July 07, 2002
By TOM HESTER Jr=2E=20
TRENTON - Engineering and design work on a proposed new train station=20
for the capital city have progressed, but money to pay for the new=20
complex remains scarce=2E=20
Although that makes it unclear when, if ever, the new Trenton Train=20
Station will be built, Mayor Douglas H=2E Palmer said he is confident=20
the project will become a reality=2E=20
"NJ Transit knows the renovation is critical to the Northeast=20
Corridor," Palmer said=2E "The train station is very important,=20
being (that) it's the capital and the sixth-busiest station on=20
the Northeast Corridor=2E"=20
=20
NJ Transit spokesman Ken Miller said the proposed new station's=20
design and engineering work is about 30 percent completed=2E The=20
plan was approved by state historic preservation officials and=20
soon will be submitted to federal transit officials for approval=20
and possible funding, he said=2E=20
"This is one of (the) basic core projects that will receive high=20
priority," Miller said=2E=20
The design work and engineering completed so far have been paid=20
with $7=2E5 million in federal money=2E=20
Rebuilding the train station could cost between $34 million and=20
$45 million, but Miller said NJ Transit is facing a tight budget=20
this year, and no timetable has been set for construction=2E=20
Dave Cush, spokesman for U=2ES=2E Rep=2E Chris Smith, R-Washington=20
Township, said Smith is trying to get more money for the project=20
The Trenton Train Station is owned and operated by NJ Transit but=20
also is used by Amtrak trains on the Northeast Corridor and SEPTA=20
trains serving the Philadelphia area=2E The Southern New Jersey Light=20
Rail Transit System will link with the station when it starts=20
operating next year=2E=20
The facility - a 9,700-square-foot concourse structure and a=20
9,400-square-foot station building - handles about 4,600=20
passengers per week=2E=20
City officials have long complained the building poorly represents=20
New Jersey's capital city=2E=20
The city's master plan described the station as "no more than a=20
small, drab and characterless low-rise building constructed in=20
the early '70s on the site of an architecturally distinguished=20
late-19th-century station=2E"=20
The proposed renovation would include an expanded building and a=20
second-story addition that would provide office, retail and=20
community space=2E=20
Also proposed are exterior and interior architectural improvements,
landscaping upgrades, improved parking areas and various additions=20
such as closed-circuit television, signage, graphics and information
displays=2E=20
The new building would be 39,000 square feet=2E=20
The design, according to NJ Transit's project description, is meant to
"provide a safer, more aesthetically pleasing facility for=20
existing and new riders and will eliminate poor conditions at=20
the existing facility=2E With the increasing ridership demands=20
from Amtrak, SEPTA, NJ Transit Northeast Corridor riders and=20
the future Southern New Jersey Light Rail Transit System, the=20
new station will better accommodate passenger flows and provide=20
an appropriate venue for the state capital=2E"=20
The city sees the rebuilt station as a grand entranceway to the=20
city that would be surrounded by new parking garages, commercial=20
buildings, residential structures, street-level commercial space=20
and restaurants=2E=20
The mayor said he has talked to George Warrington, NJ Transit's=20
executive director, and plans to speak to the city's state and=20
federal legislators about finding the money to begin construction=2E=20
"We're going to work together to try to get funding," Palmer said=2E=20
"With everybody working together, we'll come up with the necessary=20
monies over the next year=2E"=20
Palmer said he would work as hard to get the city train station=20
redeveloped as he did in bringing the city its first hotel in=20
about 15 years - the recently opened Marriott hotel-conference=20
center at South Warren and West Lafayette streets=2E=20
"It's the new cause celebre," Palmer said=2E=20
Cush said some of the $7=2E5 million in federal money could go=20
toward starting construction, but construction isn't imminent=2E=20
"We are still very much interested in the project," he said=2E=20
Cush said Smith will try to help, but the state also will have to=20
find money=2E=20
"Obviously, NJ Transit is going to have to come in and put some=20
money toward the project," he said=2E "It is not going to be an=20
all-federal project=2E"=20
Copyright 2002 New Jersey Online=2E All Rights Reserved=2E
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