(rshsdepot) Union, NJ

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

Commuters cheer rail station opening

Tuesday, April 29, 2003

BY GABRIEL H. GLUCK
Star-Ledger Staff

Kimberly Fraone was one very happy commuter yesterday.

The Newark resident's commute to her Kean University job normally takes at
least an hour. First, she takes the train from Newark to Elizabeth. Then,
it's wait for the Morris Avenue bus, which drops her off across the street
from the Union Township campus.

But with yesterday's opening of the $27 million Union Station -- $33.1
million when you include the cost of land acquisition and road
improvements -- her commute was cut in half, she said with a smile.

"This is excellent," Fraone said, recalling how she was recently "thinking
of getting a car again" because the commute was getting to be such a hassle,
especially in inclement weather.

While the red brick, turn-of-the- century-style station is expected to
ultimately draw more than 800 commuters, about half are expected to be
riders who now use the Roselle Park and Elizabeth stations.

Among the converts to mass transit yesterday was Kathleen Gabrielski, who
works at Schering- Plough, across the street from the station.

The drive to work from her Bound Brook home normally takes 35 to 40 minutes.
"This will be about the same time," she said. "But there's no aggravation,
no traffic, no lights. It's perfect."

Jim Towson also works at the pharmaceutical company. But he lives farther
west in Hunterdon County. The hour-long train ride from White House was a
little longer than it usually takes him by car. "But you don't have to
contend with Route 78," he said.

While getting back 10 hours a week to read is another plus, Towson admits
that he didn't really get to relax on his first trip -- he was a little
nervous he would miss the stop.

Once he and others get used to the stop, they can view the work of artist
Gregg LeFevre, who designed the tile work in the pedestrian underpass that
leads to the train platform. LeFevre designed ceramic tile maps that depict
places across the United States and around the world that share the same
latitude as Union.

Local, county and state officials, along with area residents, gathered for
an official ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday morning. The station opening,
said Mayor Brenda Restivo, was "one of the most significant days in the
history of Union."

Former Rep. Bob Franks, who helped secure federal funding for the project,
said it was a horrible oversight that one of Union County's largest
communities -- Union is nine square miles with an estimated 54,400
residents -- did not have a train station.

Much of the Raritan Valley Line, which cuts through Union, Middlesex,
Somerset and Hunterdon counties, uses a portion of the old Central Railroad
of New Jersey line. However, the old CNJ route was somewhat different from
the Raritan Valley Line that exists today.

The old CNJ line, which cut through Plainfield on the western end of the
county, went straight through to Elizabeth and then turned north to Jersey
City, where ferries completed the last leg of the trip to New York City.

Now, the Raritan Valley Line uses a portion of Conrail track. After passing
through Cranford, eastbound trains bear northeast through Roselle Park and
Union Station before reaching Newark Penn Station. While most trains
terminate there, on weekends some trains go to Hoboken.

For many of the commuters who showed up yesterday, the new station's
location, on Green Lane, off Morris Avenue, was a matter of greater
convenience.

Manuel Fonseca lives in the Elmora section of Elizabeth, which borders
Union. Fonseca had used the Roselle Park station, where he hopped the train
to his job in Dunellen. But his sister works near the new station and she
drops him off. "This is much more convenient," he said.

Rich Grabowsky loved the convenience so much that it was a major reason why
he recently moved to Union, he said. Grabowsky now takes the train one stop
to Newark, where he switches to the PATH to his job in Jersey City.

Roselle Park resident Brian Carter drops his preschooler off at the YM-YWHA
of Union County, at the western end of Green Lane, and heads to the station.

Carter used to commute from the North Elizabeth station. With his car broken
into several times there, he is looking forward to the new Union Station.
"I'm sure that with the college here, the security will be better," he said.

Not only is Kean across the street, but construction of a 49-unit townhouse
project on the west side of the station is expected to get underway next
month. A hotel and restaurant are planned for the Morris Avenue-Green Lane
corner.

But it's all the parking -- for 467 cars -- that has Westfield resident
David Mathewson seriously considering the station. "There's a four- year
waiting list for parking in Westfield," Mathewson said, noting that he
usually parks so far from the South Avenue station that he has a good
10-minute walk to catch the morning train.

He's just not sure. There are two evening express trains that make the run
from New York to Westfield in 43 minutes, and Mathewson likes those. But
then he returns to all those parking spaces, that open sea of blacktop
visible from the elevated platform. Driving to Union has its advantages, he
said.

"It may be worth it."

Gabriel H. Gluck is a reporter in the Union County bureau. He can be reached
at (908) 302-1509 or ggluck_@_starledger.com.


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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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