Backers of a bicycle path on the abandoned part of the Boonton Line are making rapid progress in their bid for government support. But the owner of the eleven-mile line from Bloomfield to Jersey City remains unmoved.
“Norfolk Southern is not interested in turning the Boonton Line into a trail,” railroad spokesman Rudy Husband says.
The town councils of Bloomfield, Belleville and Glen Ridge have endorsed the rails-to-trails idea. Next up, says environmental attorney Richard Webster, who founded the Friends of the Ice and Iron Rail Trail: Montclair, Newark, Kearney and Jersey City.
Prospects are good in all four, as well as Essex and Hudson Counties, he reports.
The strategy is to present Norfolk Southern with overwhelming support for a bike trail.
The railroad runs some freight service on one track through the area and expects demand to grow.
“We think (a bicycle path) can co-exist with a one-track service,” Webster says, “and with some alterations, a two-track service.”
Norfolk Southern doesn’t see it. It forecasts significant growth in freight demand and “we want to preserve as much existing rail capacity as possible.” Webster says with enough government backing, NSR could be made to see things differently.
“It gets quite a bit of public subsidy,” he notes. “We have to get them to see this project as not incompatible with their goals.”
Story by Warren Levinson
I’d be all for Rails to Trails if the tracks were really sitting abandoned with no potential for future use. But, that just doesn’t seem to be the case here.
At a time where the Federal Government has just approved spending some eight billion dollars to “jump start” new rail programs, it’s amusing to see a group of “green-minded” individuals actively trying to reduce the number of currently existing rails.
I know the argument is that, theoretically, people would bike into NYC instead of taking their car (well, for 2 1/2 seasons out of the year anyway).
I’m guessing that these people have never seen those ads where they take a picture of gridlock as a “before” and photoshop out all the freight trucks to show “after”?
Yes, the ad is put out by a train freight company… But, the argument is compelling.
I agree GNM that we should have more public transit, and this line should be in use for trains or light rail. But the line has been unused for the most part since the Boonton connection was made and it will take a lot of time and planning to get a new commuter train in there, even if all the funding were to be approved today. They would also have to do significant work to the tracks as they are (still wooden ties in most places) even if nothing else was done to alter the line so I doesn’t seem like a trail would make the line any less usable than it already is.
We’ve also heard that a trail could still go forward while accomodating the current use.
Not sure if I really believe Norfolk Southern’s statements either. It’s in their interest to say that the line will get used but there’s no information anywhwere that suggests that’s true. And as we know the forces of NIMBY are strong in these parts so any significant increase in freight traffic on that line will surely be met with howls of protest. If that line becomes active again I doubt it would ever be used for anything but human transit.
Basically, this group wants to use government to force a private company that’s refused their plan so far to proceed with their plan? Yeah, that’s worked so well in the past…
Seriously, there’s a number of problems with this plan.
1) The bridge connecting the rail line over the Passaic from Belleville/Newark to Kearny is in pretty bad shape. It’s the reason Boonton Line service was discontinued – NJ Transit couldn’t afford to fix the bridge and while NS probably could, it’s not in their best interest right now to do so.
2) The line going into Hoboken isn’t going to be abandoned. NJ Transit plans to use a portion of the tracks around Secaucus Junction as part of the ARC Tunnel project – the plan is to set it up so that trains can come out of NYC, turn around on new track joining the Northeast Corridor with the former Boonton Line tracks, and turn north or south depending on the final destination (North to Suffern, Paterson, etc., and South to Hoboken). Likewise, with new hybrid locomotives soon to be delivered, diesel trains will be able to leave Hoboken bound for New York City. See plans available at arctunnel.com
3) Kearny and Belleville had, in the past, signed off on a light-rail plan that would basically extend Newark’s light rail service over these tracks north to the Nutley border (just past the Washington Avenue Pathmark and behind Belleville High School), east to Kearny (where it would meet another portion of NJ Transit’s ARC plans, the Harrison-Kingsland Branch Line – service from the area near the Kearny Connection north to Kingsland Station in Lyndhurst) for a transfer station, and west to Walnut Street Station in Montclair for light rail connection to the Montclair-Boonton Line. In fact, unless something’s changed, Kearny’s Al Santos is still onboard with this project.
4) Should #2 up there move forward as planned, we may be looking at the restarting of heavy rail (NJT commuter trains, not light rail) along this route. Turning it into a “trail” now would be a waste – at least let it go for the next ten years and see what happens with NJT. If they can’t or don’t reopen service, or if NS opts to go a different route with passenger rail, then that would be a better option, but for now, rather than open a trail, let’s try and go the cheap for rail route and see what happens.
Mike,
What I find compelling is that a rail trail can coexist with both a freight line and light rail- all in the same 100 foot wide space.
And yes this particular railroad is virtually abandoned in portions- has track removed – and also has trees growing in the middle of the rails.
No one is trying to “actively trying to reduce the number of currently existing rails”.
Lots of people already bike to work from Montclair and Bloomfield to Newark and other local towns. This would give them a safe route.
Here’s a list of some of the rail trails in NJ- please note the West Essex Trail in Verona and Cedar Grove that is the former right-of-way of the Caldwell Branch of the old Erie-Lackawanna Railroad
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rail_trails_in_New_Jersey
and also note that
“Public debate delayed the County acquisition long enough for the railroad company to sell off some intervening parcels, effectively preventing the county from extending the trail as far as Grover Cleveland Park in Caldwell, as originally planned.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Essex_Trail
“at least let it go for the next ten years and see what happens with NJT” Why? All these rail items mentioned still have to be approved and funded, and then built. That doesn’t just happen in a couple years, it can take decades (see the Boonton connection). Further, the amount of work that needs to be done to make it a trail is not that significant, and pretty easily reversable, from a physical standpoint at least. Why not use it as a trail for those ten years and then make changes if the forces that be get their act together? I’m all for more rail and less car, but unless there are real concrete near-term plans to use that line for rail service there’s no reason not to use it for another purpose that serves the public.
“this group wants to use government to force a private company that’s refused their plan so far to proceed with their plan” – sounds very familiar, like what Bloomfield has been trying to do with the redevelopment plan and eminent domain eh?
But in this case the private company is not using the property, they would still get to use the property as they needed, and the purpose is truly for the public good, not for the enrichment of a developer. Further, the property could still revert back to use as a rail line in the future.
SSP: Because this is a very critical part of the biggest, highest-profile project NJ Transit has ever dealt with and the likelihood that it will abandon these efforts after all of this work is slim to nil. In ten years we’ll have two extra tunnels and double the rail capacity of the current system. Once they have the turnaround connections in place near Secaucus and the line opened back up to Hoboken, it’s not going to take a genius to see how expanding the service further than that would be a good idea.
PG: Exactly where has the rail been totally removed? I’d be surprised to see these areas – especially since trains still use these rails on a regular basis. It may be subject to ridiculous amounts of overgrowth, such as west of Devon Street or east of Forest Street in Kearny, but the rails are still there. One track was pulled up years ago – but one still remains for the length of the line.
OOh, thanks for the info on the ARC! I had no idea that was going on. I got a vicarious thrill looking at those plans, especially the one showing the 34th street detail. The stuff we can do is pretty amazing, once we put our minds to it.
You’re welcome! Yeah, the turnarounds are going to be a critical and extremely necessary part of the ARC project, both to allow all lines access to NY Penn and 34th Street for the first time, and to help reduce the number of delays should something go wrong at any point between Newark and Secaucus (trains would be able to take the HKBL if the Portal Bridge or any other point was clogged and wind up at Newark Broad, where commuters could transfer either to Newark Light Rail service to Newark Penn or bus service elsewhere).
James, I truly hope that’s the case, really I do. But it has yet to happen, and then after it does happen we will wait how many more years for the service to possibly be extended? I guess my view of how fast new service could be extended is colored by glacial speed at which past NJT projects have traveled. I would just hate to see us all having this conversation in ten years about how there’s still no rail service on this line and it’s too bad we didn’t do anything more to put the line to good use.
That line is an abandoned, litter strewn, overgrown mess. Take it back from NSX thru eminent domain just like the railroads did over 100 years ago. Then run a trail and a light rail if needed side by side.
PAZ..
It’s not abandoned. NS owns it and uses it for freight. To be considered abandoned, typically, it actually has to BE abandoned.
It’s private property. If NS doesn’t want a rail trail, then NS doesn’t have any obligation to put in a rail trail, and using eminent domain to put a trail in place would be government abuse of the highest order.
NS doesn’t have to tell you what they want to do with the property, and they’re allowed to simply hold onto it until they want to sell it, and no amount of whining and complaining by anyone is going to change that. Now, if you wanted to save up money and buy it from them, I’m sure you could reach a price point where they’d be interested in such a thing, but for now I’m pretty sure that’s not a likely outcome.
Is there any demonstrated shortage of bicycle trails? Is there any demonstrated demand for more bicycle trails?
Or is this just a Unicorn pasture project?
James, do you know if the line is used for any freight other than Hartz?
I agree with regard to eminent domain, but as long as small business owners are getting booted for the enrichment of non-public entities I don’t see why NS should not face the same possibility. Certainly one could say the line is currently more “blighted” than downtown Bloomfield ever was. The possibility of having their property taken from them might bring NS to the table. Again, I find the current use of eminent domain to be, as you say, abuse of the highest order, but…
I bike about 3hrs a day to work and back and would love a better trail. Where do I sign up?
How does the seeming demand for bike trails that lead to Hoboken, or wherever, jibe with: i) 4-6 mos. of th year when it’s rainy, really old, or brutally hot? . I bt the trail would be deserted then. ii) what about the epidemic of obesity in this country?. Biking 10+ miles roundtrip, and going to work, is alot of physical work. Are there really THAT many serious bikers in this area to justify even discussing this project? iii)How many of your neighbors drive 3 blocks to buy their Sunday bagels? and they’re gonna bike to the City?! iv) how do you text while biking?
Haha, unicorns! you guys are cracking me up today!
All I can say is, I think it would be great fun to use that route to get to work in Newark. Of course in order to properly preserve myself after getting ready in the morning, I would have to buy a Segway, and invent some type of helmet that wouldn’t muss up my hair. Then there’s the problem of actually *getting* to the trail at both ends without being clobbered by some crazy driver.
Actually now that I take another look it might drop me off in the wrong town.
But it would still be fun!
hey Nick,
Where are the bike trails in our area?
James, unless you’re an engineer and can state you’ve run a consist down that overgrowth then I still see it as abandoned.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Friends-of-the-Ice-Iron-Rail-Trail/131271780246135
…using eminent domain to put a trail in place would be government abuse of the highest order
I disagree. Using eminent domain to gain land that is then handed over to developers for their gain is eminent domain abuse of the highest order. Using it instead, with fair compensation, to obtain land for actual public use is exactly what eminent domain is for.
5th Amendment blurb:
“… nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” [emphasis added]
Eminent domain abuse arises in the modern-day context from urban renewal and similar situations where local governments stretch the idea of “public use” to mean the clearing of “blight” that isn’t really blight (I’m looking at you, Bloomfield) by taking land and handing it to megadevelopers to redevelop at massive profits. Small businesspeople and little-guy homeowners being displaced for the benefit of Ratner hardly seems like taking the land “for public use” as contemplated by the Constitution. On the other hand, taking little-or-underused land from a railroad company in order to make it available exactly “for public use” is spot-on. The only questions are what compensation would be “just” compensation and whether we should be spending on this kind of thing nowadays.
appletony, like I indicated earlier, they don’t have to tell you exactly what they have planned for their land – but they do have a plan for it and they have interest in holding onto it.
They have it, they want to use it, they know it’ll be useful to them and taking land that isn’t legally defined as abandoned (I’m looking at you, PAZ – it might be overgrown but the rails are still in place and can be cleared away relatively easily) – out of service, sure, but not abandoned – smacks of property rights abuse.
On top of all of this, who do you think would be buying this land that stretches across two counties? You’d have to get all of the towns – Belleville and Newark included – to agree to turn this into a rail trail, AND to put money up for purchasing the land for that purpose. Booker’s expressed interest in the light rail expansion and as I’ve indicated earlier Belleville and Kearny were very interested in light or other rail service on these tracks again (seriously, think of how awesome it would be to have a major light rail station at the Washington Avenue Pathmark in Belleville, which is rumored to be closing and would open up a host of opportunities for developers).
Would Essex and Hudson Counties agree to purchase it, or would the state? I’ll tell you now, there’s not a chance in hell Christie would sign off on this, and the county governments wouldn’t touch this with a ten-foot pole.
And the cherry on top? How are we paying for this? Where is a series of townships with serious financial problems, two counties that aren’t exactly whistling Dixie either, and a state that just cut the budget at every level to avoid bankruptcy going to find the amount of money, the “just compensation” for the land in question?