(The following story by Bob Jordan appeared on the Asbury Park Press website on July 9.)
ASBURY PARK, N.J. — The Monmouth Junction route of the proposed Monmouth-Ocean-Middlesex rail line would enhance development and access of a historic park, according to Monmouth County officials, disputing a state contention that the train service could ruin the park.
State Department of Environmental Protection officials said Tuesday that they received a letter from County Administrator Robert M. Czech claiming the activation of the 150-year-old rail line, which runs alongside Route 522 in Manalapan, would provide much-needed passenger rail service to the western part of the county and also enhance the public’s enjoyment of Monmouth Battlefield State Park.
The letter was in response to the DEP’s Division of Parks and Forestry report that panned the idea of revving up commuter service on the old line that crosses the famed Revolutionary War battle site, said Bonnie Goldschlag, assistant planning director of the county Planning Board.
“The main thrust of the letter is to demonstrate how rails can be an asset to parks and development of parks,” said Goldschlag, who added that rail service has been compatible with the Gettysburg National Military Park and other parks.
“We wanted to share this information with the DEP to give them better understanding of the issues. We think this letter will steer the project in a better direction. There has to be balance between historic preservation and the current needs of residents,” Goldschlag said.
DEP spokeswoman Karen Hershey said the letter, addressed to Lisa P. Jackson, the department commissioner, is under review.
The Parks and Forestry Division’s unfavorable opinion cited adverse effects from commuter trains and from more drivers using Route 522 to reach a proposed rail station in Manalapan near the park.
The effort to upgrade the Monmouth Junction line across the preserved battlefield could be prevented by federal officials, now that the DEP has rendered an opinion about the effects.
But Czech, continuing a long effort by county government to bring in the commuter service, wrote in his letter: “The railroad predates park development by more than 100 years and would not be expanded beyond the single track in this area. When the park’s Visitor Center was built on top of historically significant Combs Hill to overlook the historic houses and fields below, the railroad was already part of the landscape. Trains are not visible from the park’s Visitor Center.”
Czech added that the Monmouth Junction line would provide the region with public transportation to the park.
“This will enable daily attendance to increase at the park and make the historic battlefield and surrounding area an easily reached destination and available to all,” Czech wrote.
The line is one of three routes being considered for the so-called MOM (Monmouth-Ocean-Middlesex) train line, which would start in Lakehurst.
The Monmouth Junction line would serve western Monmouth and three southern Middlesex towns before joining Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor line in South Brunswick.
The other two options include the proposed Red Bank route, which would join the North Jersey Coast Line in Red Bank, and a third proposal that calls for laying tracks along the Henry Hudson Trail and joining the North Jersey Coast Line in Matawan.
Ridership studies found that more people would ride trains using the Monmouth Junction route with service through the proposed new Hudson River Tunnel to New York. Goldschlag said the county freeholder board recently passed a resolution asking NJ Transit to update the ridership estimates. She said “far more people” are using mass transit than when the original estimate was calculated, when the figure of $2.50 a gallon was used for the price of gasoline.
“I filled up this morning, and gasoline was $4 a gallon,” Goldschlag said. “A new estimate should reflect that more people will ride the train with gasoline prices high.”