(The following story by Larry Higgs appeared on the Asbury Park Press website on March 26.)
RED BANK, N.J. — The Borough Council officially opposed the Red Bank route of the proposed Monmouth-Ocean-Middlesex rail line because its 30 trains a day would gridlock local streets if added to the current 80 North Jersey Coast Line trains that stop here.
The council voted to oppose that route and support the Monmouth Junction route, which would serve western Monmouth and southern Middlesex County towns.
“Trains cross (borough streets) 80 times a day. The amount of train service they’re asking to add will create havoc,” Council President Arthur Murphy III said. “We are not in favor of this; it impacts parking and a lot of things.”
The Monmouth Junction line would serve western Monmouth and three southern Middlesex towns before joining the Northeast Corridor line in South Brunswick. The proposed Red Bank route would join the North Jersey Coast Line in Red Bank, while the third option would lay tracks along the Henry Hudson Trail and join the North Jersey Coast Line in Matawan.
Gov. Corzine took the Monmouth Junction line out of the picture at a Feb. 10 public meeting on his toll increase plan. State transportation officials said it will continue to be studied or they will have to do a new draft Environmental Impact Statement. Middlesex County officials have opposed the Monmouth Junction route, citing concerns about the effect commuter trains would have on their towns.
State officials also suggested that the Red Bank route might be preferable to serve whatever facilities are built at a redeveloped Fort Monmouth.
Borough officials said adding a second commuter line to Red Bank would affect the quality of life in an already congested municipality. It would send commuter trains over two additional railroad crossings, adding to the four Coast Line grade crossings.
“It will strangle this municipality,” Mayor Pasquale “Pat” Menna said. “This municipality will have no movement.”
Councilwoman Mary Grace Cangemi, who lives near the North Jersey Coast Line railroad tracks, said it is the wait at the grade crossings, not train horns or bells, that affect her and her neighbors.
“It’s the six to seven minutes it takes to get out of my street,” Cangemi said. “There are so many grade crossings — this is not optimal.”
Murphy said that he and Borough Administrator Stanley Sickels met with NJ Transit officials about the MOM line and voiced these concerns about the Red Bank route.
“All trains stop in Red Bank. We’re a hub. Five NJ Transit buses depart from here,” Murphy said. “We do our fair share.”
Studies showed that the Monmouth Junction route would attract more riders than the other two. Results of a poll released in late December showed that a majority of residents surveyed in the three counties supported the Monmouth Junction route.
Freeholders in Monmouth and Ocean counties reiterated their support for the Monmouth Junction route after Corzine’s February announcement. The Monmouth Junction route also is supported by the New Jersey Association of Railroad Passengers.