While plans to extend the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail are moving forward, providing more rail access in Bayonne have been discussed, but will likely only proceed after the opening of 1888 Studios, an NJ Transit official said.
By Dan Israel/Hudson County View
“That’s a focus of attention that is in people’s minds. The planners are very interested in that,” NJ Transit Government and External Affairs Chief Paul Wycoff said in an interview with HCV at the North Jersey Transit Forum in Jersey City on Saturday.
While the HBLR ends at the 8th Street Station in Bayonne, an old Conrail line runs parallel to the station, continuing south along Route 440, over John F. Kennedy Boulevard and Avenue A, before ending directly in front of the under construction, 58-acre 1888 Studios at Avenue A and First Street.
The underutilized rail tracks have been seen by local officials for years as a potential way – although a long-shot – to extend the light rail once more in Bayonne, this time to the very tip of the city, at the foot of the Bayonne Bridge.
The light rail previously ended at 22nd Street Station in Bayonne before it was extended to 8th Street Station, which opened in 2011.
The notion is that the added transportation would further benefit the city as it prepares to grow in population and economy amid an ongoing redevelopment boom and the opening of 1888 Studios on the former Texaco property.
Wycoff said the Bayonne studio – to be occupied in part by Paramount – is part of the burgeoning film industry taking shape in New Jersey.
He called a this a “growing potential economic machine” as other film giants plan studios across the state, including Netflix in Fort Monmouth and Lionsgate in Newark.
And while the idea for a light rail extension to coincide with that growth is being toyed around with by some planners among others at the state and beyond, finding funding remains a major obstacle.
“So that’s something that we’ve put in the hopper to look at. As you heard some of the panelists say, and the commissioner, the challenge is always funding. The challenge is always resources,” Wycoff acknowledged.
In addition, NJ Transit and other involved stakeholders are currently focused on extending the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail into Bergen County, finally living up to its namesake.
He said they have put out a request for proposals for a new environmental impact statement for the 10-mile stretch of light rail that would extend from Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen to Englewood Hospital in Englewood, which could take years to complete.
“The extension of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail into Bergen County, after all these years, is a real strong focus of ours,” Wycoff expressed.
“Right now, we have a request for proposal out, which is due back soon, to redo the environmental impact statement because it got so old sitting down in D.C., it has to be updated. Flood elevation levels have changed. Traffic patterns have changed. That’s a couple years effort.”
According to Wycoff, during the years it takes to complete the environmental impact statement, NJ Transit hopes to work with legislators and advocates to secure necessary funding for that extension project.
On any potential Bayonne extension, he confirmed that would likely only come after 1888 Studios is finished construction at the terminus of Avenue A and Paramount Studios begins operations.
“Because of the way budgets are, we can’t afford to just say, ‘Okay, we’re going to build it and they’ll come.’ The ideal, as I think some of the panelists said, is if you go in tandem. But if the demand is there, the state will have to respond,” Wycoff noted.
He added that was optimistic about the opportunity to secure federal funding for the planned light rail extensions to Bergen County and the under-construction Bayfront development in Jersey City.
Wycoff also stated that the Gateway Tunnel project was used as political leverage by President Donald Trump (R) in the past regarding the Hudson Tunnels project- albeit ultimately restored as work continues.
“Well, administrations are not forever. And things always cycle. One of my mentors Jim Weinstein, who was a Department of Transportation commissioner and head of NJ Transit, always said ‘No project’s dead until it’s built,'” he concluded.
