New Jersey Rail Tunnel Project Gets FTA Nod

New Jersey builds support for its Hudson River tunnel project. Also, redevelopment plans for Stafford Township, N.J., include expanding open space, covering of landfills, and capping population growth.

Stafford Township Build-out Moves Forward

The Township of Stafford in Ocean County, N.J., has laid out plans for a major redevelopment that would boost the percentage of open space in the area and cap several landfills. The plan would reach completion in 2014.

The redevelopment plan, which incorporates community input, would cap the population at build-out at 28,604, not much higher than its current 24,500 residents. It would also preserve 61 percent of the township as open space, up from 51 percent of the current land area, largely by recapturing two landfills but also by expanding the town's boundaries.

The New Jersey Pinelands Commission voted in favor of letting a developer, Walters Group of Barnegat, N.J., and Stafford Township close the two landfills - a 55-acre facility licensed by the New Jersey Department of Preservation and a 25-acre "unlicensed" dumping ground.

Walters will assume all costs of acquiring the 1,700 acres of land for the project, including 80 acres in the two landfills. It will also pay for the $45 million removal of 450,000 cu. yd. of debris, installation of a 3-ft. impermeable landfill cap, a planting of the area, and a 30-year monitoring program.

Under the deal approved by the commission, the township will have to purchase 570 acres of additional privately-owned open space to provide new habitats. Stafford is about 40 miles north of Atlantic City.

FTA Approves Hudson River Tunnel

The Federal Transit Administration approved preliminary engineering for New Jersey Transit's $6 billion Trans-Hudson Express Tunnel and station project in July. The agency was scheduled to award design contracts this summer and start construction in 2009. The preliminary engineering work will determine logistics such as sequencing, property acquisition needs, tunneling technique, utility relocation requirements, coordination with AMTRAK and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on construction schedules, and electrical power needs. The early work will also finalize the track alignment and connections between a new Midtown Manhattan train station and existing subway and PATH lines.

The tunnel was one of 20 projects the FTA endorsed out of 300 eligible candidates, following a cost-benefit analysis and review of funding sources.

Momentum to support the tunnel project has been building this year. In a spring press statement, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine pledged $500 million out of the state's Transportation Trust Fund to the tunnel project,. Meanwhile, in July, the board of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey committed $1 billion toward construction of the tunnel project from its capital program and signaled that it might provide another $1 billion in the future.

The project will include a two-track tunnel under the Hudson River, a new rail terminal under 34th St. in Manhattan north of Pennsylvania Station, and a direct connection to commuter rail lines leading to Bergen and Passaic counties in New Jersey and Rockland and Orange counties in New York.

The new tunnel would double rail capacity between New York and New Jersey when it opens in 2016.

Danielson Airport Master Plan Under Way

Preparations are under way for release of an Airport Master Plan for Danielson Airport in eastern Connecticut.

Overseen by the Connecticut Department of Transportation, the master plan for the Danielson, Conn., airport will provide guidelines for future development to meet aviation demand, conciliate airport improvements with local issues, and consider alterations or additions of facilities such as fuel storage, maintenance and security systems, hangars, runways, taxiways, aircraft parking, navigational aids, and lighting.

A typical airport master plan covers a period of 20 years and the existing Danielson plan dates to 1988. The airport currently offers one runway, one taxiway, and limited hangar space, in addition to repair and refueling stations for private aircraft. It is used primarily by a skydiving outfit, a technical school, and a private aircraft field manager.

An advisory board consisting of government agencies and private aviation and training centers will meet continuously and prepare a working paper, after which the Federal Aviation Administration will review the plans. Completion is scheduled for 2007.

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