Following a request from Gov. Whitman, Newark city officials erased a $10 million pedestrian crossing from plans for the partly state-funded $325 million Devils/Nets arena project, the Star-Ledger reported last week. The money was earmarked to renovate an abandoned rail bridge at McCarter Highway (Rte. 21) and Edison Place that would have linked Newark Penn Station and the Ironbound community with the arena.

Without the walkway, hockey and basketball fans traveling by rail (some of whom will drink at the games) will have to cross the busy highway at street level when the stadium opens in 2003, an outcome likely to cause congestion and further endanger pedestrians in Newark, already NJ's least safe walking city. The arena's pedestrian safety mitigation plans amount only to changed signal timing, not traffic-calming infrastructure to slow down cars and trucks. Heavy trucks account for 22% of traffic on Rte. 21.

Community opposition has centered around fears of traffic induced by the arena. Its transportation plan will add 1,940 parking spaces to Newark's central business district in two decks; a whopping 17,310 parking spaces already exist within a ten-minute walk of the arena. Minus the prominent transit access it was to have had, arena traffic will be exacerbated. Newark Mayor Sharpe James showed dismay at the prospect, telling the Star-Ledger, "This whole [arena] development...is tied to the bridge."

Governor Whitman had agreed to support the YankeeNets-led project by paying for signage, roadway improvements, parking structures, and the pedestrian bridge, but grew more conservative as costs reportedly came in much higher than the $70 million initially projected. In this case, small savings now may lead to greater costs for both city and state in the future. Hopes for a rational solution are now pinned on departing Senator Frank Lautenberg, an untiring transit supporter, who is lobbying for $30 million federal dollars for the bridge renovation as well as the construction of a new bus depot at the arena.