| Issue 319 | May 28, 2001 |
The
two Jersey City mayoral candidates left standing after a five-way primary
in early May now say they support using the abandoned Bergen Arches right-of-way
for a new transit line rather than the four- to six-lane highway
championed by departing Mayor and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bret
Schundler.
The proposed highway would run from the new Turnpike interchange at Secaucus through Tonnelle Circle to the Holland Tunnel plaza and the Jersey City waterfront. A major investment study for the project was altered to include transit and other alternatives after protest by residents and the Hudson Alliance for Rational Transportation (HART).
Schundler hired an engineering firm to draw up conceptual plans for the highway and a consultant to lobby for Trenton’s support of the highway plan (MTR #306).But candidate and Councilmember Tom DeGise told listeners at a community sponsored debate last Monday that he favors transit in the right-of-way and that his administration would accept adjacent land offered by a developer for park land, blocking highway development. Candidate Glenn Cunningham reportedly also favors light rail for the Bergen Arches as part of his platform of neighborhood revitalization.
*
Community outreach meetings for the Bergen Arches major
investment study were held last week by consultant Howard Stein Hudson.But
invitations were strangely limited.The
meetings were never announced to interested parties like HART and the Tri-State Campaign.Only
after last minute scrambling were members of HART able to attend.
      |