On June 1st, the Port Authority of NY & NJ and the City of Elizabeth, NJ signed an agreement settling long-held land and revenue disputes seen as a major stumbling block to negotiations over land needed for the Port Authority's planned construction of a rail-link between the Staten Island Railroad and the north-south running Chemical Coastline.

With the backing of top Union County administrators and the County Freeholders, Elizabeth Mayor Christopher Bollwage agreed to the fifty year lease of 10 acres near the New Jersey Turnpike's Exit 13A to the Port Authority for use as a 1200 space parking lot and to allow the agency to build a rail overpass for its on-dock ExpressRail service.In exchange, the Port Authority will increase its annual revenue contribution to the city's development fund from $1 million to $3 million and will conduct a feasibility study for an extension to Newark Airport of the proposed Union County Light Rail. Although the SIRR link project was not explicitly part of the agreement, the resolution of these issues is expected to facilitate future discussions and bodes well for a favorable outcome.

The SIRR link would allow rail access to the Port Authority's busy Howland Hook Marine Terminal, now served exclusively by trucks. Transportation reformers and Staten Island community groups and politicians believe that aggressive use of the link will cut truck traffic on the Goethals Bridge. The NYC Economic Development Corporation completed an $11 million restoration of Staten Island's SIRR track and the Arthur Kill Lift Bridge to New Jersey in 1998 and is currently investing in inter-modal upgrades at the Island's Arlington Railyard, but the lack of serviceable track from the Bridge to a mainland rail line remains a central obstacle.

Howland Hook now sees approximately 20% of the Port Authority's freight traffic.A fraction of this cargo is currently hauled by truck over the Goethals Bridge to the PA's on-dock ExpressRail facility in Elizabeth for long-distance transport.This traffic is expected to switch to exclusive use of rail via the SIRR.Further modal shift should occur with the development of service to middle-distance markets like Buffalo, NY. Chris Ragucci, former manager of the Howland Hook Terminal, told the Staten Island Advance in March that the Port Authority's recent purchase of the adjacent Port Ivory site and the track and railyard refurbishment should allow a 20% shift to rail transport after mainland rail links are completed in Union County.Other likely users of the revamped SIRR are the Pratt/VISY recycling plant located on a spur and freight bound for NYC and Long Island markets that can be transferred to trucks at Arlington Yards.

The Port Authority project, which involves both a north- and south-bound connector, is seen as a preferable alternative to the less expensive repair of existing SIRR tracks to Cranford Junction for two reasons. The Chemical Coastline route would direct trains through a primarily industrial area of Union County, reducing unpopular residential grade crossings, and would allow more efficient passage of double-stacked containers.

The Port Authority's Chemical Coastline cloverleaf is estimated to cost $85 million and to require roughly 5 years per link to complete. $35 million is earmarked for construction of the northbound link in the agency's 2000-2005 capital plan, as well as $5 million for design and planning for the southbound link.SIRR service can begin with the completion of the first link expected by 2005. Negotiations for land are likely to begin after the PA completes engineering and design work to determine the agency's preferred alignment for the northbound connector.

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