We recently reported (MTR #513) that legislators from Middlesex County supported the Lakehurst-Monmouth Junction alignment of the proposed Monmouth-Ocean-Middlesex rail line, and that Ocean and Monmouth officials support the Lakehurst-Matawan extension. But the opposite is true.

   In 1996, when NJ Transit first looked extending rail from Monmouth and Ocean counties into Middlesex, officeholders across the area seemed thrilled and held press conferences advancing the project (MTR #273).  In initial studies, the now-preferred Lakehurst to Matawan alignment was cast aside by NJ Transit as not doable.  At the time it was believed that 72 of the 75 municipalities that would be impacted by construction of the Lakehurst-Monmouth Junction route would support the project. However, NIMBY opposition has grown to include much of Middlesex County, transforming the project’s political landscape.

   The three Middlesex County communities through which the Matawan-Monmouth Junction alignment would pass, South Brunswick, Jamesburg and Monroe, have all passed resolutions against the project, citing fears of increased local traffic.

   According to the News-Transcript of Farmingdale, State Senator Peter Inverso convinced NJ Transit to take a second look at the Lakehurst to Matawan alignment, which would keep the project out of Middlesex. When NJ Transit released its DEIS earlier this year, it picked this route as the preferred alternative.  NJ Transit studies project that this alignment would produce the highest ridership. The project would not provide increased rail service to any part of Middlesex County.

   No sooner had the NJ Transit report been released than it was attacked by elected officials in Monmouth and Ocean counties who support the extension to South Brunswick as the best way to move people by rail from their counties to New York City.

   Ocean County released its own ridership estimates that showed the Lakehurst-Monmouth alignment would produce the most riders, and Assemblymen J. Panter and Robert Morgan charged that Transit bowed to pressure from Senator Inverso and boosted ridership estimates. Officials from both counties also note that the Lakehurst-Matawan extension parallels some North Jersey Coast Line service.

   However, supporters of the Lakehurst-Matawan extension are quick to point out that extending the line to Monmouth Junction is the most expensive alignment. Assembly members Bill Baroni and Linda Greenstein both note its high cost. Estimates say it will cost $860 million to build the Lakehurst-Monmouth alignment and $49 million per year to operate, while the Matawan extension is $730 million to build and $45 million annually to run.

   Regardless of the alignment finally selected, the operating plan today is for the MOM trains to stop in Newark where continuing passengers must connect to PATH or Northeast Corridor trains. A future expansion of NJ Transit cross-Hudson tunnel capacity could permit through trains to Manhattan and further connections at Secaucus, probably significantly hiking ridership. The completed EIS is expected sometime in 2006 but the start of construction of the project in budget-challenged New Jersey is right now anyone’s guess.

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