MT. ARLINGTON STATION APPROVED BY NJ TRANSIT BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Project provides commuter options for busy Route 80 corridor; construction set to begin this summer

April 12, 2006
NJT-06-046
Contact: Dan Stessel 973-491-7078

NEWARK, NJ ¿ Motorists looking for an escape from the congestion of Route 80 will soon find relief. The NJ TRANSIT Board of Directors today approved construction of the Mount Arlington Station, which is expected to reduce congestion on the busy I-80 corridor.

The project also will reconfigure and expand by 57 spaces the existing parking lot, which is today a carpool and bus park & ride, bringing the total capacity to 285 spaces. The lot, which was built in 2003 by the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), is located at the Howard Boulevard Interchange of Route 80 in Mount Arlington.

The station will be served by trains on the Montclair-Boonton Line and the Morristown Line, enabling customers to travel to Hoboken Terminal, where transfers are available to bus, PATH and trans-Hudson ferries. Customers traveling to midtown Manhattan will be able to transfer to MidTOWN DIRECT service at Dover or Montclair State University stations.

¿I'm pleased that the Mt. Arlington Intermodal Train Station and Park & Ride project has moved one step closer to becoming a reality," said U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, New Jersey's senior member of the House Appropriations Committee and a champion for expanding mass transit in northern New Jersey, who secured $6.2 million in a federal earmark for the project. ¿A new train station and more parking will be a tremendous asset for those commuters who no longer will have to sit in traffic on Interstate 80 for hours on end."

¿The train station is going to be a great addition to our community,¿ said Mt. Arlington Mayor Arthur R. Ondish. ¿This will bring much needed relief to the traffic in the area. I believeanything we can do to offer mass transit is a good step forward.¿

¿The future rail station will become reality thanks to Gov. Corzine¿s hard work on reforming and replenishing the State¿s vital Transportation Trust Fund,¿ said New Jersey Transportation Commissioner and NJ TRANSIT Board Chairman Kris Kolluri. ¿New train service in Mt. Arlington will ultimately take more cars off I-80 and help alleviate traffic congestion on one of the most traveled roads in New Jersey.¿

¿Bringing rail service to Mt. Arlington will transform the existing bus park & ride into a multi-modal transportation hub,¿ said NJ TRANSIT Executive Director George D. Warrington. ¿Our customers will have more service and better travel options.¿

The new facility, which will be fully accessible for customers with disabilities, will feature heated waiting shelters on the inbound platform, two high-level platforms, a pedestrian underpass and public address and passenger communications systems.

Terminal Construction Corp. of Wood-Ridge will construct the new station and associated improvements under a $12.1 million contract. Construction is scheduled to begin this summer; the project is expected to be complete by the end of 2007.

About NJ TRANSIT

NJ TRANSIT is the nation's largest statewide public transportation system providing more than 827,000 weekday trips on 240 bus routes, three light rail lines and 11 commuter rail lines. It is the third largest transit system in the country with 162 rail stations, 55 light rail stations and more than 17,000 bus stops linking major points in New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia.