Council opposes MOM line through Red Bank

BY LAYLI WHYTE
Staff Writer

RED BANK — The Borough Council passed a resolution opposing the Lakehurst to Red Bank spur for the proposed Monmouth Ocean Middlesex (MOM) rail line.

Councilwoman Jennifer Beck requested the action, and the resolution was passed unanimously at the Aug. 22 council meeting.

“After review of the matter,” the resolution states, “it is the sense of the governing body that the proposed Red Bank alternative presents significant environmental and quality-of-life issues; will serve fewer riders than the other alternatives; and will essentially duplicate existing passenger rail service in the Red Bank area provided by the North Jersey Coast Line.”

The other alternatives being examined by New Jersey Transit are Lakehurst via Monmouth Junction and Lakehurst via Matawan.

In an interview last week, Beck said that she has attended several hearings that NJ Transit has held to discuss the MOM line.

“It makes no sense to run it through Red Bank,” she said. “The problem is that NJ Transit recognizes the Red Bank alternative is the least expensive, and in this time when they’re really pressed for cash, it makes for more consideration for the Red Bank alternative.”

Beck said that she believes residents in general are very opposed to the Red Bank route.

“Red Bank is already almost immobilized at rush hour,” she said. “Citizens really need to be involved in this decision. We’re already struggling with quality-of-life issues.”

Assemblymen Michael Panter and Dr. Robert Morgan (both D-12) have opposed the Red Bank alternative in favor of the Monmouth Junction alternative, which they say would be the better solution to traffic congestion in western Monmouth County as well as provide that area of the county with more public transportation.

“In Red Bank,” Panter said, “the number of trains would double, and in Little Silver and Shrewsbury, the new tracks would be less than a mile from the existing North Jersey Coast Line.”

Although Panter said that Monmouth Battlefield State Park, through which the Monmouth Junction line would run, is on both the state and national historic registries and should be considered, he believes it would be more advantageous than having 64 additional trains running daily adjacent to hundreds of residents’ homes.

A letter from Panter and Morgan to George Warrington, executive director of NJ Transit, states that although in 1996 only 88 homes stood within 100 feet of the tracks, today there are 264 homes in that range.

According to the letter, in 1996, there were 128 homes within 100 feet of where the Matawan tracks would be positioned, and today the number is 352.

Beck and Little Silver Councilman Declan O’Scanlon are running against incumbents Panter and Morgan for the 12th District Assembly seats in November. All the candidates agree that the Monmouth Junction line would be the best alternative.

“There are still issues that need to be worked through,” said Beck, “but the Monmouth Junction route seems like the best option, especially with the population growth in Marlboro and Manalapan.”

O’Scanlon said that although the growth in western Monmouth County is one of the best reasons for the MOM line to be built in that area, he hopes, if he is elected, to arrest some of that development.

NJ Transit officials recently released findings of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS).

The study examined the three possible alternatives for the renewed rail service: the Lakehurst to Red Bank line, the Lakehurst to Matawan line, and the Lakehurst to Monmouth Junction line, which would bisect Monmouth Battlefield State Park in Manalapan.

The Red Bank route, according to the study, had a capital cost estimate of $600 million, with operating costs of $42 million and a ridership of 7,200.

According to the study, the Matawan route would have a capital cost estimate of $730 million, with operating costs estimated at $45 million and a ridership of 10,900.

The Monmouth Junction line is estimated to have a capital cost of $860 million, operating costs of $49 million and a ridership of 9,000.

Recently, $1.25 million of federal funding has been earmarked for the proposed line, ensuring that studies will continue.

The federal earmark will help advance the project from the DEIS, which is currently under way.