Bayonne, N.J., getting new LRT terminus
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-ChiefBayonne, N.J., demonstrably the most pro-light rail transit community in New Jersey, will be rewarded for such support on Monday when New Jersey Transit dedicates its latest extension of Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Transit, adding roughly one mile to the system’s southern terminus.
The addition will stretch HBLRT from 22nd Street in Bayonne to 8th Street Station, former site of a Central of New Jersey Railroad stop with the same name.
The extension will serve the Bergen neighborhood of Bayonne, an older, densely populated area that is expected to generate additional ridership of 1,000 per day. It also brings HBLRT closer to the Bayonne Bridge, spanning the Kill Van Kull separating Bayonne and Staten Island, N.Y. Staten Island residents and officials have begun clamoring for making HBLRT a bistate light rail operation, but current plans to raise the height of the Bayonne Bridge to accommodate post-Panamax ship traffic, now gaining momentum, do not include any consideration of LRT.
The existing Bayonne Bridge was designed to handle both rail and road traffic, but rails were never installed.
