It was among the alternatives mentioned by Transportation Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti to some of the 15 highway widenings in the New Jersey Turnpike Authority’s 10-year $24 billion capital plan, when legislators asked her about them during a budget hearing on Monday.
While a section of the turnpike that has remained two lanes in each direction since 1953 will get extra lanes, Gutierrez-Scaccetti said widening will not necessarily be the option in the more congested northern sections of the Garden State Parkway or Turnpike.
Opponents of the recent toll increase and the capital plan it funds expressed concerns that widening the sections of the two toll roads in densely populated Union and Essex Counties would result in demolishing homes, similar to the way the Interstate Highway construction of the 1960s and 1970s cut through neighborhoods. Assemblyman Dan Benson, D-Middlesex, said he said he had social justice concerns about how the proposed widenings would affect communities of color.
Gutierrez-Scaccetti said they won’t be affected because alternatives are being considered, especially between exits 139 in Union and 151 in Bloomfield on the Parkway.
“(Lane) widening is out, there is no way to widen that part of the Parkway,” she said. “We’re looking at the median to figure out if it could be an ultra-light rail, almost monorail type system as a means to move people through congested areas, such as 139 to 151 on the Parkway.”
Bus rapid transit, which is a long, almost train like bus that runs in its own line, similar to a light rail train without rails, also could be a possibility, she said. Ultra-light rail systems are a hybrid monorail line using smaller, lighter trains that requires less heavy infrastructure, according to Roam Transport Systems, a Texas based company.
That company markets a “MegaRail” system that used a lighter “guideway” (the “rail” in monorail) and speeds up to 65 mph that can operate frequent service, according to the company website. Only prototype cars and guideways have been built and are being tested, according to the website.
“We’ll look at every technology possible. A good example is the (NJ Transit) innovation challenge we put out to move people to Metlife stadium, American Dream and Secaucus Junction,” Gutierrez-Scaccetti said.
That event was held last November, and drew 140 attendees from 54 public and private companies to pitch possible transit solutions. Officials did not talk about any of the ideas discussed at the event.
Gov. Phil Murphy talked about putting a “magnetic levitation monorail” in service to and from American Dream in May 2019 at a symposium, but no further details have offered. Magnetic monorail is the formal name for the more futuristic-sounding Maglev train that uses magnetic fields to “levitate” and power a train instead of wheels and electric motors.
Now, sports fans and shoppers ride trains on the existing Meadowlands rail line that serves MetLife stadium when there are games or events. American Dream is also served by buses.
“The purpose of the challenge is to develop a clean energy alternative to move people between Secaucus and those two venues,” Gutierrez-Scaccetti said. “(Passengers could) get on some type of light monorail system or bus rapid transit system and get to the stadium without putting a car on the turnpike.”
New Jersey has one monorail in operation, the aging AirTrain that has served Newark Liberty airport for 23 years and is scheduled to be replaced. Comparing that to a Maglev train would be like comparing a 20-year old economy car to a Tesla.
That doesn’t mean drivers won’t smell the aroma of hot asphalt at other places on the toll roads.
“We will put pavement down between exits 1 and 4 on the Turnpike,” she said.
That part of the turnpike between Salem and Burlington counties still has two lane configuration from when it was built in 1953, Gutierrez-Scaccetti said.
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