Tri-county railroad projects in the works
By CAROL COMEGNO and JIM WALSH
Courier-Post Staff • April 20, 2010

A planned light-rail line from Camden to Glassboro has entered a new phase of development, one that will include public-comment hearings next month.

The sessions -- to be held at each end of the planned 18-mile line -- will be part of an environmental review process, the Delaware River Port Authority said Monday.

The line, which would run along an existing Conrail right of way, "is the largest transit project ever planned to serve Camden and Gloucester counties," Jeff Nash, the DRPA's vice chair and a Camden County freeholder, said in a statement that announced the hearings.

Meanwhile, work is continuing on a separate effort to develop a new station and a "transit village" along the River LINE in Bordentown Township.

The township has received a federal grant of $250,000 to help expedite the proposed station
midway between stops for Bordentown City and Roebling. It would serve a waterfront development of homes and commercial buildings off Bordentown-Burlington Road.

A rendering provided by Melillo and Bauer Associates shows a proposed housing development in Bordentown Township near the Delaware River. The project, which would be built near a proposed rail stop on the River LINE, would have more than 600 units.

Advocates described the projects as a way to create jobs.

Nash said the Camden-Glassboro line "will be an economic stimulus for the region" and a "spark for the redevelopment" of towns along the route.

The first DRPA hearing will be May 6 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Camden Technology Center of Camden County College, 200 North Broadway, Camden.

Two hearings will be held in Glassboro on May 11 -- from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. and from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Both will be in the Henry Rowan Building of Rowan University at 201 Mullica Hill Road.

The hearings will include a one-hour information session, followed by a two-hour presentation and comment period.

Comment forms also are available online at www.GlassboroCamdenLine.com.The review process will lead to an environmental impact statement, intended to assess potential
social, economic and environmental issues, according to the DRPA.

An artist's rendering shows a proposed housing development and transit village in Bordentown Township along the Delaware River.

At a ceremony in Bordentown Township on Friday, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said the transit village "will help rebuild our community for the 21st century economy."The grant would help fund the engineering design of the proposed stop on the line between Camden
and Trenton. It also could also be used for some township planning.

The township and a developer, Bordentown Waterfront Community LLC of Haddonfield,
proposed the new station more than a year ago to NJ Transit, which runs the River LINE.
Penny Bassett Hackett, spokesman for NJ Transit, said the agency has held preliminary discussions with the township regarding a new station. "We are not committed to anything at this point," she said.

Bob Dale of Cherry Hill, a managing partner for the development firm, said the firm has been told "NJ Transit does not have funding in its capital budget for that stop."

He said the developer is searching for financial sources to pay the estimated $7 million to $8 million cost of building a rail station.

The proposed village, on 97 acres along the Delaware River, is expected to include 674 homes, as well as restaurants, possible retail, a public boardwalk and bike trail.

The developer likely will start construction in 2011 on the first phase of a five-year project, Dale said.

The vacant property, which is in a redevelopment zone, is considered a brownfield due to a prior industrial use. It is to undergo a cleanup.

Dale said the intersection of Route 130 and Bordentown-Burlington Road also is to be
reconfigured.

Reach Carol Comegno at (609) 267-9486 or ccomegno@courierpostonline.com