After over two decades of promises, the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail extension is hitting yet another hurdle, which could add two more years to the project.
“Originally, NJ Transit filed an environmental impact statement in 2007,” Larry Higgs, a transit reporter for NJ.com, said in an interview with NJ Spotlight News. “That’s how far back this project goes. They filed a supplemental draft environmental impact statement in 2018. They held hearings on it in 2017 and it kind of sat dormant for a while.”
The state transit agency wants to extend the line by 9 miles into Bergen County, part of the original proposal for the light rail system, but the Federal Transit Administration said it needs updated information; the last application was submitted in 2018. FTA officials this week rescinded the “notice of intent” that had given the green light for NJ Transit to begin work on an environmental impact study for construction.
“The biggest step is basically finding out what the FTA wants and finding a way to answer all those questions, and hopefully doing it in the fastest way possible, most effective way possible, the most cost-effective way possible,” Higgs said.
“The longer you wait, the more other states and other municipalities are able to get their applications in and the pot of money dwindles,” he noted.
