The Light Rail
July 99

The Future Ressurects The Past

Jersey City has five major arterial systems.

Two always have originated and radiated from the Exchange Place/Pavonia Waterfront area. From there one branch spans to Journal Square and then on to the western perimeter. The other reaches out along Montgomery Street to McGinley Square, the Court House, Saint Peter's College, and, again, to the western perimeter.

The relatively recent innovation of the New Jersey Turnpike provides speedy hops between the Holland Tunnel, Grand-Montgomery, and the Bayview area.

The other two are north-south routes. Kennedy Boulevard serves both as the City's most extensive thoroughfare and as the connection between Bayonne and the communities of North Hudson and on to Bergen County. The Route 440/Tonnelle Avenue combination yields the same result along the western edge.

There once was another system. A complex of trollies allowed travel between the Waterfront, Lafayette, and Greenville. Just as with the loss of any other means of circulation, atrophy and gangrene was the result. Whole communites shrunk, disappeared, or became isolated and sometimes stagnant.

Jackson Avenue Once Was A Vibrant Commercial And Residential Center - With Trolley Tracks Running Through It!

The Light Rail changes that. Now a spoke of opportunity goes from the Waterfront, (re)turning Lafayette and Greenville into integral parts of the City. Residents of these communities now have access to the economic prosperity that has taken root along t he river.

The Light Rail also immediately offers an entirely new range of housing options to individuals currently commuting to the Downtown area.

An inevitable consequence will be shops and restaurants springing up along the entire Light Rail Route.

And, clearly, all the advantages of a mass transit resource fulcrum are brought to bear. Now, Liberty State Park's educational and recreational facilities are a relaxed day trip for everybody in Hudson County - not just those with cars. Commuters to the Waterfront are no longer compelled to clog the local streets - a hassle both for them and for the residents forced to deal with traffic jams at their door. Convenient parking - and a Light Rail station - is just off of the Turnpike Exit.