After Governor Christie publicly called on the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to build a barge-to-rail facility at Greenville Yard in Jersey City yesterday, the agency’s board of directors approved the move at their monthly meeting today. Christie says the proposal will eliminate 1,000 truck trips a day, reducing congestion, air pollution, and road maintenance costs.
The new yard could be a key cog in New York City’s plans to move its municipal waste by rail and barge instead of truck. Right now, much of the city’s solid waste is still transported by trucks in “unsealed open-topped containers with fabric coverings” across the Hudson and to other states for processing, according to the Port Authority. The new facility would allow waste to be barged to Greenville Yard and transferred to freight trains.
The move was applauded by transportation and environmental groups on both sides of the Hudson River including New Jersey Environmental Federation and the Natural Resources Defense Council. Tri-State issued a statement in support of the facility yesterday.
The project is part of a package of improvements to expand rail freight capacity across the Hudson River to be paid for by $100 million in federal funding secured by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NYC) in the last federal transportation bill, SAFETEA-LU.
Governor Christie says the rail yard could be completed by 2013.
[…] Chris Christie Advocates for Jersey City Rail Freight Hub (MTR) […]
While such a transfer facility is likely to be a good thing, be careful what you wish for regarding garbage trains.
I was biking through Hopewell, Mercer County and was crossing the CSX Trenton Line just as a garbage train was passing through town. To say the stench was horrendous would be an understatement!
I’m all for moving more goods by rail and that can include garbage but more must be done to ensure local communities that they won’t be olfactory victims of stenchy mobile garbage dumps.
What studies exist about covering over these railroad (and freeway) corridors, including such a multimodel tunnel to and through Brooklyn to contain transport emissions and provide new space for parklands and development?