INTEGRATING LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT INTO DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS ON THE HUDSON RIVER WATERFRONT

The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), in cooperation with NJ Transit, recently completed a conceptual engineering study for a combined bus/light rail transit (LRT) system on the Hudson River waterfront in Hudson and Bergen counties. The project is unique in that the area is undergoing rapid redevelopment. The pace of development is so fast that NJ Transit was faced with the possible loss of desperately needed transportation rights-of-way if quick action was not taken. In addition, the environmental permit review process required for waterfront development in New Jersey offered the opportunity for the state to dedicate transit easements and require developers to provide these easements as a mitigation measure for the heavy traffic congestion that development is expected to cause. To take advantage of this opportunity, NJDOT entered into negotiations with developers. Because this process began before completion of an UMTA alternatives analysis and draft environmental statement, several bus and LRT modes had to be considered in formulating easement agreements so as not to preclude future federal funding. Because developers retained air rights above the easements, NJDOT and NJ Transit had to provide information to developers and approve air rights construction without a final transitway design in place. The process used to define the appropriate easement envelopes and negotiate transit easements with developers is described.