The Vince Lombardi Park & Ride is located on the New Jersey Turnpike in the Meadowlands in Ridgefield, Bergen County, New Jersey. The park and ride and separate service area to south of it are dedicated to and named after Vince Lombardi. Located at the edge of the Little Ferry Yard it has been viewed as a potential rail station location since the 1990s and as of 2021, it is under consideration by NJ Transit as part of the Passaic–Bergen–Hudson Transit Project.
The park and ride and service area opened in 1974. [1] [2] [3] They are situated between the eastern and western spurs at the northern end the turnpike (+/- mile marker 116) just south of the Overpeck Creek bridge, where the turnpike officially ends. [4] [5] [6] They are operated by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. [7]
They are named for Vince Lombardi, who worked at St. Cecilia's High School in nearby Englewood as a Latin and chemistry teacher and later become a legendary coach in the National Football League. [7] [8]
As of 2017, about 1.6 million used the service area annually. [9] It was closed for refurbishment from September 2020 to July 2021. [10] [11] [12]
The park-and-ride has 1022 parking spaces, of which 20 are accessible. [13] NJ Transit bus 321 provides service to Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan. It was closed in March 2021 due to low-ridership caused by COVID-19 pandemic in New Jersey, but has since re-opened for weekday parking at $9.75/day (including transit). [14]
Vince Lombardi Park & Ride | |
|---|---|
| Light rail DMU | |
| General information | |
| Location | New Jersey Turnpike Ridgefield Park, New Jersey |
| Coordinates | 40°49′46″N74°01′32″W / 40.829511°N 74.025482°W |
| Owned by | NJ Transit |
| Construction | |
| Parking | 1042 |
| History | |
| Opened | Proposed |
The park and ride lies south of the New York, Susquehanna and Western (NYSW) Edgewater Branch at the periphery of Little Ferry Yard. [5] [4] Passenger service had once passed through the yard the on New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (until 1966) and West Shore Railroad (until 1959). [15] The right-of-way (ROW) is now a primary freight corridor for the NYSW Main Line and CSX Transportation (CSXT), the West Shore Railroad line having become CSX River Subdivision. [16]
Vince Lombardi Park and Ride is part of the "circle of mobility", as originally proposed NJ Governor Thomas Kean in 1989, to describe a comprehensive transportation network for in metropolitan Northern New Jersey. [17]
Initial plans called for a Hudson–Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) terminal station at the Vince Lombardi Park and Ride, which would be built as part of the third and last MOS (minimum operating segment) of the light rail transit (LRT) system. [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23]
The West Shore Region Study was initiated in 1996 by NJ Transit and other stakeholders to examine multiple modal opportunities in the region that had once been served by the West Shore Railroad and the other railroads in Bergen, Hudson and Passiac counties. An alternatives analysis report published December 1999 identified three projects: the Northern Branch corridor (LRT), the Cross County corridor (LRT) (along the NYSW right of way), and the West Shore corridor (commuter rail), the last of which did not advance. [24] Vince Lombardi Park and Ride was seen as a potential interchange station for the HBLR, the Cross County LRT, and West Shore.
A station stop was considered as part of Cross-County LRT which would have been an extension of the HBLR to Maywood. By 2003, the project was referred to as the Passaic–Bergen Rail Line. A different terminus of the HBLT extension had been decided and the availability of Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) compliant diesel multiple unit (DMU) precipitated a project re-conception, namely running from Hawthorne station in Passaic County to an eastern terminus Hackensack, but not along the NYSW alignment at the park and ride. [25] [26] By late 2010s the project had further evolved to the Passaic–Bergen–Hudson Transit Project along the NYSW right-of-way in Passiac, Bergen and Hudson using newly built, FRA-compliant DMU rail cars. [27] [28] [29] The project was not included in NJ Transit 10-year capital plan. [30]
As defined by the New Jersey Legislature in the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority Act of 1984, P.L.1984, c.73 (C.27:1B-1 et seq.), the "Circle of Mobility" is an essential group of related transit projects that include the New Jersey Urban Core. The station was added in the early 2000s. [31]
In 2017, the Legislature directed the New Jersey Turnpike Authority to conduct studies for a station along the NYSW right-of-way. [32]
New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit or NJTransit and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey and portions of the state of New York and Pennsylvania. It operates bus, light rail, and commuter rail services throughout the state, connecting to major commercial and employment centers both within the state and in its two adjacent major cities, New York City and Philadelphia. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 175,960,600.
The Hudson–Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) is a light rail system in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Owned by New Jersey Transit (NJT) and operated by the 21st Century Rail Corporation, it connects the communities of Bayonne, Jersey City, Hoboken, Weehawken, Union City, at the city line with West New York, and North Bergen.
The New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway, also sometimes referred to as New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad, Susie-Q or the Susquehanna, is a Class II American freight railway operating over 400 miles (645 km) of track in three Northeastern states, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
The New Jersey Midland Railway was a 19th-century predecessor to the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYS&W) that operated in Northern New Jersey and Orange County, New York.
The Northern Branch Corridor Project is a proposed extension of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) from its northern terminus into eastern Bergen County, New Jersey, initially proposed in 2001. If built, the new service would use the right-of-way of the Northern Branch on which the Erie Lackawanna Railroad ran passenger service until October 3, 1966, and is currently a lightly used, stub-ended freight rail line owned by CSX Transportation. The Northern Branch Corridor is at the foot of the west side of the Hudson Palisades in the Hackensack River valley, running for much of its length parallel to Overpeck Creek. After mixed reactions and extensive community input to a draft environmental impact statement (EIS), it was decided in 2013 to terminate the line at the Englewood Hospital and Medical Center. In March 2017 the Supplementary Draft Environmental Impact Statement was approved by the Federal Transit Administration allowing for a period of public reaction. A separately-conceived and funded bridge at 69th Street in North Bergen, necessary for operation of the system, has been completed. In 2017 NJ Transit estimated that the line would open in 2029.
Bergen Hill refers to the lower Hudson Palisades in New Jersey, where they emerge on Bergen Neck, which in turn is the peninsula between the Hackensack and Hudson Rivers, and their bays. In Hudson County, it reaches a height of 260 feet.
The Passaic–Bergen–Hudson Transit Project is a project under study by NJ Transit to reintroduce passenger service on a portion of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYSW) right-of-way (ROW) in Passaic, Bergen and Hudson counties using newly built, FRA-compliant diesel multiple unit rail cars. Plans call for service to run from Hawthorne south through Paterson, east to Hackensack and then southeast to North Bergen, where it would join the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (HBLR).
Light rail in New Jersey is provided by NJ Transit, a state-owned corporation which also provides bus and commuter rail services. In 2022, the light rail system had a ridership of 17,495,800. Light rail, among other forms of transit, is a major part of the state's Smart Growth policy.
The North Bergen Yard is freight rail yard and intermodal terminal in North Bergen, New Jersey parallel to Tonnelle Avenue between 49th and 69th Streets. Located within the North Jersey Shared Assets Area, the facility is part of CSX Transportation (CSXT) and the origination point of its CSX River Subdivision at the southern end of the Albany Division. On its west side, the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYSW) runs the length of the yard and operates a bulk transloading operation immediately adjacent to it.
Babbitt is a neighborhood in North Bergen Township in Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The area, located west of Tonnelle Avenue within the New Jersey Meadowlands District, is home to light manufacturing, warehouses, transportation facilities, and part of the wetlands preservation area known as the Eastern Brackish Marsh.
The Edgewater Branch was a branch of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYS&W) that ran about 3.174 miles (5.108 km) through eastern Bergen County, New Jersey in the United States. Starting from a rail junction at the Little Ferry Yard, it went east through the Edgewater Tunnel to Undercliff to the Hudson Waterfront.
Little Ferry Yard is a railyard and intermodal terminal in the Port of New York and New Jersey served by the CSX River Subdivision (CSXT), New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYSW), Norfolk Southern Railway and Conrail Shared Assets Operations (CRCX).
Ridgefield Park station, also known as West Shore Station, was a railroad station in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, at the foot of Mount Vernon Street served by the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad (NYSW) and the West Shore Railroad, a division of New York Central (NYCRR). The New York, Ontario and Western Railway (NYO&W) had running rights along the West Shore and sometimes stopped at Ridgefield Park. First opened in 1872 it was one of three passenger stations in the village, the others being the Little Ferry station to the south and Westview station to the north. Service on the West Shore Railroad began in 1883. The station house, built at a cost $100,000 opened in 1927. Southbound service crossed Overpeck Creek and continued to terminals on the Hudson River waterfront where there was connecting ferry service across the Hudson River to Manhattan. Northbound near Bogota the parallel NYSW and West Shore lines diverge and continue into northern New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and upstate New York. Passenger service ended in 1966.
Vreeland Avenue was railroad station in Paterson, New Jersey served by the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad (NYS&W). until 1966. Service by the New Jersey Midland, a predecessor to the NYS&W, had begun in 1873. The station house dates to 1949. Other extant station buildings from the New Jersey Midland/NYSW can be found at Wortendyke, Butler, and Newfoundland, among other places.
91st Street is a proposed station along the Northern Branch Corridor Project extension of Hudson-Bergen Light Rail in the Babbitt Section of North Bergen, New Jersey.
Hackensack was a railroad station in Hackensack, New Jersey on the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway Main Line, which provided passenger service between the 1870s and 1960s. The station at Main and Mercer Streets opened in 1872; it was replaced with one at River Street in 1950. Public Service trolley lines served both stations.
Bogota was a railroad station in Bogota, New Jersey, at Court Street/Fort Lee Road west of River Road and east of the Court Street Bridge over the Hackensack River. It was located on the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway Main Line, which provided passenger service between the 1870s and 1960s.
Ridgefield is a proposed station along NJ Transit's (NJT) Northern Branch Corridor Project extension of Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) in Ridgefield, New Jersey.
69th Street is a proposed interchange station in North Bergen in Hudson County, New Jersey. It would serve passengers on two lines under consideration by NJ Transit, the Passaic–Bergen–Hudson Transit Project and the Northern Branch Corridor Project, the latter of which is an extension of the Hudson–Bergen Light Rail. The station would located at-grade west the North Bergen Yard and Tonnelle Avenue.
Broadway–Paterson was a New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad (NYS&W) station in Paterson, New Jersey near the level, or at-grade crossing south of Broadway at Ellison Place and Madison Avenue. Service by the New Jersey Midland, a predecessor to the NYS&W, had begun in 1873. It was originally known as Paterson, but was renamed after a junction of the railroad's mainline was created to build the Paterson City Branch. The station house, demolished in 1982, was situated between the two lines and served as the Susquehanna's headquarters for several years. Passenger service on the branch ended in 1960 and on the mainline in 1966.
The HBLRTS is being constructed in three Minimum Operable Segments (MOS) designated as MOS-1, MOS-2, and MOS-3.
Previously NJ TRANSIT conducted a study related to a rail station at the Lombardi Park and Ride. It was included in the initial alternatives to be evaluated as part of the West Shore Corridor Major Investment Study, as noted in the study's Final Scoping Document (completed in December 2001). The study included a broad range of options for the introduction of rail or light rail service on lines to provide access to locations such as Hoboken and Secaucus Junction, including the Northern Branch to Tenafly; the West Shore Line to West Nyack, NY with potential further northward extensions (to Haverstraw, NY and beyond); and the New York, Susquehanna and Western to Hawthorne. As the study advanced, the project was refined to focus on two projects: the NYS&W between Hawthorne and Hackensack, and the Northern Branch to Tenafly. Neither of these options included a Lombardi Park and Ride station since neither alignment is near that facility.
Specifically, the definition would now include...a connection from the Vince Lombardi Station to Saddlebrook and Edgewater for the Hudson River Waterfront Transportation
This bill directs the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (authority) to study and prepare a report, for submission to the Governor and the Legislature, concerning the potential options for the construction of a rail station at the Vince Lombardi Park and Ride facility (facility) in Ridgefield, Bergen County. The proposed rail station is to allow the New Transit Jersey Corporation to provide rail passenger service connecting the proposed rail station to the existing rail station in the Borough of Hawthorne, Passaic County, and to the light rail station at Tonnell Avenue in North Bergen, Hudson County, through the use of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway right-of-way.