Commuter Upgrade: Ridgewood Breaks Ground on New Van Neste Square Bus Shelter
photo courtesy of the Village Manager Keith Kazmark
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Exciting news for Ridgewood commuters! If you’ve walked past Van Neste Square this week, you’ve likely noticed the orange cones and construction crews. Work has officially begun on the highly anticipated new bus shelter, marking a major step forward in local transit comfort and downtown infrastructure.
The project is moving quickly, and here is everything you need to know about what’s coming to the heart of the Village.
A Modern Upgrade for Ridgewood Commuters
For years, Van Neste Square has been a central hub for those traveling throughout North Jersey and into NYC. The new facility is designed to provide a safer, cleaner, and more weather-resistant environment for residents waiting for their ride.
Currently, the Village is awaiting the delivery of the modern shelter structure. If the construction timeline holds, the facility is expected to be fully operational later this spring.
Funding the Future: A Collaborative Effort
This project isn’t just a local win—it’s a great example of state and local government working together. The new shelter is being made possible through a $147,000 grant from the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJ DOT).
A special thank you goes out to the leaders who advocated for Ridgewood’s infrastructure:
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Senator Kristin Corrado
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Assemblyman Chris DePhillips
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Assemblyman Al Barlas
By securing these state funds, the Village is able to improve daily life for hundreds of commuters without placing the full financial burden on local taxpayers.
What to Expect During Construction
While the groundwork is being laid, residents should be mindful of minor sidewalk shifts near the square. The goal is to have the site ready as soon as the prefabricated structure arrives. Once finished, the new shelter will serve as a permanent fixture, blending modern utility with the historic charm of our downtown.
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Tags: #RidgewoodNJ #VanNesteSquare #PublicTransit #NJDOT #CommuterLife #NJNews #Infrastructure
What a waste of money!
Grant or no grant, this structure is ridiculously unnecessary.
It’s about time this is being done, the whole place was in this repair, because a lack of maintenance, filthy, all the wood was rotten, no one painted it, it was always poorly lit, and people used that place as a bathroom. Because there is no bathroom in the CBD. 40 commuters, shoppers, and anyone else using the Central business shopping District, so they use that as a place that goes to the bathroom. That’s a shame then you wonder why people go to the mall because they have restrooms. And they can’t even go to the train station and use the bathroom because it’s always locked. Ridiculous
About time we got some of our money back. Its a fraction, but better than nothing
Ah, that smell of stale cigarette smoke and urine.
Mr. P. Will. Keep it nice and clean.
What did we buy for $147,000? Who created the goals? Rain protection? Heated?Cooled? Transparency .So Muggers can’t hide in wait? Lighting, Operating hours after which it’s secured so Homeless don’t move in? Or do we wait till we spend all the $$$ before we know what we bought?
Hopefully your response will resolve the questions
They should turn the old taxi stand on Broad Street into a bathroom, as the perfect location what else are they gonna do with that? It’s so damn small downstairs they could turn into information center/Bathroom well how about a police stand, like years ago when they used to walk the beat remember when you used to have a cop walking the whole CBD you don’t see that anymore,
Doesn’t look like any footings were installed.
Are we just plopping this structure on the existing concrete?
Downtown gets a shelter for 147,000 BUT habernickle got one for 1/2 a mill. Hmmmm.
Seems downtown should be of more concern than a neighborhood park….or is it because of the business in the park? But there are businesses in town. What is the councils interest in the business in Habernickel. So many unanswered questions still. Could it be the 4 mill that was given to HB during Covid and feed the frontlines with Ramon Hache? Who got that money? We still do not know!
Holp on your about to find out.
Paulie and his ilk are in for a nasty suprise.
Kazmark loves it! Won’t be long till Ridgewood looks like West Paterson.