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The Record: Taken for a ride
Thursday, July 29, 2010
The Record
https://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/99526369_Taken_for_a_ride.html
RIDGEWOOD commuters are getting a beautiful, renovated train station. NJ Transit is spending $24 million on the high-hat redo. At the same time, cash-strapped NJ Transit is passing the hat to its customers.
The lavish remake in Ridgewood is being carried out under the guise of handicap accessibility. The station platforms are being raised, and an elevator and new wheelchair ramps are being added. In keeping with the historic character of the existing station, the new platform canopies will be topped with green Spanish clay roofing tiles with copper leaders and gutters. Very nice indeed.
According to NJ Transit, its Road to Morocco — at least when it comes to roofing — is paid for with capital funds, not money from its operating budget. “Not one dime of fare revenue is being used to fund this project,” an NJ Transit spokesman replied in a written response to questions on the project’s cost.
Ridgewood Station is designated a “key station” under federal regulations and as such, it is required to be made readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, including those who use wheelchairs.
While we applaud handicap accessibility in Ridgewood, we note the obvious to anyone using NJ Transit to arrive at Hoboken Terminal. Hoboken, a major hub, is not “readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, including individuals who use wheelchairs.” The platforms are low. Anyone arriving at the station in a wheelchair has to wait for an NJ Transit employee to bring a hydraulic lift to get him off or on a train. During rush hour, lots of luck with that.
The NJ Transit spokesman said that the waiting room, bus terminal and light rail platforms are handicap accessible. What good is the waiting room if you cannot get on or off a train? A reason given for not raising the platform at one of NJ Transit’s busiest stations is that the engineering would be complex — the historic canopy over the tracks would need to be raised, and because the station was built on fill, the tracks flood frequently.
We do not understand why the roof would need raising. It is not the train or tracks that would be elevated to new heights, just the platform for commuters. In any case, the historic canopy was architecturally butchered years ago. And if the tracks are so flood-prone, why is fixing that not a higher priority than a $24 million suburban-station redo replete with copper gutters and leaders? Why is that not a higher priority than a nearly $9 billion boondoggle to give commuters a one-seat ride to Macy’s Herald Square? And if NJ Transit isn’t just paying lip service to improving handicap accessibility, why hasn’t Hoboken Terminal been its highest priority?
We do not begrudge Ridgewood commuters their beautiful new station. It will complement the village’s downtown. But we wonder how many persons with disabilities will appreciate the ease of entering a train in Ridgewood when they find getting off it in Hoboken an unacceptable challenge.
Perhaps while they wait for transit personnel and a hydraulic lift, they will be entertained by the view of the station’s historic canopy, which is clad in copper. It will remind them of home.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/99526369_Taken_for_a_ride.html
