A bill that would raise the state gas tax will also set up the mechanism for lawmakers to deliver their promises to build light rail lines in Bergen County and South Jersey.
A bill that would raise the state gas tax will also set up the mechanism for lawmakers to deliver their promises to build light rail lines in Bergen County and South Jersey.
While the bill doesn't specifically mention the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail extension or the proposed South Jersey Light Rail line, it sets up a committee that would make those projects a priority, legislative officials said.
That panel will have annual review and veto power over all state transportation projects paid for by the Transportation Trust Fund, legislative officials said.
The bill to renew the Transportation Trust Fund creates the Transportation Capital Program Approval Committee, made up of the state Transportation Commissioner and three "public members," one each from North, Central and Southern New Jersey counties.
Members would be recommended by the Speaker of the House, Senate President and Governor.
TTF voted stalled until Friday
The legislature would not be able to appropriate money for the transportation projects paid for by the trust fund unless the committee votes unanimously in favor, according to the bill.
Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, said in an interview with NJTV that the agreement is going to allow the Bergen-Hudson Light Rail project to get funded, and the South Jersey project to move forward as well.
"I thought this was a major win for North Jersey and Bergen County," said State Senator Robert Gordon, D-Bergen. "It (light rail) will be an engine for economic growth and, as seen elsewhere, will mean a rapid increase in property values and will provide more commuter options."
Bergen County residents have been promised light rail since the first trains rolled through Hudson County 16 years ago, but funding to make it happen has been elusive.
"From the outset, this project was supposed to extend through Bergen County, but it has long been stuck in Hudson," Bergen County Executive James Tedesco III said. "We've waited long enough."
While there have been false starts in the past, Gordon said the proposed agreement will get the project moving.
"I share my constituents cynicism. The most senior people in the legislature have been vocal about this," Gordon said. "Those of us in the Bergen delegation have made it a priority."
Gordon said this agreement could be used to make the case to obtain federal funding.
"One argument I'd make is that this region provides 11 percent of the nation's gross domestic product," Gordon said. "Being able to move people in this economic center of significance is a necessity."
The route of a 10-mile extension from North Bergen to Englewood Hospital was agreed upon in 2011. The extension would have seven new stations, at 91st Street in North Bergen, and in Ridgefield, Palisades Park, Leonia, and two in Englewood.
In South Jersey, the line would run from Glassboro to Camden and include 13 stops.
Last September, New Jersey lawmakers took Federal Transit Administration officials on a tour of the 21-mile Hudson-Bergen light rail system. U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, D-NJ, said afterward that the tour was intended to "prime the pump" to obtain some of the $2.3 billion in federal money allocated annually for transit projects.
Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Fausto Giovanny Pinto may be reached at fpinto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @FGPreporting. Find NJ.com on Facebook.