http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081006/COMMUNITIES13/810060309&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL Rerouting of Dover train derailed, greenway thrown off-course Town hoped to turn tracks into riverside greenway By Michael Daigle • Daily Record • October 6, 2008 The plan to turn the Dover & Rockaway railroad track through the center of Dover into a riverside greenway has been derailed. The work would have been done in conjunction with the $48.5 million state project now getting under way to rebuild two bridges and connect Routes 46 and 15. Leaving the track in place means the Morristown & Erie Railroad trains that use it will continue to pass slowly through downtown Dover as engineers stop at a dozen street crossings. State transportation officials said last week that the plans to reactivate an existing spur line near the Dover-Rockaway-Denville border called the Rockaway Loop have been dropped. The reactivation would have allowed the Morristown & Erie to operate on the NJ Transit tracks and avoid the slow ride through Dover. State Transportation Department spokeswoman Erin Phalon said the project to rebuild Route 46 in the western end of Dover has been designed to accommodate the Morris County-owned Dover & Rockaway line, which will pass under the easternmost bridge as the line runs from Dover to Wharton. She gave no reason for the change. Gerald Rohsler, Morris County's director of transportation management, said the county would like to discontinue use of the D&R line through Dover for safety reasons. The county purchased the line to continue rail service to businesses along Green Pond Road in Rockaway Township that need bulk shipments of materials and to ensure fewer trucks on local roads. The trains pass through Dover slowly, stopping at each street crossing to allow vehicles to clear before proceeding. Between Union and Warren streets, the tracks pass close to buildings. Morristown & Erie Vice President Gordon Fuller said he had not heard that the D&R would no longer dead-end at Route 46. "I guess we'll continue to roll through Dover," he said. "We have issues when there is snow in the winter and when bar patrons park their cars on the tracks." Dover Mayor James Dodd said he understood that environmental concerns relating to wetlands along the Rockaway Loop right-of-way, and possibly budget issues, ended consideration of that plan. Still, he was disappointed. "The state has said they want to eliminate one at-grade crossing a year," Dodd said. "We could have done a dozen at once." He said the change is also disappointing because Dover had hopes of working with the Morris County Park Commission to develop the old rail bed into a greenway along the Rockaway River through the center of Dover. The town had planned to use that riverfront path as a new centerpiece to refocus the town on the river and spur economic activity. The town's goal still is to link a riverside greenway to the public park that will be built as part of the Bassett Highway redevelopment project, he said. Dodd said it is possible that once the Route 46 project is complete, new rail connections at the Wharton end of the D&R and the Denville end of the line could be reconsidered. Preconstruction site work is under way near the former Traveler's Diner, at the ramp from Route 46 west to Route 15 north, and near Hurd Park and Park Heights Avenue, where an intersection between West Blackwell Street and Route 46 will be reconfigured. Phalon said a new drainage system also is being installed. The project is expected to take three years to complete. The work includes the replacement of two Route 46 bridges that were erected in 1929, new decorative highway lighting, new traffic signals at the intersections of Routes 46 and 15 and the intersection of Route 46 and Pequannock Street, intersection improvements at the corner of Pequannock and North Sussex streets and the reconstruction of a portion of West Blackwell Street to allow two-way traffic to Park Heights Avenue. During construction, traffic on Route 46 will be limited to one lane in each direction in the work zone. There will also be detours around the work zone that will vary during each phase of the project. To accommodate pedestrians who normally walk through what will be the work zone, shuttle service will be provided to transport people from one end of the zone to the other. In 2001, an agreement between Morris County, Dover and the state would have allowed the D&R line to dead-end at Route 46. The Rockaway Loop, which passes along Dover-Rockaway Road between Franklin Street and Route 46 near McWilliams Forge in Denville, would have been reconstructed and connected to the existing NJ Transit line for an estimated $3 million to allow the M&E to abandon the old Dover line. In 2000, the state DOT proposed to build a tunnel for the D&R line under the Route 46 project area. The option was raised during a historical review of the rail line, a requirement for transportation projects that receive federal highway funding. The D&R was built in 1869 to serve the region's iron industry, and the route includes the former main station of the Central Railroad of New Jersey on Sussex Street next to Dover's municipal building. Rail enthusiasts and the local historical society had once talked about installing an old steam engine and rail cars next to town hall had the line been abandoned. Michael Daigle can be reached at (973) 267-7947 or at mdaigle_@_gannett.com. Gary R. Kazin DL&W Milepost R35.7 Rockaway, New Jersey The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List http://EL-List.railfan.net/ To Unsubscribe: http://Lists.Railfan.net/erielackunsub.html ------------------------------
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