Imagine you are walking to your train station, like you’ve done everyday, only to come across a giant fence blocking all access!
A reader forwarded an astonishing story about NJ Transit blocking pedestrian access to the Terboro station. For decades, commuters have crossed the tracks at Williams Ave to reach the platform. Then, in the interests of “safety” a fence was erected — because the crossing was technically illegal. There is now no way to reach the station on foot, except by taking a 1+ mile detour along a dangerous highway lacking shoulders and sidewalks:
The fence was put up without warning, and residents are understandably livid. They have launched a petition drive.
[…] on the Network today: Systemic Failure shares an outrageous story about New Jersey Transit blocking pedestrian access to one of its rail […]
Chain link fence cutters are like $50 from Amazon. Free super saver shipping!
The proper thing for NJT to do is to make that a sanctioned pedestrian crossing with gates and some bollards to keep cars from crashing through. An attorney could make a strong case that NJT has approved that crossing due to their lack of enforcement in the past. The fences could be construed as a “taking” of a long standing right of access.
P.S. s/Terboro station/Teterboro station/
The saga of SMART’s Coddingtown Road station is similar, but all the solutions the city and agency have proposed are too expensive or physically impractical.
[…] maneuver that NJ Transit had tacitly approved. That approval ended recently when the NJ Transit built a fence. Officials cited “safety” as the primary concern which is laughable if you consider the […]
Chain cutters!
It’s worth remembering that this is the same NJ Transit which moved trains INTO the identified flood zone before Hurricane Sandy.
Yeah. And nobody has had the decency to resign. Governor Christie won’t fire anyone, either.