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Amtrak has still not issued the permit the NJ Department of Transportation (DOT) needs as the first step to fix the Clarksville Road Bridge that has been closed since Nov 2, Mayor Marathe reported at a Town Council meeting on Feb 2.
The bridge over the Amtrak Northeast corridor train tracks was closed to traffic on November 2 after a routine inspection by the DOT found severe corrosion of the bridge deck.
The bridge closure stopped through traffic on Clarksville Road between Quakerbridge Road and North Post Road. The road closure has hurt the businesses at the Village Square shopping center as previously reported and lengthened commutes for drivers who are now forced to use Route 1 or Village Road.
The DOT needs the permit to perform a thorough inspection of the bridge deck. Once they complete the inspection, they can give the town options on ways to fix the bridge. Marathe said that DOT “promised” him that if they got the permit on Feb 2 the inspection would be completed by Feb 6.
Marathe said that the town and the DOT have had meetings with Amtrak on Nov 10, Jan 7, and Jan 28. On Jan 7, Amtrak told Mayor Marathe that they needed three weeks to issue a permit but when challenged, agreed to do it in one week (by Jan 14). Still the DOT does not have the permit. Marathe said that “I am very disappointed with the lack of progress on fixing the bridge.”
Marathe estimated that once the construction is begun to fix the bridge, the DOT construction crew will only be able to work a maximum of three hours a night because train service will need to be suspended during the work. Assuming a five hour window, it will take one hour to de-energize the train tracks and one hour to re-energize the train tracks, allowing up to three hours for construction.
Marathe said Amtrak has not explained to the town or to the DOT what is involved in issuing the permit. Amtrak didn’t “bother to respond” to the Mayor’s invitation to come to the Feb 2 Town Council meeting “to explain why it is taking three months to issue the permit.”
The Mayor is planning to ask residents to contact Amtrak and Senators Andy Kim and Corey Booker to put pressure on Amtrak to issue the permit. Joe Charles, a member of the Town Council, said that the township is also considering starting a media campaign with the same goal of putting pressure on Amtrak. During the public comment period, Tirza Wahrman, a town resident, suggested contacting Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman as well.
Amtrak has not yet responded to a request for information.
