This project extended service on the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail system from Port Imperial to a new station on Bergenline Avenue in Union City, NJ. The existing 4,000’ long railroad tunnel was converted from freight usage to passenger operations. The bulk of work was performed deep inside the Weehawken Tunnel beneath the Palisades.
This New Jersey Transit project connected the Bergen Line and the Main Line through the construction of a new connector track and viaduct. Structural rehabilitation was required across the entire structure due to deteriorated steel.
This project arose from New Jersey Transit’s desire to increase capacity and flexibility for Hudson-Bergen Light Rail operations. A series of rail upgrades was necessary to accomplish their goal.
Three of New Jersey’s premier general contractors (J. Fletcher Creamer & Son, Inc., Joseph M. Sanzari, Inc. and Railroad Construction Co., Inc.) joined together to form a tri-venture, Creamer-Sanzari-Railroad-A Tri-Venture, tasked with constructing a major new transportation hub serving MetLife Stadium and the Meadowlands Sports and Entertainment Complex. This hub created direct access to the Complex from all major railways in New Jersey and New York.
This project gave us an opportunity to display our capabilities in both the Track and Civil disciplines. This section of track, which once served a military and manufacturing site in the 1980’s, had been abandoned for 30 years. It was in such disrepair that trees had sprouted between the rails. By rehabilitating the line, operated by the New York & Atlantic Railway, the town of Riverhead would gain an active rail line and the EPCAL industrial park would receive rail service for the first time.