JERSEY CITY-The Port Authority Board of Commissioners has authorized the agency to move ahead with the purchase and redevelopment of Greenville Yards, a century-old rail yard here that will serve as the lynchpin to removing up to 360,000 trash trucks annually from trans-Hudson crossings and New Jersey highways by moving New York City's sealed containerized solid waste and other commodities by barge and rail when the facilities are completed by 2013.
Greenville Yards today forms the western terminus for New York New Jersey Rail LLC, which is owned by the Port Authority and operates the last cross-harbor car float system on the Hudson River. Under this system, freight is loaded on rail cars and the cars are moved by barge from Greenville to Brooklyn, NY, where they are either delivered to local customers or handed over to another railroad to reach their destination.
The Board has authorized $118.1 million for the overall project, part of which will go toward the purchase of approximately 47 acres of upland property and 72 acres of riparian rights at Greenville, with the other portion going toward the existing rail car float system operating between Greenville Yards and sites at 51st and 65th streets in Brooklyn. Funding will come from federal and state grants, as well as Port Authority funds.
According to the Port Authority, the new barge-to-rail facility at Greenville Yards will allow for municipal solid waste and other commodities to be barged from New York to New Jersey in watertight sealed containers and taken out of New Jersey by rail. Currently, the majority of New York City's waste is trucked through the Port Authority's Hudson River crossings in unsealed, open-topped trucks with fabric coverings and continues out of state using New Jersey's roads.
Port Authority chairman Anthony R. Coscia tells GlobeSt.com, "Our bridges and tunnels are overburdened with truck traffic, and today's action provides an environmentally sound alternative. It will provide a host of important benefits--reduced congestion for those who use our crossings, a better quality of life for the people of our region and lower bridge and tunnel maintenance costs for the Port Authority."
New York City plans to ship an estimated 120,000 to 180,000 containers of solid waste per year through two barge-to-rail transfer points on the western side of the Port of New York and New Jersey. The plan is for Greenville to handle about half of the container stream, with the balance going to the other selected facility.
In addition to the Greenville project, the Port Authority also recently approved a $660,000 increase in funds for Essex County's acquisition of Riverbank Park Extension property in Newark under the Hudson-Raritan Estuary Resources Program. The Authority also reauthorized a project to complete the wharf reconstruction at Berth 8 and part of Berth 10 at Port Newark and authorized a new, 525,750-square-foot lease with American Airlines Inc. for hangar, office and flight kitchen space in Hangar 10 for a five-year period and Buildings 121 and 122 for two years.
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