January 27, 2004

CONSTRUCTION BEGINS ON NEW PARKING DECK DOWNTOWN

RAHWAY- Mayor James Kennedy was joined by members of the City Council and Parking Authority today to break ground on the Parking Authority’s 524-car parking deck downtown. The deck will be bounded by Irving, Lewis and Main Streets, across from the NJ Transit train station.

“The goal of the parking deck is to create more parking spaces downtown while reducing our dependence on surface parking lots that are not conducive to transit-friendly land use,” said the Mayor. Old tax-exempt asphalt parking lots will soon be home to new residential and commercial developments that will add new vitality to our downtown and provide some property tax relief for Rahway taxpayers.”

The cost of the $8.8 million deck is being shared between the Parking Authority and NJ Transit. The station, which serves some 3,000 riders daily, is one of the busiest in the state.

“Due to the demands of our rail riders who use the Rahway train station, parking permits for downtown Rahway have traditionally been as hard to come by as Giants season tickets,” said Parking Authority Chairman Gregory Hardoby. “This deck will more than double the number of permit parking spaces available to the public and is good news for commuters, merchants, residents and shoppers.”

The deck was designed by Timothy Haahs & Associates of Philadelphia and is being built by Fitzpatrick & Associates of Eatontown. Weather permitting, the deck is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

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