December 22, 2004

 

NEW PARKING GARAGE OPENS DOWNTOWN

 

RAHWAY- Mayor James Kennedy was joined by NJ Transit officials, 22^nd District state legislators and members of the City Council and Parking Authority today to dedicate the new 524-car parking deck downtown. The deck is bounded by Irving, Lewis and Main Streets, across from the NJ Transit train station and has been named the Rahway Transportation Center.

“This deck has been desired by commuters, business owners and civic leaders for decades,” said Kennedy.  “We now have more parking spaces while reducing our dependence on widely-scattered surface parking lots that are not conducive to transit-friendly land use,”

 

The Mayor added that a major developer is considering building a hotel and residential complex on the site adjacent to the parking deck that once housed the old Rahway Moose lodge and a gas station.

 

The cost of the $11 million deck is being shared between the Parking Authority and NJ Transit. Rahway’s train station, which serves some 3,000 riders daily, is one of the busiest in the state.

 

“NJ Transit realizes that in order to get people quickly and safely to their destination, we must be more than just an operator of buses and trains,” said NJ Transit Executive Director George Warrington.  “NJ Transit is pleased to partner with Rahway to help us achieve our commitment to add parking near transit facilities, to promote transit-friendly development, and to make NJ Transit as convenient as we possibly can.”

 

Rahway was named a “Transit Village” by the state in 2002 and has seen its redevelopment efforts around the train station honored by New Jersey Future, the Regional Business Partnership and Downtown New Jersey.  This new facility is a key component of the city’s revitalization initiative.

 

“Parking permits have traditionally been difficult to obtain due to the lengthy waiting lists and long walks from parking lot to train station,” said Parking Authority Chairman Gregory Hardoby, who added that the deck will see its first permit parkers on Monday, January 3, 2005. “This deck will increase our amount of available parking spaces available to the public by over 200 percent.”

 

The deck was designed by Timothy Haahs & Associates of Philadelphia and was built by Fitzpatrick & Associates of Eatontown. Construction on the deck began back in January.