Route 46 Parsippany Park & Ride opens today
(PARSIPPANY)
Fulfilling Governor James E. McGreevey’s promise of creating
20,000 new Park & Ride spaces throughout the State, New Jersey
Department of Transportation Commissioner (NJDOT) Jack Lettiere
today announced the opening of the Route 46 Park & Ride in
Parsippany. This Park & Ride creates 283 new parking spots
for commuters and is located on Route 46 East, just east of the
Route 46 and Waterview Boulevard intersection.
“I am committed to meeting Governor McGreevey’s ambitious
goal of creating 20,000 new Park & Ride spaces across the
State by 2007. We have created over 7,000 spaces thus far, and
the opening of this station brings us closer to our goal,”
stated NJDOT Commissioner Jack Lettiere. “We have made tremendous
efforts to encourage commuters to utilize the public transit system
and we’ve seen a dramatic increase in ridership. But we
can’t ask people to take public transportation if they can’t
even find a place to park, which is why the Governor’s commitment
to his Park & Ride program is so important.”
“When representatives from the NJDOT first approached me
regarding a new Park & Ride in Parsippany, I said, ‘Its
OK with me, provided it’s the most attractive parking lot
ever built.’ The result is that indeed, this is the most
attractive parking lot I have ever seen. I thank NJDOT for their
consideration of the Township’s interests and for doing
a great job. We can all be proud of this,” said Parsippany-Troy
Hills Mayor Mimi Letts.
The new Route 46 Park & Ride will provide sorely needed parking
for daily commuters traveling to and from New York City and for
carpool users. The Park & Ride will serve primarily commuters
who will park at this site and board Lakeland Bus Lines buses
to New York City.
This parking lot will relieve parking pressure on municipal lots,
especially the Smithfield Park lot. This lot serves users of Smithfield
Park but has become popular with commuters due to overcrowding
at commuter lots. As a result, Smithfield Park lot is overcapacity
as well. The new lot will also supplement the parking capacity
at the Beverwyck Road lot, which has been overcrowded for a number
of years. NJDOT’s investment in the Route 46 Park &
Ride will not only provide new parking spots for commuters, it
will also relieve parking pressure on municipal lots and save
Parsippany from having to invest in additional municipal parking,
providing indirect property tax relief to Parsippany.
Since he took office, Governor James E. McGreevey has worked to
improve the quality of life for working families in New Jersey.
In the most densely populated state in the nation, the congestion
on our roads, bridges, trains, buses and ferries significantly
impacts the daily lives of working people and adversely impacts
our State’s economy. Traffic and congestion costs the New
Jersey economy over $7 billion each year in lost time, operating
cost and wasted fuel. In addition, motorists lose over 260 million
hours each year to congestion delays. Governor McGreevey’s
Park & Ride initiative provides congestion relief and significantly
improves the quality of life of New Jersey residents.
NJDOT’s proposed Fiscal Year 2005 Capital Program includes
$7.5 million for the Governor’s Park & Ride program
and will create thousands of additional spaces.
