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Sussex County bridge number G13 takes rte 611 over the Lackawanna cutoff in Green Township. NJNP Photo/Steve Klaver

(STEVE KLAVER)

Construction has begun on the first commuter train line to Sussex County in decades as rails are being installed that will extend service to Andover.

The first 4.25 miles of track have been installed on the former Lackawanna Cutoff, as part of the first phase of the project to restore 7.3 miles of track between the Port Morris rail yards and Andover Township, said William Smith, NJ Transit spokesman.

The cutoff would connect to NJ Transit's existing Morris & Essex lines at Port Morris Junction in Roxbury, and to Mid-Town Direct service to New York in Dover.

This spring, NJ Transit plans to take bids to build a station and high level platforms in Andover, and to do more track construction and work on the Roseville Tunnel, Smith said. Passenger service could start in four years, depending on factors such as how weather conditions affect construction, he said.

That 7.3 mile section is the first part of a grander plan to eventually expand service on the remainder of the 31-mile abandoned rail line through Sussex and Warren counties, all the way to Pennsylvania. In 2008, it was estimated the plan would cost $551 million.

"Where the project goes after Andover will be subject to future discussions with the authorities in Pennsylvania," Smith said.

But restoration of the rail line into Sussex has some perhaps unlikely opponents – environmentalists who usually support mass transit.

NJ Transit currently has applications for permits to build sections of the rail line in freshwater wetlands and flood hazard areas, said Larry Hajna, a Department of Environmental Protection spokesman. The line was abandoned in the 1970's and the tracks were torn-up in the mid-1980's.



The Sierra Club's state chapter opposes the project because it will open up environmentally sensitive areas in the Highlands region to sprawling development, said Jeff Tittel, chairman. The project received federal environmental approvals in 2008.



"Our concern is that it will promote sprawl and not take any trucks or cars off Route 80," Tittel said. "It will add to development without having any transportation value."

NJ Transit projects there would be 150 daily boardings at Andover in 2030, but they do not have an estimate of how many vehicles would be removed from Route 80, Smith said. Andover station is expected to also serve commuters from Sparta, he said. Local officials also have supported the line, saying it will take traffic off both Route 80 and Route 15.



Environmental concerns include locations where tracks pass through wetlands and high quality trout streams, Tittel said. The bigger concern is that it would accelerate development around the train stations, he said.



Past concepts included building office development around the station on the order of a "mini-Metro Park," Tittel said, alluding to the office parks clustered around that station in Middlesex County on the Northeast Corridor line.



"The money would be better spent on the (proposed) Monmouth-Ocean-Middlesex Line or light rail in Bergen County," Tittel said. "It makes more sense from a ridership standpoint."

Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook.