Park-and-ride, bus service may be en route Jamesburg officials hope to bring commuter lot to site of Gatzmer BY CHRISTINE GRIMALDI Staff Writer JAMESBURG - Plans for a borough park-and-ride facility with bus service to Manhattan continue to advance, and may have taken root in a borough property. The prospective site is the approximately 3.8 acres behind the Busco Bros. Inc. heating oil company near the intersection of Lincoln and Gatzmer avenues. The lot is owned by Conrail. Borough Councilwoman Barbara Carpenter said buses would likely depart for Manhattan within a morning time frame between 5 and 8 a.m. and return to Jamesburg in the evening block from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. These scheduling times are still approximate, she said. Buses will not run on the weekends, though Carpenter noted the possibility of weekend scheduling as a future goal that would further enable residents to attend a play or enjoy New York City shopping, for example. The park-and-ride will include one or two bus shelters within the parking area, Carpenter said. She also hopes to have at least one more shelter installed along the borough bus route, allowing residents to simply walk from their homes to a stop site. "I want the residents of Jamesburg to have the leisure of leaving their cars behind," she said. Ongoing negotiations continue between Conrail, the state Department of Transportation (DOT) and the borough, as well as with the Suburban Transit/Coach USA and Academy bus companies. Either company could end up as the sole service provider for the Jamesburg connections, but Suburban Transit/Coach USA and Academy may split line service between their bus fleets. Carpenter, Councilman Otto Kostbar and Mayor Anthony LaMantia met with the DOT and representatives of the bus companies in early May and were expected to meet again yesterday. Carpenter hopes there will be a town meeting about the park-and-ride in June or July, and will invite the DOT and bus companies to attend and answer residents' questions. She and Kostbar both said the park-and-ride will not pose a tax increase to Jamesburg. There will be "no bonding or outlay on the part of the town," Kostbar said. "That's a must." He said the borough could acquire the lot from Conrail through purchase or lease. If the land is leased, Kostbar said the borough would sublet it to the bus company or companies, which would assume responsibility for lot maintenance in addition to providing buses for the line. The land will still be leased to the bus provider in the event of its purchase, again making it responsible for all park-and-ride support services. Funding for the initial construction could come from the state, Kostbar said. State Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein (D-Mercer and Middlesex) has been involved in meetings with the DOT and bus companies, Carpenter said, and can help with obtaining state funds. "She's been a wealth of information," Carpenter noted, adding that Greenstein has been proactive in the park-and-ride process. Both council members expect the commuter facility to generate revenue for Jamesburg. "It's a possibility that we can even get some ratables out of this by purchasing parking permits," Carpenter said of a system for residents to obtain parking spaces. She also cited increased business for local stores and the commuter benefits of mass transit in terms of gas prices and convenience. Currently, the closest park-and-ride facilities are on Route 130 in South Brunswick - right off Exit 8A on the New Jersey Turnpike - and on Applegarth Road in Monroe. Carpenter said the first facility fills to capacity early in the morning and the second offers parking only for Monroe residents. The two council members favor bus service over the Monmouth-Ocean-Middlesex (MOM) rail line proposal that Carpenter said would essentially split Jamesburg in half. She feels the train line would be dangerous largely because of the "two schools on either side of the tracks." As for traffic congestion, Kostbar said the train would cause far more disruption than the bus service's limited morning and evening runs when extra cars would commute through Jamesburg. Kostbar noted they would post street signs and permits as preventive measures to ensure there is no parking along borough streets. "Jamesburg is known as a walking town," Carpenter said. Additionally, Kostbar noted, there are preliminary plans to install a traffic light at the five-way intersection of Lincoln, Gatzmer, and East and West Railroad avenues. The intersection is located near the prospective commuter site. Pending work at the intersection also includes slight road realignment "to make [the streets] line up a little better," Kostbar said.