The Alternative Press

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. -- The Township of South Orange, in partnership with South Orange Village Center Alliance, submitted a grant application for $100,000 for improvements to the train trestle in South Orange.

The grant money would be used to address the dilapidated appearance of the trestle, according to Laura Harris, assistant to the South Orange Village administrator. The application was submitted to the New Jersey Department of Transportation’s Municipal Aid Transit Village Grant Program.

“It’s really an attempt to make the place more pedestrian friendly and more walkable,” Harris said.

Carole Anzalone-Newman, the executive director of South Orange Village Center Alliance, said the money would be used to add bike racks, fix the walls and floors, add lighting, put in benches, and put up timelines of South Orange history.

“Over 3,600 people board the train in South Orange these days, and it deserves to be nicer for the commuter,” said Anzalone-Newman.

She also said the town would be implementing safety features including improvements in lighting and repairs to rough patches in the sidewalk.

Both Anzalone-Newman and Harris agree that beautifying the train station might bring more pedestrians to visit the businesses in the village.

“Economic sustainability is always going to be important to our community,” Harris said. “We need to create additional more attractive areas in order to increase the customer base.”

The main objectives, though, are to keep the town safe and clean, according to Anzalone-Newman.

“This is a perfect project because it’s improving the safety and cleaning up,” she said.

Harris said the town should know about the grant approximately in late winter or early spring. If the application is approved, it will probably take 60 days to award a contract and after that work will begin.

She said work should not create problems in the daily commute because there are so many entrances to the train station.

The reporter is participating in a hyperlocal journalism partnership between The Alternative Press and Seton Hall University's Department of Communication & The Arts.