Port Authority approves 'game-changing' airport, transit link in Newark's South Ward

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey signed off on a $160 million project this week that will create a publicly accessible street connection in Newark’s South Ward to Newark Liberty International Airport’s AirTrain and rail station.

The planned connection — which involves a pedestrian bridge from the neighborhood, over the the railroad tracks to the AirTrain Newark/Northeast Corridor Connector Rail complex —  stands to benefit Newark and Elizabeth communities in a variety of ways. Aside from easy access to the station, residents of the South Ward and Elizabeth should have better access to Midtown Manhattan, through the connection the project would create to NJ Transit and Amtrak trains. Only airport users have been able to access transportation offerings from the station since it opened in 2001.

The area is also slated to become a bus depot of sorts, that will slash airport trips down to seven minutes from about 40 minutes of travel, according to the bistate agency. The board approved the plan unanimously on Thursday.

“This is righting a wrong of the past,” said Leecia Eve, one of the board’s commissioners, before the vote on Thursday. “And in addition to all the economic benefits, we can't really fully quantify how game changing … this is going to be for people who call Elizabeth home, and people who call Newark, particularly the South Ward, home.”

The South Ward is one of Newark’s most storied and troubled sections, historically. Once a wealthy enclave in the city’s heyday it succumbed to crime and violence in the 1970’s and 1980’s. It was also the homebase of Black poet Amiri Baraka and his son, now-Mayor Ras Baraka. The project stands to bolster the area’s fortunes by making it a transit destination, officials said.

Residents of the South Ward and Elizabeth should have easier access to Midtown Manhattan, through the connection the project would create to NJ Transit and Amtrak trains. Only airport users have been able to access transportation offerings from the station since it opened in 2001.

Officials are aiming to complete construction by 2026.

“I talked to a few people and they’re like ‘Wow, if I could just drop somebody off in the parking lot and they get on AirTrain and then get to the terminals, it's much quicker rather than navigating some of the traffic during peak hours at the airport,” said Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage, also a commissioner on the Port Authority board.

Board Chair Kevin O'Toole said it would be “absolutely, monumentally game-changing” for Newark and Elizabeth residents.

“It’s as big as it gets for them,” O'Toole said. “To give them access to schools and work and economic opportunity and public transportation — they’re going to save an hour and a half each way.”