Just under a century ago, the engineering profession marveled at the construction of a rail line from the Delaware Water Gap to Lake Hopatcong.
That 26-mile portion of the line, called the Lackawanna Cutoff, traversed from Pennsylvania into Warren and Sussex counties and ended at a Lake Hopatcong station in Morris County. Originally constructed between 1909-1911, the Lackawanna Cutoff cost $11 million to build.
“It was considered an engineering marvel,” said Sussex County Transportation Planner Tom Drabic during an interview last week at his office in Newton.
To try and build the same 26-mile line today would cost well over $1 billion, he estimated.
This week, NJ Transit is hosting three informational public meetings to display information to the public and obtain input regarding preliminary plans to rebuild the now-dismantled Lackawanna Cutoff line.
The three meetings, one of which will be in Byram, will focus on preliminary cost estimates for the project and possible station sites, said NJ Transit spokesman Ken Hitchner.
The first open house will be Monday from 3-8 p.m. at the Ramada Inn on Broad Street in Delaware Water Gap, Pa. The second will be in Byram on Tuesday from 3-8 p.m. at the Adam Todd Banquet Caterers on Route 206 at Cranberry Lake. And, the final meeting will be Thursday at the Hilton Scranton Hotel and Conference Center on Adams Avenue in Scranton, Pa., from 3-8 p.m.
There will forms at the meetings for attendees to fill out with their opinions of the project.
http://www.njherald.com/news/newspro/vi ... 8126,60307,