Long Branch Train Station Getting A Tunnel Across The Tracks

LONG BRANCH, NJ — We already reported last February that Long Branch plans to build a pedestrian tunnel across the tracks at the Long Branch train station.

And now this month, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ6) announced he secured $13 million in federal funding to help build the tunnel.

But Long Branch did not say when it expects the tunnel will be completed.

The tunnel will connect the east and west sides that are currently bisected by the NJ Transit train tracks. Once the tunnel opens, it will be much safer to get to either the northbound or southbound train platforms, said the city.

Currently, people are forced to walk across the train tracks, which is not safe.

The tunnel is just one part of Long Branch Mayor John Pallone's larger plans to build a "transit village" around the Long Branch train station, a project that will cost in total $26 million. This includes:

• Making the indoor waiting room much bigger
• Reconstruction of the commuter parking lot to bring buses, trolleys, taxis, Uber/Lyft and electric car charging stations to the Long Branch train station
• Construction of a heated pedestrian overhang for bus service
• Landscape improvements

There are several apartment buildings under construction at West/Westwood Aves. near the station, which Pallone hopes will lure in new residents to the city.

Also, Long Branch will be moving its police headquarters, the city court and the Dept. of Health into the Ronald McDonald House, near the train station. (The city's plans require the Long Branch Ronald McDonald House to close, which greatly upset some families who use it. Those families will have to use the next closest Ronald McDonald House, in New Brunswick.)

Long Branch Mayor John Pallone and Congressman Frank Pallone are brothers. They are also both Democrats.

Prior: City Takeover Of Long Branch Ronald McDonald House Upsets Families (Oct. 2022)