By Matt Skoufalos | September 19, 2024
The $250-million Walter Rand Transportation Center revival got an infusion of state funding Wednesday, with state, county, and local officials gathering to mark the commitment of $1 million to the effort.
NJ Transit has described the aims of the project as accommodating “future transit developments and the potential for new retail, office, housing and hospitality opportunities utilizing Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) design standards.”
On the transit side, the project will update connections to the PATCO Speedline, River LINE light rail, and some 26 bus lines that serve the center.
Introduced in early 2021, the project is still in its design phase, which the Camden County government has said is 30 percent complete — enough to introduce renderings of building elevations at the press event.
They present a modernist overhaul of the 35-year-old center and its surrounding environs, imagining a glass-and-steel concourse entrance flanked by retail shops, housing, and dining.
Camden County Commissioner Jeff Nash called the project “transformative,” describing it as “the centerpiece of our revitalization” in Camden City, and the linchpin of what is envisioned as a $1-billion redevelopment of the surrounding block.
He talked about the conceived developments around the station as having emerged from public input sessions about a facility that “has fallen into terrible disrepair [and is] very difficult to keep clean, and very difficult to police.”
“From those meetings, we have heard that people in the community would like, aesthetically, a beautiful transportation center, the benefits of commercial development, retail within the facility, and possibly a hotel and residential,” Nash said.
“Part of the planning process includes marketing studies that will direct some of the development,” the commissioner said. “The entire block is going to be explored.”
What has been confirmed, Nash said, is that NJ Transit will dedicate one block to structured parking that will be used to access the center and its commercial and retail buildings.
The Camden County Improvement Authority has signed on with Gilbane Development Company to manage the redevelopment of the surrounding context.
“NJ Transit knows they will be cooperating with a private-sector development,” Nash said.
“They have access to the property and are already planning the structured parking.”
Camden City Mayor Vic Carstarphen described the project as “a generational investment” for the city and the region at large, creating a “state-of-the-art connector for transportation in this area.
“It’s going to make a difference for so many people,” Carstarphen said.
New Jersey Assembly Majority Leader Louis Greenwald (D, NJ-06), who visited the city to announce the commitment of $1 million in state funds to tower reconstruction at the center, called the funding the continuation of a promise by lawmakers to address transportation funding issues in South Jersey.
Greenwald cited statistics from a 2023 Rutgers University study, “Transportation Accessibility in Southern New Jersey,” which reported that transportation is a barrier to accessing all manner of services for a significant number of people in the region. He cited one statistic from the study that reveals nearly 40 percent of respondents indicated that transportation is a barrier to accessing healthcare services.
“Across other services, transportation was reported as a barrier for employment and career services (46 percent), child care services (37 percent), services for families caring for a child of a relative (21 percent), behavioral and mental health services for children (35 percent), behavioral and mental health services for adults (40 percent), substance use disorder and prevention services (36 percent), domestic violence services (28 percent), parenting skills services (35 percent), legal and advisory services (29 percent), community safety services (23 percent), and food services (41 percent).”
Transportation Accessibility in Southern New Jersey, Rutgers University 2023
“When we read the study out of Rutgers that four out of 10 Camden County residents surveyed said transportation is a barrier to accessing healthcare, that tells you it’s a barrier to quality of life,” Greenwald said.
“As we have fought for recognition in the state budgeting process, South Jersey is in dire need of money for transportation.”
NJ Transit has described the aims of the Walter Rand Transportation Center redevelopment as accommodating “future transit developments and the potential for new retail, office, housing and hospitality opportunities utilizing Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) design standards.”
HNTB Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri was awarded the job of conceptual design, engineering, and construction assistance services for the center in October 2021.
The project will update connections to the PATCO Speedline, River LINE light rail, and some 26 bus lines that serve the center.
There is no definite timeline for the completion of the project.
Stick with NJ Pen for updates.
