Author: Sally Jane Gellert
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This past month has been one of the coldest in New Jersey in quite some time, with lots of snow—February’s storm was the largest in 5 years. Both the January and February meetings of the Lackawanna Coalition, scheduled to be held in person at the Summit Free Public Library, were cancelled when the library was…
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Our state has a lot of Revolutionary history to celebrate this year. European settlers first landed on the Atlantic coast before moving across the continent, and much of New Jersey was already settled by 1776. We are between the much younger West Coast, where buildings from the mid1800s are considered very old, and Europe, where…
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As we welcome 2026, we enter the nation’s 250th anniversary year, and for many of us it is way different than we ever expected. The Coalition’s hometown of Millburn is honoring the nation’s birth with a mural made of wooden tiles painted by nonprofit groups in the municipality. We were honored to be given a…
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Late in October, we learned of a Millburn project honoring the country’s 250th birthday, and were pleased to be offered a chance to participate in the planned municipal celebration with a block in a commemorative tile mural. With short notice, through nobody’s fault but our own (we have noted that we need to work on…
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This fall has been relatively quiet transitwise in New Jersey so far; we made comments to the New Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) on their 2050 plan; we were pleased to see a response not only from the NJTPA but also from NJ Transit itself. We had called for passing sidings on all single-track lines,…
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The biggest change for the Lackawanna Coalition this month is the temporary relocation of our meetings to the Summit Public Library while Millburn Town Hall undergoes extensive renovation. Elsewhere in this issue, member David Peter Alan details the train schedule for those attending in person. Zoom attendees will not see any change. Adjusting to a…
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Statement on the NJ Transit Strike UPDATE! We are glad to hear of the tentative agreement, though many of our members will be working their way to tonight’s meeting at the Summit Free Public Library without a train—#70 bus it is! We’re glad to see service restored tomorrow, May 20. Comments from May 16: This…
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With the holiday season over, a new year begun, and Inauguration Day and Martin Luther King Day intersecting in a manner most ironic, it’s hard to predict what’s next for NJ Transit and its riders. New president/CEO Kolluri is expected to hold the position only until the next governor’ election at the end of the…
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At our November meeting, we were pleased to welcome new NJ Transit Customer Advocate Franck Beaumin, who brings to the agency both international and domestic experience. He even went beyond our expectation of his stopping by on Zoom and attended in person! Also joining NJ Transit is Kris Kolluri as the new president/CEO, at least…
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Along with others, we mourn the tragic loss of River Line operator Jessica Haley, and express concern for the many passengers injured in the October 14th accident when the train hit a “chunk of tree“ on the tracks. The event raises safety concerns in terms of both equipment and operations, and we will be watching…
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