NJ Transit Proposes Train Stops Dangerously Close To Residents' Yards
WOODRIDGE, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Imagine finding out that a train stop could be coming literally to your backyard.
It's happening in one New Jersey town and neighbors said they were not given much notice, reports CBS 2's Christine Sloan.
Daniel Geis and his wife said they're furious that NJ Transit is proposing building a new train station on existing tracks behind their home. They said they are worried about privacy, especially on the second floor, and in their yard.
"There's going to be a platform, a 4-foot platform, that's going to run three blocks from Jocelyn, Helm and Woodridge," he said.
"Are they going to be able to look over my backyard into my grandchildren swimming, us sitting here having drinks, just enjoying our home? This just doesn't seem very fair after 30 years of being here," Patricia Geis said.
Trains have been running through their neighborhood for years, but the Geis family and dozens of other residents said when trains stop the noises are unbearable.
They said it's what they don't want in their community.
"We will have a lot of transit people coming here and picking up the train to New York and we're afraid that we'll have strangers literally in our backyard," Daniel Geis said.
A spokesperson for NJ Transit said the railroad wants to work with the community.
"We are making every effort to address these concerns. One consideration would be the construction of a wall that would be a visual barrier and help muffle the sounds from the proposed station," the spokesperson said.
Other neighbors said they're also concerned about a proposed pedestrian bridge that would sit right behind a home and several others on Helm and Jocelyn avenues.
"We're going to have a crossover for the people to get to the other side of the tracks, so it's going I don't how many feet in the air looking into my backyard," resident Lisa Carfi said.
The proposed station is supposed to cater to this new community, but residents Sloan talked to said it will end up bringing down their property values.
Construction is scheduled to start this summer but NJ Transit officials said nothing will happen until the community is able to give its input.
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