Station Review #84: Grove Street (NJT)


Grove Street is the northern terminus station on NJT's Grove Street line, one of the two lines of the Newark Light Rail. The station is located at Grove Street in Bloomfield, New Jersey. 

History

Original Grove Street station

Grove Street was originally the name of a station along the DL&R's main line. The original station was built in 1901, and served as a station all the way until 1991.  By that point it served the Gladstone and Morristown lines before being discontinued and later demolished. 

Immediately after this, NJT decided to extend the western branch of the Newark Light Rail further from Franklin Avenue station into Silver Lake and Bloomfield. To do so, the choice was made to disconnect part of the former DL&R Orange Branch from the rest of the American rail system. This section went as far as the branchline's intersection with Grove Street at the town line between Silver Lake and Bloomfield. The station was named the exact same despite being a completely unrelated station. 

There are ideas and plans of extending the line even further to meet with the Montclair-Boonton Line's Watsetting Avenue station. 

Tour

LRV at Grove Street

Grove Street Sign in the station

Hostile benches! 

NLR map

The entire station from the outside

Much of the station has this odd shelter design, reminscent of Wayne Junction 

Why are the fare kiosks so far away from everything else? 

Groovin' On Grove Street by Valerie Maynard, a sculpture that celebrates the many Jazz musicians that cane from Essex County

Bus stop, attached to the station

Bus Connections

There are a few connections at Grove Street station, the closest of which being 

90: Ridgewood to Branch Brook Station via Grove Street

go28 bus stop

Nearby on Bloomfield Avenue, there's also

11: Newark Penn to Willowbrook Mall
28: Newark Penn to Willowbrook Mall via Montclair Heights
go28: Newark Airport to Bloomfield 
29: Newark Penn to Parsippany
72: Newark Penn to Paterson via Bloomfield 

Points of Interest Near Grove Street Station

There's very little near Grove Street Station. So little that the further you go from the station, the more likely it is that you will find something of interest. Grove Street seems to be in some sad and abandoned industrial area, and everything is run down. Bloomfield Avenue meanwhile is essentially a stroad. I'm not sure how mixing two of the most depressing forms of urban streetscape imagery was possible, but the area around Grove Street clearly accomplishes that! 

Statistics


Name: Grove Street 
Agency: NJT
Line(s): Newark Light Rail - Grove Street Line 
Locality: Silver Lake
City/Township: Bloomfield 
County: Essex
State: New Jersey 
Ridership: 

Amenity Checklist


Accessible: ✓
Bathrooms: ✓
Bicycle parking: ✓
Clean Station: ✓
Connections to other transit routes: ✓
Easy passage for each side: ✓
Fare Payment Kiosks (if applicable): n/a
Good Wayfinding: ✓
Indoor Shelters: ×
Maps: ✓
Multiple entrances/exits: ×
Adequate Parking: ✓
Seating: ✓
Shelters: ✓
Station In Good Condition: ✓
Ticket Kiosks (if applicable): ✓
Ticket Offices: ×
TOD: ×
Train Departure/Arrival Info (signs that update/screens): ✓
Updated/Useful Signage: ✓

Final Verdict: 3.5/10 

Station Directory


--------Essex County--------
Newark Penn 
Millitary Park
Washington Street
Warren Street/NJIT
Norfolk Street
Orange Street
Park Avenue
Bloomfield Avenue
Davenport Avenue
Silver Lake
Grove Street

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