NJ: This busy N.J. PATH station is closing for nearly a month. Here’s what you need to know.

With less than a week to go until PATH’s Hoboken station closes for a nearly month-long $31 million infrastructure project, officials warned riders to plan their travel options.

Hoboken is one of the busiest stations on PATH and is scheduled to close at 11:59 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 30 and reopen at 5 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 25.

The 26 day closure is necessary to do the kind of heavy duty track and signal work to improve reliability and eliminate frustrating delays, officials said at a Monday press conference in the station.

The PATH system will be 117 years old on Feb. 26 which is “all the more reason to do the work,” said Clarelle DeGraffe, PATH general manager.

Why close for almost a month?

The $31 million Hoboken terminal work is part of the larger, ongoing $430 million PATH Forward program that was announced and started in April to address critical and aging infrastructure system wide.

February was selected because it is one of two months when PATH ridership is the lowest and affects the fewest commuters, DeGraffe said. The alternative would have been at more than a year of full closures on weekends, service reductions, suspensions and rerouting, she said.

PATH hired two to three outside consultants to look at options before deciding in this one, DeGraffe said.

What needs to be done?

The centerpiece of the project is replacing the 35-year-old interlocking, a junction of moveable tracks and machinery just outside the station that allows trains to change tracks entering and leaving Hoboken.

Other work includes service to 4,500 feet of track between Hoboken station and the two tunnels and replacing other switches. Even the third rail that powers trains is being replaced.

The concrete pedestrian surfaces in public areas in the station and four staircases between the station’s mezzanine and platform levels will be replaced.

The work also will rid the roadbed that supports tracks and passenger infrastructure in the station of any latent salt and chemicals from Hurricane Sandy which flooded Hoboken in Oct. 2012, she said.

The projects are being done simultaneously by three different contractors. Hall Construction is doing the rehabilitation and finishing work at the station. JTrack is replacing the Hoboken interlocking. Railworks is replacing the track and underlying infrastructure replacement and drainage, said Seth Stein, a PATH spokesperson..

How will I get around?

DeGraffe encouraged PATH riders to check the options for ferry, NJ Transit and shuttle buses and decide how they’ll travel before Friday.

“An informed customer is a powerful customer to make connections,” said DeGraffe, a regular PATH commuter herself. “It will bring disruptions and we’ll try and minimize them.”

NJ Transit customer service staff were handing out information to PATH riders Monday morning.

Free shuttle buses will take Hoboken riders to the nearest PATH stations at Newport and Exchange Place in Jersey City. During rush hour, additional service will be added at those stations.

Trains will arrive at Newport every two to four minutes and trains arrive at Exchange Pl every five minutes or less during rush hours.

Shuttle buses will run in the late night and early morning and on weekends between those stations and Hoboken.

New York Waterway will sell reduced rate $3 ferry tickets for the same price as PATH fare, which must be purchased before boarding ferries.

Additional rush hour service departs every 10 minutes from both Hoboken ferry terminals, and the 14th Street terminal, to either the Brookfield Place/Battery Park City terminal and or the Midtown/West 39th Street Manhattan terminal.

NY Waterway also expanded crosstown bus service from Midtown/West 39th Street terminal. Ferry hours are extended until 10 p.m. weekdays and 12 a.m. weekends at both Hoboken terminals.

An additional weekend route offers service to Midtown/West 39th Street from both Hoboken terminals.

NJ Transit will assist in several ways. Service will be added to the 126 bus route between the Hoboken bus terminal and New York. Additional trips will start at Washington Street and 1st Street, Washington Street and 11th Street, and Clinton Street and 1st Street.

Supplemental service will be operated by Academy Bus and will not use NJ Transit buses or drivers. PATH riders must buy an NJ Transit ticket to ride these buses.

On Saturdays, additional buses run from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., and Sundays from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m.

NJ Transit is also changing the schedule for five commuter trains between Feb. 3 and Feb. 28. In addition two trains from Dover to Hoboken the 6:13 a.m. and 7:04 a.m. will go from nine cars to 10 cars.

Hudson-Bergen Light rail will operate on its regular schedule to and from Hoboken Terminal provides service to Newport and Exchange Place. Light rail tickets need to be purchased in advance and validated before riding.

Will it get really done?

Twice during Monday’s event, DeGraffe pledged the project will be done on time.

“At 5 a.m., Feb. 25, this station will be open,” she said.

Some work in the station already started, including waterproofing station walls which is happening behind blue wooden barriers, she said.

Project managers who worked on PATH’s recently completed project to extend Grove Street station to allow longer trains to use it will be at work on the Hoboken project, she said.

“The pressure is a lot,” DeGraffe said, joking, “I’m going to be living here for 25 days.”

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