When not cycling around Friendship, Maine, where he owns a bed-and-breakfast with his wife, Chip Jahnke is working for the East Coast Greenway. As part of a bicycle trip from Maine to Washington, D.C., Jahnke took his promotional efforts to Jersey City last Wednesday.
The East Coast Greenway is proposed bicycle and hiking path that would stretch from Maine to Florida.
“I’m trying to stimulate community awareness of the East Coast Greenway and the trail sports that can be played on it,” Jahnke said, stopping at Lincoln Park Wednesday afternoon.
“Our goal is to connect existing and planned trails that are locally owned and managed to form a continuous, safe, green route,” said Mike Selender, Hudson County coordinator for the East Coast Greenway. “Our route will be an urban alternative to the Appalachian Trail, located in the shadows of skyscrapers and within suburban greenspace.”
Selender, who was at the presentation to Jahnke, said the proposed 2,600 mile off-road trail system would likely move through a portion of Jersey City, hopefully incorporating the Sixth Street Railroad Embankments and the Bergen Arches as they trail makes its way from New York City to Newark.
Jahnke began his bicycle trip from Friendship on May 12 and hopes to present all the citations in favor of the Greenway to President Bush.
“I know that he is a little busy these days,” Jahnke admitted. “We’ve also arranged to give the paperwork to a member of his staff.”
At the park, Jahnke was greeted by Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise, who presented the cyclist with a citation for his efforts at promoting the Greenway.
Jahnke hopes to reach Washington D.C. by June 7, which is National Trails Day. According to Jahnke, National Trails Day is celebrated on the first Saturday in June in the United States. On that day every year hikers, bikers and equestrians participate in events nationwide in celebration of America’s trails.
“I think I cover about 50 to 60 miles a day on the bicycle,” said Jahnke. “Of course the weather was lousy earlier in the week, which can slow you down. I ran into slick roads and stuff like that along the way.”
Jahnke estimates that he will cover 1,200 miles by the time he reaches Washington.
“The more attention I bring to the East Coast Greenway, the better for it,” said Jahnke. “This is my second bicycle trip to promote the Greenway.”
Last year, Jahnke rode pretty much the same itinerary to draw attention to East Coast Greenway.
According to New Jersey East Coast Greenway Commission Chairperson Elizabeth Brody, the Greenway already exists in a manner of speaking.
“The trail has been mapped out,” said Brody. “But right now it is 20 percent trail and 80 percent roadway. We would like to see that proportion reversed by 2010.”
Walking bridges could connect them
Brody said the Greenway Commission is working with states to designate greenspace to be part of the Greenway. At a block party held earlier in the month to celebrate the preservation of the Sixth Street Railroad Embankments in Harsimus Cove, Selender outlined one possible plan for the incorporation of the Embankments into the Greenway. Once the city became the owner of the former railroad embankments, which are now municipal landmarks, paths would be made and small, 120-foot-wide walk-bridges would connect the embankments.
“This would allow people to travel from the New York City Greenway path to the New Jersey path,” said Selender.
Brody said the southern New Jersey portion of the East Coast Greenway has already been established, moving from the Delaware River to Middlesex County. The problem now rests with connecting up northern New Jersey to the Greenway.
Brody said that the commission is currently doing a feasibility study for running the proposed Greenway from Perth Amboy, through Union and Essex counties and linking with Hudson County.
Mariano Vega, director of Public Resources for Hudson County, said county executives from all over New Jersey recently met with representatives of the New Jersey East Coast Greenway Commission to examine different plans to use space in the counties.
According to Vega, the Sixth Street Embankments would be connected to the Bergen Arches, which would then cross the Meadowlands to Newark.
“Hooking up with the Meadowlands would expose families and hikers alike to Meadowlands parkland,” said Vega.
Vega added that two alternate plans were also discussed at the meeting. In the second plan, the Greenway would move through Harrison on its way to Newark, Vega stated.
“In the third proposed path, the Greenway would move over the Belleville Bridge to Branch Brook Park,” Vega said.
Brody said the choice of the three plans would be up to the state.
“If this weather holds up, I’ll be in Trenton by the end of the week,” Jahnke stated. “I do this because I want to see the Greenway happen.”