Dear Editor:
Bordering the south end of the Shades neighborhood in Weehawken, the rail line that separates our community from Hoboken has been used by generations of bicyclists and pedestrians as a crossover point between towns – a convenient and safe alternative to the narrow, traffic-clogged (and aerobically demanding) Willow Avenue Bridge.
That tradition and convenience have apparently come to an end with the conversion of the freight rail line into the much-ballyhooed light rail transportation system. Chain link fences are going up all along the line, choking off access between Weehawken and Hoboken from forms of transportation other than gas-guzzlers and hot-air balloons. Indeed, an iron curtain is descending between our two fair cities.
This morning I rode my bike along the chain-link fence in the direction of the river, looking in vain for an outlet. As I ran the gauntlet of rush-hour tunnel traffic on my way to Lincoln Harbor, the irony of our situation sank in. Shortsighted thinking, bound by mismanaged fiscal restraint, allows a barrier to go up that most likely will result in the increased burning of fossil fuels, and the decreased burning of body fat for a population that desperately needs less of the former and more of the latter. I wondered aloud what it might cost to build a well-placed “foot and wheel” underpass below the rails, and concluded that the cost/benefit analysis for such a project simply hadn’t worked for whomever signed off on this dubious exercise in urban planning as it is currently taking shape.
When I got to Lincoln Harbor, I took a right on Harbor Boulevard and wheeled it down to Hoboken. In the days ahead, I’ll be left with two choices for my daily commute; do I continue to bike it every morning, doing battle with the tunnel traffic, or do I give up, abandon the bike and take the bus!
Richard Bryant