Cyclists, hikers, and other outdoor enthusiasts hope to use an upcoming public hearing in Secaucus to build support for a long bikepath called the East Coast Greenway.
NJ Transit will host the public hearing next month to get comments on two rail bridges that will carry rail traffic north and south over the Hackensack River. These bridges will replace the existing century-old Portal Bridge to form a major link in the Northeast Corridor rail line that runs from Washington, D.C. to Boston. The route is used by both Amtrak and NJ Transit trains.
But the path also happens to coincide with the cycling/hiking route mapped out by the East Coast Greenway Alliance, an organization that is advocating for a 3,000-mile contiguous urban bike and foot path from Maine to Florida.
“There are about 12 bridges I could name that have successfully combined bike and foot paths alongside rail tracks and roads.” – Joe Traum
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Hudson County is difficult
The East Coast Greenway was started by cyclists and hikers in 1991 to plan the U.S. counterpart to the EuroVelo paths throughout Europe.
About 21 percent of the Greenway path can presently be biked or hiked, activists consider the portion of the trail between Jersey City and Newark – a section of the path that includes the Meadowlands region – to be the most difficult to complete.
“That portion of the trail has been the toughest to get going,” said Michael Oliva, New Jersey field director for the East Coast Greenway, last week. “The route between Jersey City and Newark, much of it is unpaved. Much of it along highways. Some of it isn’t particularly safe. We would like to see a continuous path that’s safe. We don’t necessarily want to see bike lanes everyplace, because they can actually be somewhat dangerous for bikers. But we certainly advocate for bike paths and sharrows.”
Sharrors are bike signs painted in the middle of streets to alert drivers that cyclists may be using the road.
The bridges
NJ Transit is planning the $5.3 million bridge project, in cooperation with the Federal Railroad Administration, the Federal Transit Administration, and Amtrak, which owns the Portal Bridge.
NJ Transit has met several times with Greenway activists, Oliva said, but the agency has yet to commit to the concept.
In fact, the agency thinks the Greenway path, as planned, may be unworkable. “It just doesn’t seem very practical to have a bike path on a bridge built for trains,” said NJ Transit spokesman Dan Stessel last week. “We continue to evaluate their proposal, which is a good one and has merit. But adding the Greenway concept to the portal crossing would need to be thoroughly explored – for both practical reasons and for safety reasons.”
But Oliva points to bridges in other areas, most notably in New York City, that have combined rails, cars, and bike/foot traffic with no problems.
“There are about 12 bridges I could name that have successfully combined bike and foot paths alongside rail tracks and roads, and there haven’t been any problems,” he said.
Avid cyclist and Secaucus resident Joe Traum agrees. “In New York, there are many people who are able to bike to work, even though they may live in Brooklyn and work in Manhattan,” he said. “In many places in northern New Jersey you can’t do that. I support any project that makes it easier for people to cycle safely, and to bike for any number of reasons: leisure, exercise, fun, and basic travel.”
E-mail E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com.