I agree the waterfront walkway would be much more scenic.

I have explored the meadowlands around the proposed area quite a bit. I dont think many people have been to that area so I would take opinions about the area with a grain of salt. It is actually pretty cool out there, very quiet and peaceful. Tall reeds, swans, ducks, blue herrings, white egrets, turtles, crabs, etc?all kinds of wildlife. They could link this to Laurel Hill park very easily. The trains do come by very often on the NEC line however (the left part of the green line). It looks like on the right part they are using the old NJT Boonton line. The line on the map must be somewhat wrong because it leaves you in the middle of a big train junction called croxton yards to the east. What I find interesting about this proposal is the fact that part of the path will be right next to what I think is the busiest RR line in the US. They just recently passed a law in NJ that makes trespassing on RR property a felony burglary charge so this is surprising as a proposal. The law is obscene to me, the aim is to scare terrorists away from our RR?s, as if they are afraid of the potential for higher criminal charges?

As of now, Liberty State Park is not part of the East Coast Greenway trail system. What would be lost by at least presenting it as an option. Either choice (going up the west side of Manhattan or going through LSP) is much, much nicer than the Newark option.

The only problem with that idea is that many will then opt to take the free Staten Island Ferry into Manhattan bypassing the Bayonne Bridge and Jersey City all together.

I know that I would likely do just that - and then head up the Manhattan bike route along the Hudson River -- then exit over the George Washington Bridge to Fort Lee.

The only thing I can think of that might make Liberty State Park the bigger draw would be to either offer riders access to bike through the Holland Tunnel in one of the lanes at certain off hours -- or somehow offer a one way free ferry ride with bike if they have some kind of Liberty State Park coupon that they got with their maps (or some such nonsense)

But no -- I think riding through Newark is crazy -- when you could be along the New York Bay.

Quote:

Quote:

That would be a great solution - and you could eventually utilize the riverwalk all the way down to the Bayonne Bridge. If, of course, the Bayonne Bridge is still standing. I'm sure the national security-niks would come up with some sort of issue with cyclists traversing the Bayonne Bridge and Outerbridge crossing.

Why not Bayonne to Staten Island to Perth Amboy? No need to go to Newark for a North-South route.

The green section on that map seems to connect nothing with nothing. Getting to a landfill on the Jersey City sid of the Hackensack will benefit nobody.

The only safe way from Newark to Manhattan on bike will STILL be the PATH train...and I am a biker.

Time to toss a coin: either save money on taxes or think green and save the environment.

East Coast Greenway: Feb. 10 Hearing is Chance For Critical North Jersey Link


The requested trail would add off-road trail in an area that is unsafe for cyclists (in fact, the Greenway currently recommends that cyclists take the PATH train between Jersey City and Newark given the lack of suitable infrastructure). Click to view a map showing the surrounding area.

The East Coast Greenway, the developing 3,000-mile bike route connecting cities from Maine to Florida, has long seen the Meadowlands crossing [in northern New Jersey] as the most difficult nut to crack along the entire route. But for the first time, we see a possible opening.

NJ Transit is building 2 new rail bridges across the Hackensack River (a ?north? span and a ?south? span adjacent to the current Portal Bridge, which will be put out of commission), and taking 2.5 acres of parkland from Hudson County to build a new rail facility. By law, they must give back to the County. State law mandates that NJ Transit must compensate Hudson County by providing one of the following: either (1) double the acreage being taken, (2) double the dollar value of the taken land, or (3) a combination of replacement land and financial compensation. We want that mitigation to take the form of 2 miles of Greenway trail in Hudson County, including a bike & pedestrian path on the new southern Hackensack River bridge, to bring the Greenway off-road from Belleville Turnpike in Kearny to West Side Avenue in Jersey City, adjacent to Hudson Generating Station. Two miles of trail, in a 20? wide corridor, comes to 5 acres: that?s double the area of the land being taken, meeting the letter of the law.

But to accomplish this, we need your help. On Wednesday, February 10, from 6 to 8:30 pm, there will be a critical public hearing at Secaucus Public Library (1379 Paterson Plank Rd; map here). We urge your attendance. If there is a strong show of support for a bike-ped facility, we can get the NJ Department of Environmental Protection and Hudson County on our side. Public support is imperative; without it, success is unlikely.

In the 18 years since the East Coast Greenway was conceived, this is the best opportunity we?ve seen to build part of the ECG across the Meadowlands. Can we count on your support? Please contact mike@greenway.org if you have questions, or to let us know that you?ll be there.

[Note: The hearing location is a 4-minute walk from a stop on NJ Transit's 190 bus route, which runs between Paterson and the Port Authority Bus Terminal.]

http://blog.tstc.org/2010/02/05/east- ... itical-north-jersey-link/