The asphalt has been poured for the 1.5-mile stretch of the D&R Canal Towpath/East Coast Greenway in Trenton that will fill the gap in the route that runs past West Windsor to create a 70-mile path from New Brunswick to Frenchtown for bicyclists, joggers and walkers. Signs, fences and gates still need to be installed, but the lion’s share of this $400,000 project is done.
The section connects with a path near Old Rose Street and uses an old railroad bridge to cross over Route 1 before continuing north to Mulberry Street. Read more in the Trenton Times.
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Paul Kiczek, a Morristown resident, is among those organizing The Big Walk, a 50-mile trek??from the Metropark Station in Iselin to Penn Station in New York on Sunday, May 23. It is expected to take?17 hours beginning at 5 a.m. and concluding at 10 p.m. The route will go near Liberty State Park and use PATH to get from Exchange Place to World Trade Center, but the final seven miles to Penn Station will again be on foot.
Walkers are invited to join in, even for just part of the route, which will use part of the East Coast Greenway. The event is free. Register at NJ2NY50. Sponsor a walker here.
Why 50 miles? The idea?of 50-mile walks dates back in the 1963 when President Kennedy challenged people?to actively pursue a better, healthier lifestyle. Mr. Kiczek, for one, has tried twice–back in 1963 and last year. He didn’t make it either time but is determined to succeed this time.
Philadelphia and South Jersey came up big in the stimulus-money sweepstakes.?A $23 million grant will help complete a network of biking and walking trails throughout the region, focused on connections to urban hubs in Philadelphia and Camden. It will fund several missing links on the popular Schuylkill River Trail, links in Camden to?the Ben Franklin Bridge and parts of the East Coast Greenway in Pennyslvania. Read more.
Just how tough was it to get funded? Only 51 projects (3% of those submitted) were selected. Only two bicycle/pedestrian networks were funded. Unfortunately, $13 million sought for bike paths in Bucks, Delaware and Montgomery counties didn’t get approved. There is still more work to do before a route from Trenton to Philadelphia is completed.
Getting across the Meadowlands has been one of the biggest challenges for the East Coast Greenway, the 3,000-mile route that will stretch from Maine to Florida and uses the D&R Canal on the edge of West Windsor. Now there’s a possible opening.
New Jersey Transit is building two new rail bridges across the Hackensack River and taking 2.5 acres of parkland from Hudson County to build a new rail facility.? State law mandates that it must compensate Hudson County by providing double the acreage being taken or double the dollar value of the taken land, or a mix of the two.? The ECG wants that mitigation to take the form of two miles of trail in Hudson County, including a bike & pedestrian path on the new southern Hackensack River bridge, to bring the Greenway off-roadfrom Belleville Turnpike in Kearny to West Side Avenue in Jersey City.? Two miles of trail, in a 20-foot wide corridor, comes to five acres.
Public support is needed to make this happen. A hearing planned for Wednesday, Feb. 10 has been postponed because of the snowstorm until March.? Or write a letter to :
Laurie Cotter, Deputy County Administrator
567 Pavonia Ave
Jersey City NJ 07305
The ECG requests that a copy be sent to:
NJDEP, Green Acres Program
Bureau of Legal Service & Stewardship
PO Box 412
Trenton NJ 08625-0412
Letters will be accepted until Feb 24.
Also send a copy to the East Coast Greenway,? 27b North Rd, Wakefield RI 02879 or email it to [email protected].
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Think of the East Coast Greenway as an urban Appalachian Trail connecting cities from Maine to Florida. It goes along West Windsor on the D&R Canal towpath (ask us for a free map of the NJ route), with the potential for plenty of money to come to area businesses from bicycle tourists.? The Greenway wants to get most of the route off the roads, making it more appealing for cyclists and walkers.? Many areas need work, including points not too far south from us.
The Greenway says: ? It is time for Philadelphia to fill the gaps in the Schuylkill River Trail, for Pennsylvania to have a connected East Coast Greenway connecting to New Jersey and Delaware, and for Camden, New Jersey to become a ?city of trails, not highways.
? Philadelphia and five other surrounding counties submitted to the federal government for stimulus funding for an unprecedented multi-jurisdictional application (called GREAT PA/NJ) for $36 million to build 17 segments of the Schuylkill River Trail, the East Coast Greenway and the Camden GreenWay. If stimulus funds can repair highways and bridges, remodel transit stations and repave roads, why shouldn’t that same type of funding build bicycle & pedestrian trails? This is a HUGE opportunity to significantly advance active transportation regionally and to close many of the gaps along these trail systems.?
The Greenway asks that people contact the governor to stress their support for the project. You can also write to Office of the Governor, P.O. Box 001, Trenton, NJ 08625, or call 609-292-6000.
Commissioners of the NJ Department of Transportation and the NJ Department of Environmental Protection, U.S. Representative Rush Holt, Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes, and various other officials and representatives of organizations from around the state attended the ribbon-cutting press conference on October 13 for the last 1.5 mile “missing link” of the D&R canal path.? Once it is finished, cyclists and hikers will be able to get from New Brunswick to Frenchtown off the roadways.
Click here to read the Star Ledger article about the ribbon-cutting event.
The D&R Canal Path is part of the East Coast Greenway, which is developing a trail extending from Maine to Florida.
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Monthly meetings are held at 7 p.m. on the second Thursday of the month via Zoom. We will eventually resume meeting in the West Windsor Municipal Building. Email us at [email protected] if you would like the Zoom code.
Find us at the West Windsor Farmers Market (Vaughn Drive parking lot) from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every other Saturday from May through Halloween.
The asphalt has been poured for the 1.5-mile stretch of the D&R Canal Towpath/East Coast Greenway in Trenton that will fill the gap in the route that runs past West Windsor to create a 70-mile path from New Brunswick to Frenchtown for bicyclists, joggers and walkers. Signs, fences and gates still need to be installed, but the lion’s share of this $400,000 project is done.
Think of the 
Commissioners of the NJ Department of Transportation and the NJ Department of Environmental Protection, U.S. Representative Rush Holt, Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes, and various other officials and representatives of organizations from around the state attended the ribbon-cutting press conference on October 13 for the last 1.5 mile “missing link” of the D&R canal path.? Once it is finished, cyclists and hikers will be able to get from New Brunswick to Frenchtown off the roadways.