Imagine hopping on a bicycle in Jersey City, crossing the Hackensack and Passaic rivers, and riding all the way to Montclair — all without touching a road.
For now, that’s a cyclist’s fantasy. But public space and environmental advocates have proposed a way to make that feat possible: a public walking and biking path, called either the Essex-Hudson Greenway or the Ice and Iron Rail Trail, on an abandoned section of NJ Transit rail line.
Earlier this month, that proposed path got one step closer to becoming reality.
On June 19, the Virginia-based Norfolk Southern Railway Company applied to begin the process of selling the unused section of railway to a conservation group.
Norfolk Southern is proposing to sell the rail line to the Open Space Institute Land Trust, a nonprofit that works to acquire wilderness and public land for conservation and recreation. The organization would eventually turn the greenway over to Hudson and Essex counties, according to the Norfolk Southern application.
In an emailed statement, a spokeswoman for the Open Space Institute said the nonprofit was “actively realizing the acquisition of nearly nine miles of abandoned trackbed and right-of-way” for the eventual construction of “a greenway-related project.” The nonprofit declined to provide more information, such as the details of the deal with Norfolk Southern.
A spokesman for Hudson County could not be reached for comment.
The 8.6-mile line passes through Secaucus, Kearny, Newark, Belleville, Bloomfield, and Glen Ridge before reaching Montclair. The stretch of railway between Jersey City and Montclair last saw commuters in 2002, when NJ Transit completed the Montclair Connection, linking the Montclair Branch to the Boonton Line. Cargo trains ceased running on the line in 2009.
A map of the unused rail line that could become the Essex-Hudson greenway.
Jersey Digs first reported the railway’s application.
On its website, the nonprofit New Jersey Bike and Walk Coalition said the greenway project “would provide recreational and commuting options, connect people to communities, parks and other destinations along the route, increase property values, ease local congestion on roads, and provide a safe, off-road place for people to ride and walk.”
According to the Coalition’s website, the trail would connect with other bike and pedestrian routes, including the September 11 National Memorial Trail and the East Coast Greenway, a 3,000-mile network that runs the length of the east coast.
But the Essex-Hudson trail would be a first for the densely populated New Jersey counties.
“There is nothing else like this Greenway in highly developed northeastern New Jersey,” the Coalition’s website said.
The creation of the rail trail is still almost certainly years away. Norfolk Southern still needs federal approval before selling the land. And the abandoned rail line, which crosses a total of 16 bridges, could need infrastructure repairs before a trail could be built.
The Open Space Institute’s statement also seemed to allude to delays posed by the coronavirus.
“The current public health emergency has intervened in this process but we are optimistic that this vision will be realized,” the statement said.
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Biking and walking path between Jersey City and Montclair is one step closer to reality - nj.com
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