To mark National Bike Month and Bike to Work events around the state, NJ DOT commissioner Jack Lettiere recently handed a check for $1 million to Wall Township officials for bikeway construction. But the significance of the event went far beyond the fact that Wall will construct a 20-mile linear park with a bike and pedestrian path — it is using the Route 18 right-of-way, which DOT originally intended to use for a highway extension to Route 71 in Manasquan. The new bikeway will link to another popular shore greenway, the Felix Edgar Path from downtown Manasquan to towns to the west.

DOT formally announced that it was abandoning the highway extension in favor of the bikeway. Asking Janine Bauer of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign to join him at the press conference, Lettiere said, "Tri-State was there advocating for bikeways when it was a tough sell, but we wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for their and her advocacy." The bike path was largely the idea of Phil Beacham, head of the NJ Alliance for Action, a construction group. Bauer credited both Beacham and DOT for recognizing that Monmouth County doesn’t need another highway.

In another sign of change, Commissioner Lettiere also recently hosted a group of six pedestrian safety advocates, traffic engineers and municipal officials to tackle the State’s horrific pedestrian crash and fatality rate, again saying that he has a "hard time sleeping at night" knowing that pedestrian deaths soared 37% in 2002. He promised to get capital works into the ground and pursue other strategies to better protect pedestrians.

In other events around the state, Trenton Cycling Revolution marked its 4^th annual Bike Week with a bike race, a bike tour, free bagels and coffee for bike commuters, bike themed movies at the public library and other creative events. The Association of NJ Environmental Commissions held a planning workshop to foster bicycle friendly communities at Thomas Edison state College in Trenton. South Orange held a "Bike to Work/Bike to the Train" event, where DOT announced funding for more bike racks at the train station. Residents and parking permittees were urged to bike or walk to the train station or to their jobs downtown. The event, also sponsored by NJ Transit, garnered participation by more than 200 residents. Maplewood joined in by passing a resolution that urged residents to walk or bike, capitalizing on its hugely successful "walk to school" efforts to combat rising traffic congestion, busing costs and juvenile obesity.

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