The East Coast Greenway Alliance, a coalition dedicated to the creation of a pedestrian/cycling trail from Maine to Florida has received some good news but still must overcome has significant obstacles before completing its New Jersey map.

   Having completed the portion of the trail in Union County, New Jersey’s East Coast Greenway group was further buoyed by news that a local corporation in Edison will donate a one-mile stretch along the Raritan River to connect two park trails that are part of ECGA’s New Jersey route.

   There are still several parts of the trail that have not been designated in New Jersey.  One is along abandoned rail tracks in the “Bergen Arches” right of way in Jersey City.  Six blocks if corridor has been purchased by a local developer. 

   Activists have pushed Jersey City to appropriate the land, but so far Mayor Jerramiah Healy has seemed unmoved.  He has also expressed concern that the land would be better used as a mass transit corridor than as a walking/cycling trail. 

   The East Coast route through northeastern New Jersey was one of the last segments to be proposed because of the difficulty identifying routes through Jersey City and Newark. v

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