Well, it's about time. Perhaps this summer, we'll have a continuous completed pathway from the Anderson Street Bridge through FDU and the Bergen Tech complex. The Johnson Park segment was completed last year, and so far it is too short to attract much use.
The longer the whole project becomes, the MORE it will be used. That's a fact, and that's been the experience of other riverfront walkways in New Jersey and other states. Let's see if this new stretch is long enough to attract a good sized constituency of users. My gut feeling is that it will be heavily used only when it connects to the New Bridge Landing / Von Steuben House area. Then you'll have over 2 miles of continuous path.
A rough walking path currently exists linking the rear of the Bergen Tech campus under Route 4 to Hackensack River County Park, which is behind the Shops At Riverside. It's rough, but passable for pedestrians and hikers. This will allow the more hardy users the ability to walk from the Anderson Street Bridge to the Hackensack River County Park.
I've long believed that linking the New Bridge Landing to Hackensack River County Park is the highest priority segment along the entire river south of the Oradell Reservoir, and it's frustrating that the County is dragging their feet on this segment, and making it a 2nd or 3rd phase. From a county-wide perspective, t should have been the FIRST PHASE. There's NOTHING there but vacant land behind the radio towers and a very wide swath of wooded land behind the Timeplex property. There is almost a half mile of riverfront, with only two owners. You almost couldn't ask for an easier section to purchase and build. Yet nothing is happening.
This pathway link under Route 4 was opened by volunteer efforts sometime around November of 2006. In previous times, it's been open from 1991 to 1994, during the heyday of the now-defunct Hackensack River Pathway Committee. This link quickly become impassable with the growth of Phragmites reeds if it is not regularly maintained.
South of the Anderson Street Bridge, the city is "studying" the link between Johnson and Foschini Parks since 1990. Something happened about a year ago that delayed the project going out to bid, perhaps objections from the NJDEP over the deficiency in the required pathway width. I haven't been able to get a straight answer on it. I know that a few of the businesses have objected. However, if the city can (and has) condemned whole square blocks for redevelopment by eminent domain, taking the narrow rear strips behind those businesses shouldn't be such a serious obstacle.
Other major links in the works include redevelopment of the 7-acre Mazda dealership at River and Berry Streets (that 97 unit townhouse community will include the pathway, IF it is ever built), the possible redevelopment of the entire Record campus, redevelopment of the oil tank yards just south of Route 80, and the redevelopment of the abandoned Fuji photo factory. The latter project is currently before the Planning Board.
Pretty soon, the only major obstacles will be south of the city DPW, notably the J. Fletcher Creamer property and the self-storage facility. In some bizarre way, the project is just starting AND almost complete, all at the same time.
Also, it is important to note that the Spotless Auto Wash was approved for expansion CONDITIONAL upon them completing their link of the pathway. A lot of wheeling and dealing has gone on, and the net result is that such groundbreaking never occurred. The Zisa administration was somehow responsible for allowing a "delay" in the Spotless pathway segment, which has now become the new status quo. Under no circumstances should they ever by "off the hook" in terms of their financial responsibility for this segment.
Ditto for the Ice House. There is a little-known 20 year agreement with the former administration regarding construction of that segment. Richard Salkin has the agreement. About 15 years has gone by already. Money has been allocated and moved around, and who knows where it is now. And if the city doesn't move on it within 5 years, the Ice House will be "off the hook" regarding constructing their pathway. This would be in VIOLATION of stated NJDEP regulations.
The NJDEP does not issue approvals for projects along the Hackensack River unless it is a "water-dependant use", which in this case means any redevelopment WITH a public access pathway.I would strongly encourage ANY CONCERNED PARTY, including investigative reporters at The Record, to contact the State Attorney General's office and the highest levels of the NJDEP to ascertain why these two major sections of the pathway have been forever "delayed" and never built. It's an absolute outrage.
