Hudson River Waterfront Walkway

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The Hudson River Waterfront Walkway, located on the west bank the Kill van Kull, Upper New York Bay and Hudson River, is an on-going project inspired by a New Jersey state-mandated master plan to connect the municipalities from the Bayonne Bridge to the George Washington Bridge with an urban linear park and provide contiguous unhindered access to the water's edge. There is no projected date for it's completion, but some large segments have been built or incorporated into it since its inception. At it southern end, it may eventually connect to the Hackensack RiverWalk, another proposed walkway along Newark Bay and Hackensack River on the west side of the Hudson County peninsula. It's northern end will be in Palisades Interstate Park, allowing users to continue along the river bank and alpine paths to the New Jersey/New York state line and beyond. (A connection to the Long Path, a 330 mile hiking trail with terminus near Albany, is feasible.)

Contents 1 Route 2 History 3 Obstacles and advantages 4 Parks and Attractions

[edit] Route

The distance of the walkway from beginning to end is approximately 18.5 miles as it follows the contour of the shore-line. It traverses established residential and commercial areas, re-developed piers, wetland preservation zones, industrial and transportation infrastructure, and is dotted with public and private marinas. Expansive views of the water and the New York skyline can be seen from most of its length. It will eventually pass through the following municipalities (which have combined population of approximately 550,000).

• Bayonne
• Jersey City
• Hoboken
• Weehawken
• West New York
• Guttenberg
• North Bergen
• Edgewater
• Fort Lee

[edit] History

A walkway or promenade along the northeastern New Jersey waterfront was first discussed at a state level in the late 1970s. In 1988, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection created the Coastal Zone Management Rules, which outlined the regulations and specifications for its construction. They require anyone building within 100 feet of the water's edge to provide a minimum of 30-feet wide open, public space along it. Construction must be permitted by the agency and paid for by the developer. In 1999, the National Association of Home Builders and the New Jersey Builders Association challenged the obligation in court as an unfair taking of private property under eminent domain, saying that property owners should compensated. Public desire and legal precedent for such a walkway prevailed.

[edit] Obstacles and advantages

• The land upon which the walkway is built (or to be built) is held privately and publicly, and in the case of The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, semi-publicly.
• Privately held land is is not required to have a walkway until it is re-developed. Some areas, particularly south of Liberty State Park, have been intensely privatized with wealthy residents who prefer to avoid the passage of the walkway through there neighborhood.
• The topography is diverse, with some canals or coves that come quite far inland, requiring the walkway to either go around them or cross them with bridges.
• Transportation, industrial, or shipping infrastructure is found along the route, and it's construction would interfere with their operation and public safety.
• Each municipality implements and enforces its own zoning rules, and often negotiates with developers with a local rather than regional interest, and have other municipal open-space projects to which funds must be dedicated.
• Much of the land on which the walkway crosses had maritime or industrial uses, but was abandoned.
• Most housing and commercial real-estate developers see the advantage of providing access to the water as a selling point
• Some sections of the Walkway are easily accessible by public transportation particularly by Hudson- Bergen Light Rail, and NY Waterway ferries

[edit] Parks and Attractions

• Bayonne Bridge, the world's third longest steel arch bridge
• Kill van Kull Park
• Constable Hook
• Port Jersey Industrial Marine Center
• The Peninsula, former site of The Military Ocean Terminal at Bayonne, or MOTBY
• Cape Liberty Cruise Port
• Black Tom and Caven Point Pier, site of World War I sabotage explosion
• Liberty State Park, home to Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal
• Circle Line ferry to Ellis Island and Liberty Island
• Morris Canal Big Basin and Little Basin
• Colgate Clock, with claims to being the world's largest
• Exchange Place, downtown Jersey City's business district
• Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse
• Harsimus Cove
• Pavonia/Newport, site of one of New Jersey's first European settlements and first genocide of Native Americans by them, and Pavonia Terminal (1861-1958)
• Holland Tunnel Ventilation Tower, twin to one across river
• Long Canal
• Hoboken Terminal, 1908 national landmark and major transportation hub
• Pier A
• Stevens Institute of Technology
• Castle Point
• Sybil's Cave, long-abandoned site of spring, and locale for Edgar Allan Poe murder mystery (1841)
• Hoboken Historical Museum
• Weehawken Cove, where Henry Hudson's Half Moon anchored in 1609
• The Atrium, home to events sponsored by the proposed Hudson River Performing Arts Center
• King's Bluff, at the foot of which once stood a plateau that became America's most famous dueling ground,(most notably the Burr-Hamilton duel, 1804)
• Lincoln Tunnel Ventilation Towers
• West Shore Railroad Tunnel
• NY Waterway Ferry Terminal
• The Binghamton, a former ferry turned restaurant
• Kestrel, a historic steam yacht
• George Washington Bridge
• Palisades Interstate Park