Archdiocesan task force supports converting old rail line to greenway
The Archdiocese of Newark’s Environmental Justice Task Force is the latest organization to voice support of the Essex-Hudson Greenway Project.
The proposed Essex-Hudson Greenway would create a nearly nine-mile long, multi-use trail following a converted rail line for walkers, runners, cyclists, hikers, and others. It would create more than 135 acres of new green space and connect Montclair, Glen Ridge, Bloomfield, Belleville, Newark, Kearny, Secaucus, and Jersey City.
“The proposed Essex-Hudson Greenway is a prime example of what Pope Francis calls for when asking the people of the world to be faithful stewards of God’s gift of creation,” said Father Timothy Graff, secretary of Parish Mission and Vitality Director of the Social Concerns Office for the Archdiocese. “The Greenway addresses the need for a focus on urban and overpopulated communities, including regions where green space and access to nature is not plentiful. The Church also encourages support of the poor, and this project offers a multitude of benefits to so many poorer and more vulnerable people across the region.”
The Essex-Hudson Greenway Coalition, comprised of the Open Space Institute, the New Jersey Bike & Walk Coalition, and the September 11th National Memorial Trail Alliance, welcomed the endorsement.
Residents of communities all along the proposed length of the linear park have been campaigning for more than a decade to create a greenway that would serve as a “shared-use path” for people walking, riding a bicycle, running, rolling, or just relaxing along this corridor. In July 2020, the Open Space Institute (OSI) reached a preliminary purchase and sale agreement with Norfolk Southern Railway Company for property in Essex and Hudson Counties for the Greenway. The purchase agreement has a sale deadline of January 2022.
Pope Francis calls on the Church and the world to acknowledge the environmental challenges of the planet and work towards a new path. The Encyclical Letter of the Holy Father Francis on Care for Our Common Home, also known as the Laudato Si’, a 2015 papal encyclical, addresses “every person living on this planet” to begin an inclusive dialogue about the future of our planet.
The backing by the Archdiocese’s Environmental Justice Task Force follows the endorsement in June by St. Lucy’s Parish, Newark’s largest parish and home to the greatest number of Spanish-speaking Catholics in the region.
Spanning an average of 100 feet or more in width throughout its route, an Essex-Hudson Greenway has the potential to offer significant benefits, supporters say. The project offers the potential to reduce traffic and stormwater runoff in towns along the rail line, improve transportation options for residents, and allow for enhanced infrastructure connectivity for things like broadband and emergency response.
Learn more about the Essex-Hudson Greenway Project by visiting the website.
Featured photograph: A drone image of the Branch Brook section of the proposed Essex-Hudson Greenway Project. The project would offer a nearly nine-mile-long, multi-use trail following a converted rail line. When completed, it will create more than 135 acres of new green space, a linear park, and an active modes corridor for northern New Jersey and beyond. (Photo courtesy of The Essex-Hudson Greenway Coalition)
