Gov. Phil Murphy was in Bloomfield Friday morning to announce a $65 million plan to buy an abandoned railway in North Jersey and turn it into a linear state park. The greenway will stretch almost nine miles through Essex and Hudson counties, from Montclair to Jersey City and passing through Glen Ridge, Bloomfield, Belleville, Newark, Kearny and Secaucus along the way.
Murphy called the new park a legacy achievement, comparing its potential to New York City’s High Line. Local leaders noted the project should encourage more people in the area to commute by bike, which in turn would mean fewer cars on the road, reducing traffic and pollution. There is no word yet on when the new park will open, or how much it will cost to build, beyond the price to buy the land.
