If you cross the Meadowlands by bicycle, you are sure to be met with a look of incredulity when you reach the other side. Not because the four miles of flat marsh are a strenuous trip, nor because there are any tough neighborhoods along the way. It's because the highways across the Meadowlands have been built and maintained to exclusively serve car and truck traffic, making travel by bicycle dangerous at best and near suicidal at rush hour.

The cyclist wishing to travel between Hudson County and anywhere west has two route options: the 1&9 Truck Route through South Kearny, and Route 7-CR 508 between Jersey City, Kearny and Harrison or Belleville. Despite their present design shortcomings, both could be made safe if the state DOT were to heed its pledge to accomodate bicycles and pedestrians in all its designs. In fact, DOT has a master plan which aims to "design all new and improved state highways with the assumption that they will be used by bicyclists and pedestrians and that bicycles and pedestrians will have the opportunity to share the road with motorists." It also claims to want to increase bicycle and pedestrian trips that are five miles or less. The distance from Newark Avenue in Jersey City to Broad Street in Newark is under five miles.

There are presently a number a projects in DOT's pipeline that would serve as great tests of DOT's sincerity in accomodating bicycles. The Wittpenn Bridge that carries Route 7 over the Hackensack River is being replaced. The Newark-Jersey City Turnpike through Kearny is being widened. Route 1&9 (Truck) bridges over the Hackensack and Passaic Rivers are due to be repaired. And the Charlotte Circle -- the headspinning interchange just west of Tonnele Circle -- has been proposed for elimination. DOT has to date been negligent or closelipped in addressing bicycle safety on these projects, despite the agency's pledge to address bicycle concerns on all highway reconstruction. On the Newark-Jersey City Turnpike project, for example, DOT acknowledges that "bicycle concerns are not being addressed in this project."

The lack of bicycle access across the Meadowlands affects more than recreational cyclists. Only 42.4% of Hudson County's residents travel to work by single-occupancy car - by far the lowest proportion in the State. However, in an era where reverse commuting is often crucial to economic survival, there is often poor transit connectivity for the westbound traveler. To travel from Jersey City to Bloomfield, for instance, one would have to take the PATH, the Newark City Subway, and a bus. Bicycles can often make the trip faster. The PATH disallows bikes on board at rush hour, so a trip through the Meadowlands would be required.

DOT's vow to look out for bicyclists should be monitored closely in the Meadowlands, where safe alternative routes are scarce unless you have a canoe. Bicyclists and drivers who hope not to run them down should spotlight the problem to the DOT, the County of Hudson, and the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority. The following people need to hear from you:

New Jersey Department of Transportation
Attn: Bill Feldman, Bureau of Mobility Strategies
P.O. Box 600
Trenton, NJ 08625
Tel: (609) 530-8062
Fax: (609) 530-3723
Email: williamfeldman@dot.state.nj.us

County of Hudson
Attn: John Lane, Executive Assistant, Dept. of Planning and Engineering
549 Duncan Ave.
Jersey City, NJ 07306
Tel: (201) 915-1067
Fax: (201) 915-1256

North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority
Attn: Joel Weiner, Executive Director
One Newark Center
Newark, NJ 07102
Tel: (973) 639-8400
Fax: (973) 639-1953