DEMAREST, N.J.—The public meeting for Northern Valley Greenway planning efforts has been postponed due to snowy weather.
The New Jersey State Department of Transportation cancelled the meeting, which had been scheduled for Jan. 29 at Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest, said Anthony Sytko, NJDOT regional manager for community and constituent relations.
The meeting was planned to solicit public comments and present preliminary findings from a study, which examined the Greenway proposal to convert 7.4-miles of unused railroad tracks into a passive recreation trail for walking, running or biking.
Sytko said the meeting would eventually be rescheduled.
Because the proposal spans Tenafly north through Cresskill, Demarest, Closter, Norwood and Northvale, project advocates had worked to get the word out to the public in recent weeks and urged them to attend.
Advocates say the plan could give areas adjacent to the Greenway an economic boost while improving an unused asset. CSX Corp., a shipping conglomerate headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, owns the tracks and would need to sign off on a rail banking agreement before it can move foreword.
Local officials rallied around the plan in August 2018, after it was embraced by local rotary clubs following a 2016 Change.org petition by Haworth teenager Alexander Phillliou, who had been moved by the death of 13-year-old boy in Cresskill who was hit by a truck while riding a bike to school.
The study is being conducted under the DOT’s Office of Bicycle and Pedestrian Programs.
A final greenway planning study from NJDOT will come after the meeting for residents and public officials to view draft findings is rescheduled.
—STAFF REPORT