June 6, 2003

CITY RECEIVES $10K ‘SMART FUTURE’ PLANNING GRANT FOR BIKEWAY
 

RAHWAY – Fourth Ward Councilman David Brown, center, receives a $10,000 ‘Smart Future’ Planning Grant from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Susan Bass Levin, right, at a ceremony in Elizabeth.  Joining them is, at left, Elizabeth Mayor J. Christian Bollwage.

The grant, which is from the DCA’s Office of Smart Growth, will be used to develop a master bikeway plan through Rahway that will encourage people to walk or bike around or through Rahway rather than drive.  Although the exact location of the new bikeway has not been determined, Councilman Brown said that he would like to better link the existing bike paths in Rahway into a coordinated network that would connect downtown Rahway with major employers like Merck & Co. and transportation hubs like the NJ Transit train station.

“Smart growth is more than a simple buzzword here in Rahway,” said Brown.  “We are actually putting smart growth into practice.  By encouraging development around our train station and making it easier for people to get around without automobiles will help reduce air pollution, lessen suburban sprawl, and encourage ratable-producing economic growth in Rahway.

The city already has a bikeway that runs along the North Branch of the Rahway River in the city’s first and second wards, linking downtown with the county’s Rahway River Parkway.