punkinevil

I just did this ride a few weeks ago when I rode from NYC to Philadelphia. I have to say that this was the only part of the ride in NJ where I was afraid for my life and seriously considered bailing out on the whole trip. I think I missed that secret entrance to the bike/walkway along the ramp and wound up on the roadway. I had to life my bike, pannier bags fully loaded, over the barrier. The info you posted looks like it makes things much clearer, so thank you (even though I have decided to take the Path to Newark next time and skip this particular mess.)

Ferdinand NYC

Wow, congratulations on going from New York to Philly! I did that last year, riding there and back. They were amongst my longest rides ever (116 miles going; 119 miles coming back); and the whole trip is my proudest achievement. I even made myself a little award:




Regarding your comment: are you saying that you missed the the entrance to the walkway along Raymond Blvd., and so had to ride on the roadway of that street? If so, then I understand why you say that you feared for your life. This is why I am reluctant to even try that (even though I see that it is marked as a bike lane on Google Maps).

But you don't have to scrap the whole idea of riding to Newark just because of that. There is another way out of that section, and into the heart of Newark. The work-around was mentioned earlier in the thread; but going through it again here is worthwhile.

Once you land in Newark, just continue south on Doremus Ave. Then you can turn right at Roanoke Ave. and right again at Foundry St., and have two different ways into town: 1) by continuing north on Foundry St. up to Ferry St. (one-way eastbound) or Raymond Blvd. (one-way west-bound); 2) by turning left off of Foundry at another portion of Roanoke Ave., staying on it as it becomes Christie St., and taking it up to Ferry St. (one-way east-bound) or Fleming Ave. (one-way west-bound).




Anyway, I'd be interested in any details that you'd choose to share about your ride to Philadelphia. As for me, coming out of Newark I took NJ 27 and then NJ 35 to South Amboy, where I hooked up with County Road 535, which goes all the way from South Amboy to Trenton. (I read that they were going to close the Route 35 bridge between Perth Amboy and South Amboy to bicyclists because someone decided to jump off the bridge last autumn. Do you know if that is true?)

I then took the Calhoun St. Bridge into Pennsylvania, and Trenton Ave./Rd. to Veterans Hwy, which I took south to Bristol Pike. I turned right on that street, which enters Philly and becomes Frankford Ave.

Hokiedad4

Yes, the bike/pedestrian lane across this bridge (the Victory Bridge) was closed fall of 2014 due to a number of suicides. I am unable to find information on whether it has been reopened.

Ferdinand NYC

Wow, that really stinks. A look at the map reveals no usable alternatives for many, many miles around.

Dahon.Steve

Thanks Ferdinand:

It's not dangerous during the day. Seriously. As Ferdinand said, you don't have to go under the Skyway and use the regular path through Lincoln Park. Jersey City spent a fortune making that path and I'm seeing more people make use of it.

I found out that people have been walking across this route for years even before the path was constructed! If you're really afraid, board NJ Transit Bus 1 on Communipaw Avenue and use the bike rack.

Dahon.Steve

Quite sad. It looks like you'll have to catch the train for one stop to get across.

Ferdinand NYC

I think that Punkinevil is talking about it being dangerous once one arrives in Newark; he is not referring to getting from Jersey City to Newark. It is the route from Doremus Ave. along Raymond Blvd. that you described (and of which you have supplied pictures) which spooked him -- and which I am a bit scared to try.


Damn. I hope that Punkinevil will tell us what route he took through New Jersey to Philadelphia, and how he avoided that spot.

punkinevil

It was really that initial part getting into Newark from JC. Once I got onto Raymond, it wasn't bad. I can't tell you my route for sure, since I used my Garmin Edge (which is ok, sometimes, and tries to direct you to your death at others). It crashed on a few times during the ride, so I don't have a record, but I could try to reconstruct it. I know I took Raymond to Market to Springfield. I really just told it to get me to Bound Brook where I got on the Delaware Raritan path. The path wasn't great for my road bike, so I mostly rode along side it to Princeton. The road from their to Trenton was pretty direct and bike-friendly. Then I took the Bridge St. Bridge (I don't think it has a real name) to PA. I am still not sure where (Bensalem?) and then had the Garmin plot a rout to North Philly.

I wrote it down, but it does lack specific route info...it's more reflections for those who were interested:
Franchise Glitz Dealer: Bike Tour and Blisters? or Man, Does My Ass Hurt!

If you want, I will look at a map and reconstruct the route when I have a chance.

Ferdinand NYC

Oh, I misunderstood! So Steve was right: it was the Jersey City-to-Newark (via Kearny) part that you were upset about. That bit is not what I would call comfortable; but I have had no special problems with it, having done it about a dozen times now.

From reading your blog post, I get the impression that you used the main road of Communipaw Ave. coming out of Jersey City. That was the mistake. If you had seen this thread before you left, you would have known that the way out of Jersey City towards Newark involves getting on the bike/pedestrian path on the north-side sidewalk of Communipaw Ave. as it leaves Jersey City. You can get onto that path either by going into Lincoln Park and taking the park road that connects with the path, or simply by lifting your bike over the shin-high rail that is on the sidewalk where the bike/pedestrian path begins.





I am more obsessed with Newark portion of the trip. Can you tell me precisely what you did in Newark after you landed at Doremus Ave.? Did you go north onto the path on Raymond Blvd. that Steve suggested? (See his pictures on page 4, post #85.) Or did you go south on Doremus Ave., as I indicated in my picture in an earlier post on this page, post #102?


You took the Delaware-Raritan path, eh? I have never ridden that; but I think I read that the surface was something like gravel or wood shavings or something. I remember being put off by reports of the surface. I guess that this matches your experience.

Reading your blog post, I was struck by how much you left to your GPS unit. Your advice "don't trust your GPS" is a good one! I have no dedicated GPS unit; I have only my smart phone and the Google Maps app so I can see where I am. Google Maps can locate you via GPS; but I had the phone in ultra-power-saving mode because the trip would last more than 12 hours door-to-door. In that mode, the GPS doesn't operate; so I had to know where I was in general in order to use the map app.

On my trip to Philadelphia, I studied maps for about a week, and I had almost every turn planned out. I also took a cue sheet with the key points of the journey written out. With all of this, I always knew where I was. I knew the route so well that I was able to deviate from it on purpose going down in order to leave County Road 535 and hit it again later by means of a street that took a straighter path; and I was able to compensate for a few wrong turns coming home with only a quick look at the map on the phone.

Even this is high-tech for me. In 2012, I rode down to Seaside Heights. (Indeed, that ride was the reason that I joined this board! On the early pages of this thread, you can see my first posts and my comments regarding that ride.) Then I had no smart phone. I just wrote out a turn-by-turn intenerary, and was guided by that. I also took a few paper maps with me. Having grown up with paper maps, I didn't find this to be any problem. On that trip, I rode only on the trip down there, doing the full 117 miles; I took the train most of the way home, riding only 20 miles. On the Philly trip, I rode both ways.

Another good reason not to rely on any GPS routing is that doing so removes the requirement to plan the route beforehand and to study maps, and thereby makes it harder to remember the route. The GPS is a great tool; but it should be used only as a supplement when necessary, such as if you encounter an unexpected detour, or if you suddenly realise that you made a wrong turn 10 miles ago. For me a key part of bicycle travelling is for me to have a general idea of the route in my head before I go.

Anyway, I am very curious about your precise route. So any detail about your route that you can reconstruct will be of great interest to me.


Also, what hotel did you stay at in North Philly? I stayed in Northeast, at the Four Points Hotel on the corner of Roosevelt Blvd. and Grant Ave. So I was pretty far from the Center City area, about 10 miles away. Still, that was good, because it allowed me to see many sections of the city (including some good bike lanes) as I rode back and forth to the Center City and South Philly areas.

Anyway, I only had one day to explore the town; so I hope to get back down there. (This time I am going to take the train, so that I can do all my riding in the city rather than doing more than 200 miles within New Jersey. Philly is fascinating; Jersey, um, not so much.) I'll probably hit the same hotel, which I really liked. But any tips about other hotels will be appreciated.

punkinevil

I made through the park to the bikeway on the bridge ok...mostly... there was a path that was fenced off so I did have to go around. I have blocked out what happened after that but it was at a point after that bridge that I wound up on the roadway. I will go over maps to figure out my route more precisely, but It was nothing to weird. I am busy with work for a couple of weeks so I may not get to that for while. I will need to go over the maps.

I bought the Garmin because it was supposed to feature bike-friendly routing. I didn't want to use my phone for it because of battery/damage concerns and I just don't like taking my phone out when I ride. I did try to plot a path ahead of time, but really dislike having a cue sheet in front of me. I did have a pretty decent rough idea of where to go, but the real determining factor id how bike friendly the roads are, and that is something that can be hard to get from maps. Online resources weren't quite as helpful as I had hoped so I really decided to wing it. I did learn to trust the Garmin less and use Google maps for reference. The Garmin is good for seeing where you are. Like I said, it was very much done as a learning experience for my first intercity ride through unfamiliar areas and I have some better strategies in place for next time. As I wrote in my long-winded ride description, once I got to South Jersey, navigation was a piece of cake having grown up there.

As for the Philly hotel, I'm afraid I can't help there. The friend I mentioned lives in North Philly so I stayed with him. Otherwise I probably would have bypassed Philadelphia on the trip.

Ferdinand NYC

Yesterday I made my first trip to Newark of this year.

The path on the north side of Communipaw Avenue heading west out of Jersey City is more overgrown than it was last year. Also, the bridge between Kearny and Newark, over the Passaic River, has some significant overgrowth.

And I am sorry to report that the hill from Doremus Avenue in Newark up to that bike path, which formerly served as the means of getting onto it for the trip back to Jersey City, is almost unusable now. The dirt is loose and the weeds are long. I was able to walk up it as a test; but I didn't want to chance it while carrying the bike. (It's hard to believe that, just a year or two ago, not only were there landscaped stairs there, but there was also a helpful wooden bannister!) So, when I went back, I just rode "wrong-way" up the helix, staying as far left as possible, until the sidewalk began.

The good news is that an exit from the Turnpike onto Doremus Avenue has apparently been closed; so the volume of traffic in that whole area was a lot less than what I would have expected for a summer Sunday afternoon.

This was the first time that I didn't go south on Doremus to Roanoke Avenue upon landing in Newark; inspired by the reduced traffic volume, I got on the sidewalk going north on Doremus, and took it around the big loop, until I had to cross the street in order to get to a short passageway to Raymond Blvd. (To be honest, it would have been possible to do this in the roadway; that's how little traffic there was.) I identified the passage to Raymond Blvd. by the presence of a small sign marking the (still largely theoretical) East Coast Greenway.

So, getting around to Raymond Blvd. in a more direct way than going all the way down to Roanoke Avenue was easy enough from the point of view of the directions. But the problem is that there are mounds of trash obstructing that sidewalk path in a couple of locations.

In Newark, I enjoyed visiting the ballpark of the Newark Bears, which, sadly, is going to be torn down soon. However, there was a Portuguese parade happening on Ferry Street; so this made navigating around that portion of the city a bit difficult.

I had originally intended to explore Branch Brook Park. But, because I got to Newark by riding the whole way over the George Washington Bridge, and because I had taken my time grooving through Hoboken (and finding a new two-way bike path adjacent to Observer Highway from Washington Street west to where Observer Highway meets Jersey City's Marin Blvd.), it was getting late. So I just headed back to Jersey City. Also, I cheated by using the ferry from Jersey City to get back to Manhattan. (That ferry is a marvel! Jersey City goes from being 30 miles away from my home on the Brooklyn/Queens border to being 11 or 12 miles away.) I will have to hit other places in Newark the next time I go out there.

While I don't mind the route to Newark too much, what makes me sad is that a bike connection between the largest cities in two adjacent and densly-populated Northeastern states is so tenuous and flimsy, and that the great bike infrastructure in the Hudson County cities of Jersey City and Hoboken does not extend to Kearny, which sits between Jersey City and Essex County's Newark.

Dahon.Steve

Thanks Ferdinand for keeping the thread alive.

I was about to post again and will take much more pictures this week. (I hope) I was on the NJ Transit #1 bus to Newark that Sunday and the bike path didn't look too bad. I'll see about this next week!!

I explored Branch Brook Park and it's OK. Very small and hardly anyone there during the weekend. You can take the Newark City Subway to Branch Brook park since there's a stop there. I had no idea the Newark Bears ball park was going to be torn down! I guess all the new development in the area made it very valuable it would not surprise me if they built a massive complex. I'm all for it because the ball park is hardly used and downtown Newark needs more housing period!

I'm just glad there's now a bike path period that cross Jersey City and Newark. You could not do this 10 years ago and were forced to use the roadway. I heard they were going to open the bike path on the New Goethals bridge this year! No more having to go to the George Washington Bridge to get into Jersey. Put the bike on the S53 over the Verrazano and ride over the new Goethals bridge into Elizabeth!! I live in Bayonne and can't wait until they finish the Bayonne bride so I can enter Elizabeth in less than an hour!!

noglider 

Doug Greenfeld is a city planner in Jersey City and was working on the bike routes when I last spoke with him about four or five years ago. He is probably still working for Jersey City. I met him in Maplewood where I used to live, through the non-profilt I co-founded to promote cycling in that area. Doug is a cyclist and a good planner. Lack of progress is probably attributed to the slow pace of municipal progress more than lack of will, but for all I know, it's an uphill battle. Anyway, if you're interested, it might pay to look him up, and tell him I say hello.

Ferdinand NYC

I don't think I'd call Branch Brook Park "small". Its north-south expanse is about 2 1/2 miles, just about the same as Central Park. (Afficionados of Flight of the Conchords should think of Murray telling the boys that they were booked to play in "aaaaaaaaa central park", and only later revealing that it was in Newark.)



The ballpark is hardly used now because the Bears have folded. But, in the early years, right after the team's founding in 1998 and the park's opening in 1999, Riverfront Stadium was used plenty.

The Bears were in the Atlantic League from 1998 to 2010. They were league champions in 2002 (I was present for that) and 2007. The Atlantic League was a high-level competition, probably just shy of AAA in quality. Many recent former Major Leaguers played in the league, including most famously Rickey Henderson for the Bears. The Bears also had, at various times, Pete Incaviglia, Jose Canseco, Jim Leyritz, and Hensley Meulens. And a number of players returned to the Majors from the Atlantic League; for example, Jose Lima resumed his big-league career after pitching for the Bears.

The Bears had a stable roster in their early years, with several players who stayed with the club for multiple seasons, such as catcher Peto Ramirez and pitcher Tim Cain. Their games were carried on radio station WSOU (the Seton Hall station, as the team's first ownership group contained Seton Hall alumnus and former Major Leaguer Rick Cerone), and their announcer was Jim Monaghan, who had been a great rock DJ on WNEW-FM. All of this gave the team an identity and a presence in the community.

However, the Bears' owners could not handle the expenses, and filed for bankruptcy in 2008. The club found new ownership, under which it left the Atlantic League in 2011 and went down to the Can-Am League. That league has a much lower pay scale than the Atlantic League, and, consequently, a much lower standard of play. The Can-Am League's rules restrict teams to only a few veteran players. This led to roster churn, which killed any remaining local interest in the club. The Bears folded after the 2013 season.

The original idea had been to construct the ballpark in Riverfront Park on Raymond Blvd. Instead, the locals rallied to preserve that location as a public park, and the stadium was constructed on Broad Street at Orange Street. It was part of a revitalisation of that area which included the opening of a light rail spur of the city's subway, which has a stop at the ballpark.

I consider it an extremely sad thing that that ballpark is going to be torn down.



I agree with that. I cannot imagine riding with the cars on the street over those bridges from Jersey City into Kearny then from Kearny into Newark. I am pretty sure that I would not attempt it. So, despite my quibbles about the bike path's flaws, I am also thankful that it is there to use.



It's good that the Goethals Bridge will have a bike lane. I once crossed that bridge (illegally?) in 1985. But, until the Bayonne Bridge is reopened, I have no reason to go to Staten Island. I don't think that I am going to go all the way to Bay Ridge just to get on a bus to Staten Island.

And forget the Staten Island Ferry; the insulting dog-sniffing -- to which only we bicyclists, and not walk-on passengers, are subjected -- is enough to keep me away from that. If I am going to take a ferry as a means to get to Hudson County, I'd rather use the civilised one from the World Financial Center to Hoboken or Weehawken, where there is no "security theatre" being performed by overmilitarised police goons.



Thanks for the tip. I may try to contact him. I'd be interested to ask him if he had any problems coordinating with Kearny officials.

zowie

Haven't been there this year, but from googling it looks like they closed it only temporarily to install fencing.

I'm glad for the fencing. I've touched 40MPH going down the bridge, but there was a windy day where in all seriousness I feared being blown over the side if I went over about 20mph.

AngeloDolce

I'll add a few comments on my experience last year and earlier this year. I had no problems between Newark and Kearny/Harrison, but didn't find a good route from Jersey City to Kearny.

Between Newark and Kearny/Harrison, there are 3 bridges on local roads. I recall they do have metal grating, but have multiple lanes and traffic goes at reasonable speeds (30mph). I didn't have any problems with traffic in Kearny or nearby parts of Newark.

I rode from Kearny to Jersey City twice (Sunday afternoon, Sunday morning in summer) on Route 7. It was rideable in light traffic on a Sunday. Most of the way has multiple lanes and often a shoulder, but motorists drive 60 regardless of the 30-35 mph speed limits. I would not want to do this in rush hour.

The first time I folllowed the Google route back over Rt 1 & 9; it didn't occur to me that I was supposed to lift my bike over guard rails or that NJ tried to put bicyclists on sidewalks. (The sidewalks on the bridges in Harrison & Kearny have utility shed creating narrow bottlenecks.) I obviously survived, but it was not a ride I wanted to repeat even on a Sunday night. Other times I went, I was also returning in darkness so I took the PATH train.

Is the bike "path" from Jersey City to Kearny/Newark a ride you would do after dark?

Ferdinand NYC

I have not yet gone between Newark and Jersey City after dark. But I think I would probably do it if I had to. By that I mean that I wouldn't skip the trip entirely just because it was after dark (or before sunrise). It is never going to be a terribly comfortable ride. But I would bet that the streetlights are sufficient for doing it at night.

Anyway, if I understood your message correctly, I think you said that you rode with the cars. That is something that I wouldn't do there at any time.

The way to do it is to stay on the sidewalk on the Newark-bound side while going in both directions between Jersey City and Newark.

Dahon.Steve

You're a lot braver than me!

It's sad that Route 7 is much more dangerous than 1-9 truck because the traffic moves likes there's no tomorrow. However, this is clearly the fastest route to Harrison New Jersey from Jersey City. Please don't ride the roadway anymore when riding on 1-9 truck. I saw this young kid last weekend on the road and it's not necessary.

In my opinion, after dark, I would take the Path train. It's too dangerous to go under the NJ Turnpike to ride over the bridges. When you're on the bridges, there's practically no one on the road and it's poorly lit. Having said that, I did see a woman walking over the bridges at dusk!

More than likely, nothing will happen but why take the risk? During the day, it's empty and fairly safe.

AngeloDolce

Yes, I rode with the cars and trucks on Route 1-9. Once.

In other states, guard rails and bridge barriers are built to keep people out. I never saw an entrance to the side walk and standing still in traffic to lift a bicycle over the railing seemed even worse than continuing on the road. I'd always avoided Route 1-9 before that (12-16 lanes with 3 medians near Elizabeth & Newark Airport, with alternative routes) and especially after that.

Sunday traffic on Route 7 was light enough that drivers moved on or two lanes over to pass me, so it was not more dangerous than evening traffic and road surfaces on 1-9. However, I had no desire to explore unknown cloverleafs (or, evidently, tunnels under the NJ Turnpike) to make the return trip.

I didn't skip the trips, but conditions led me to Steve's conclusion, that I should use the PATH trains.

Ferdinand NYC

Yesterday I made my first trip to Newark this year.

The bridge from Jersey City to Kearny is strewn with litter, and is pinched by overgrown vegetation.

The section on the Kearny peninsula has lots of sand.

The bridge from Kearny to Newark has no good landing for bikes; and getting back onto it going the other way is even worse.

In other words: nothing has changed.

The brief interlude a couple of years ago when it looked like there was maintenence is a distant memory. Near the Newark landing, where there once were steps carved into the dirt and even a wooden bannister, there is now just gravel and dirt and grass on an uninvitingly steep slope.

I didn't even try to walk up that slope going back this time. Nor did I ride around the circle against traffic, as I had done the last time. Instead, I walked on the grass until the sidewalk began, and then started riding from there.

I suppose I shouldn't complain, because any access is better than none at all, which had been the case for decades until about 2011. But I wish that they'd undertake some rudimentary maintenence in Jersey City and Kearny, and that they'd restore those stairs in Newark.

Ferdinand NYC

I think that Steve put up and then took down an interesting post.

You said that the path from Jersey City into Kearny was cleaned up, only a few weeks after I had found it to be a mess. And you said that the sand had been removed from the bridge between Kearny and Newark.

Most interesting of all was your comment about the landing in Newark, in which you said, "Yes, I miss the stairs but you can cross the street and take the path on the opposite end which is much safer and totally clear."

Where do you cross over to the other side? Do you do it back at Hackensack Avenue?

Ferdinand NYC

I went back there today. And the path from Jersey City into Kearny is indeed much better than it was a few weeks ago.

Also, I crossed over to the south side at Hackensack Avenue, and found that that side is easier to navigate because the sidewalk goes all the way to Doremus Avenue. (This is of more importance when leaving Newark.)

I might be going out to Morris County in a few weeks; so this is why I wanted to scout this out. And, if I do take that ride, I am not going to make the mistake that I made last time, when I went through the Oranges and then picked up Eagle Rock Avenue. That route is terribly mountainous.

This time, instead of bucking that mountain, I will go southwest from Newark on Springfield Avenue towards Maplewood, and go through the pass in that mountain range at Short Hills, and then north through Livingston. I hope that that will be less painful than the route I chose last time.

My only excuse for selecting that stupid route up a mountain is that I was not in the habit of consulting the topographical map, as we don't really have a need to do that here in New York City. But now I realise that New Jersey is a whole different animal.

noglider 

@Ferdinand NYC, from Maplewood, take this route. Parsonage Hill Rd is hilly but it avoids a lot of icky traffic. I didn't put Fairmount Ave in Chatham because it's hilly, but you might like it, as it's scenic. The route has Shunpike Rd but you could take Woodland. Woodland is a little more boring suburban.

Or here is another route. Crossing Rt 24 is tricky, and Hobart Ave is my favorite crossing.

I used to live in Maplewood and travel to Morris County often.

Ferdinand NYC

Thanks for the suggestsions!

My destination will be a bit north of that, specifically East Hanover. So I won't have to cross Route 24 at all.

And thanks for the tip on Parsonage Hill Road. According to what I see, while it is a climb, it is a less severe climb than Old Short Hills Road, which I had intended to use.

Starting from the corner of Springfield Avenue and Millburn Avenue in Maplewood, here is what I had figured I'd do to get to East Hanover; and here is what I now think that I will do.

I guess the fact of life out there is that there's no way to avoid those hills completely.

noglider 

Rt 10 is too highway-ish to ride on. Avoid it.

Here is a modified route. I took you off Springfield Ave earlier so you can go through nicer parts of Maplewood. Also, Glen Ave in Millburn is nicer than Millburn Ave. I routed you off Rt 10 in Livingston.