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Walk The Walkway

Edgewater South - September 23, 2012

 

On a beautiful brisk, sunny morning, 20 walkers including 4 members of the Board of the Hudson River Waterfront Conservancy (HRWC) met at 9:30 AM at the Whole Foods parking let on River Road in Edgewater. Walkers with dogs, children and cameras came from as far away as Verona, Montvale, and Montclair and some had joined us in previous walks..

Don Stitzenberg welcomed the group, described the route for the day noting that parts of the walk would be through areas where the Walkway was not completed.

The walkers began at 9:45 and proceeded south through Grand Cove condominiums where the hedges have been trimmed to allow full access to the Walkway.  Passing Mariners Landing it was good to see that all of the damage to the Walkway from the March 2010 storm had been repaired.

The group stopped at the Binghampton River Boat to talk about the deteriorating boats and dangerous conditions in this area of the Walkway. Next was a bizarre section of the Walkway behind stores in the Trader Joes shopping center. This area is elevated, accessed by a long winding ramp, is very narrow and is also being used by a restaurant for outdoor dining. It leads to a service corridor and past garbage dumpsters.  Consideration should be given to bypassing this entire area of the Walkway in the future until improvements can be made.

The group then bypassed the Hess Oil terminal, which remains in full operation, and rejoined the Walkway at the Mitsuwa shopping center.  It was good to see that the waterfront restaurant behind Mitsuwa is being renovated.

The same cannot be said for the next area of the Walkway behind the Edgewater Golf facility where the Walkway continues to deteriorate from lack of maintenance. After a stop to watch the fishermen enjoying the Walkway at the Crab House pier, the walk continued through the Edgewater Commons shopping center where the Walkway was being used by many walkers, bikers and dog walkers. Proceeding to Independence Harbor, which was previously a Ford car assembly factory, the group saw how a well maintained Walkway with a spectacular view can be a valuable asset to a condominium community.

Adjacent to Independence Harbor is the new Marquis on the Hudson condo complex. This facility is not yet open and this section of the Walkway has yet to be constructed. Passing the large City Place shopping facility, the remainder of the Walk was through areas where the Walkway has yet to be fully developed. Returning to River Road we passed the Quanta superfund site. A multi-year effort is underway to remediate this highly polluted land which was previously a chromium chemical company. Construction of the Walkway here is many years away.

Passing an old warehouse facility which will be demolished, the Walk ended at the previous Unilever Research facility which is being developed into a major residential and retail community, Parts of the Walkway are under construction but it will be several years until the entire complex and related Walkway will be completed.

After a brief discussion of the issues and conditions observed in the two hour walk, the group returned to the starting point via River Road.

The next Walk the Walkway will be on Oct 14 where we will walk the Weehawken and Hoboken segments of the Walkway.

 

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