Town Looking To Extend Bike Path

Township officials are making a pitch to get county money to cover the cost of extending the Edgar Felix Bike Path, which runs from Manasquan to .

Final preparations are being put on an application, due next week, which will formally apply for a Monmouth County Open Space Grant, said Kate Kohri, assistant township administrator.

The grant is part of an annual $2 million available to municipalities throughout the county for open space acquisition and recreational plans. It is a competitive grant and money is doled out based on the merit of each application, Kohri said.

It is a matching grant, meaning those towns awarded money must also match the same amount for their projects.

The town is asking for $180,000, which would be matched by a grant previously awarded to Wall Township from the state Department of Transportation, Kohri said. The maximum dollar amount for the application is capped at $250,000, she said.

Kohri said she’s optimistic about the town’s chances. Wall has been awarded this same grant in the past, most recently t, near the soccer fields.

“It is a highly competitive process,’’ Kohri said. “But we’ve had success with this grant in the past.’’

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A map of the proposed bike path extension is attached to this story, below the photos to the right.

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The project proposes to add nearly another mile to the town’s 7.2-mile path system. The main path, the Edgar Felix path – is more than five miles beginning at and runs west along Atlantic Avenue, through the Allenwood section of town and finally to Allaire.

There is another roughly 1.8-mile stretch, completed in 2005, that runs from behind and heading south until it meets up with the Edgar Felix path.

The extension is a two-phased project that would extend the path where it meets Hospital Road, bringing it into Allaire State Park at a different entrance where it would meet up with Allaire’s own trail system. A fourth phase would extend the path along Hospital road to the boundary with Howell, Kohri said.

The proposed extension is about 8/10 of a mile, and would bring the path system to roughly eight miles, all told, Kohri said.

“They (the county) has been very generous in the past,’’ Kohri said. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed.’’

Kohri said the township should hear by December if the application has been approved. It was too early to put a timeline on start or completion of the project, she said.

The path system is one of the most used recreational facilities in town, according to a recent survey placed in residents’ water bills, Kohri said. Of those who responded the bike path was “by far’’ the most popular of the recreational facilities in town, she said.