Town To Bond $48,000 For Bike Path Extension

The Township Committee on Wednesday tentatively agreed to put up the remainig money to extend its popular Edgar Felix Bike Path.

The town had received about $500,000 in state and county grants to extend the path down Hospital Road toward its ultimate goal of extending it all the way to the Howell boundary, where that town plans to extend it to the Manasqan Reservoir, Township Administrator Joe Verruni said.

But there is about a $48,000 shortfall in the money collected to cover the cost of lengthening the 7.2-mile path, which currently begins in Manasquan and runs to Allaire State Park.

. He corrected himself on Wednesday, saying he miscalculated.

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

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 trail system. Another phase would extend the path along Hospital Road to the boundary with Howell, officials have said.

The project carries a price tag of just more than $500,000, according to Township Administrator Joe Verruni. The township has received a $345,000 state Department of Transportation grant and a $157,000 Monmouth County Green Acres grant to help cover the cost of the path’s extension.

After some discussion, members informally agreed to bond for the remaining $48,000 and go ahead with the plans. No date was set for the introduction of an ordinance, however.

"A lot of people use that path,'' Mayor Jeffrey Foster said.

Committeemen Clinton Hoffman, George Newberry and Todd Luttman also agreed that the path extension was a justifiable expense. Committeewoman Ann Marie Conte was absent.

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