The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJ DEP) has issued a $900,013 grant to the City of Bayonne in order to expand public access to the Newark Bay waterfront.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“Our rivers have long been lifelines of our cities, once serving as industrial highways that provided jobs and prosperity,†NJ DEP Commissioner Bob Martin said in a statement last week.
“Today, they are becoming picturesque avenues for high-rises, parks and recreational amenities that improve quality of life. The Christie Administration takes great pride in making our cities better places to live, work and play.”
In Bayonne, the grant money will be used for expanding public access to the Newark Bay waterfront through the creation of 1,200 feet of walkways that will include recreational and educational opportunities, the DEP announced.
The project will include the creation of “living shorelines, which utilize native vegetation and shellfish to naturally stabilize the banks of waterways,” the agency also said.
Visitors can also look forward to a kayak access point and boat launch that will be accessible via an elevated boardwalk.
“The news of this significant grant awards marks another step in the right direction in our efforts to rebuild, reconstruct, and improve our local infrastructure,” Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis said in a separate statement.
“From roads to recreation, my administration has worked tirelessly to secure grant funds so that the necessary improvements and renovations done within our community are funded creatively, and not solely on the backs of our local taxpayers.”
Davis further stated that access to the Newark Bay waterfront is a “huge asset” for the community that will help “in stabilizing our shoreline.”
