Metuchen Rallies To Extend Middlesex Greenway (Video)

Don't be fooled. The Dismal Swamp isn't so dismal. In fact, it would work as a nice destination for the Middlesex Greenway.

Metuchen residents joined U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Sunday as part of a rally to push for an extension of the greenway, which serves as a popular path for walkers and bicyclists in the area.

"It certainly makes sense," Pallone said in his remarks at the rally, which served as a peaceful event offering food and other attractions at the western end of the greenway .

Organizers such as Brian Weeks of the Metuchen Environmental Commission also led a walk from Trailhead Park to the planned extension destination: the "Dismal Swamp," a body of water that connects to the Bound Brook.

Local officials hope to acquire a piece - an old, unused railroad bed owned by Conrail - that would connect the 3.6-mile greenway to the swamp,

Unused portions of the rail line could be acquired to extend the Middlesex Greenway east to Raritan Bay at Perth Amboy and west to the large freshwater wetlands of the Dismal Swamp, Weeks noted.

Pallone, however, noted that Conrail has balked so far about selling the piece but "we're going to put pressure on Conrail," he promised.

The freight rail company reportedly has considered reactivating parts of the line, where pieces of the old track still lay.

This event intended to show public support for this extension, offering tables for community fitness and outdoors groups interested in the Greenway. There were also food trucks and live music.

It was also held for National Public Lands Day, an annual event celebrated across the country for over two decades. It is the largest single-day volunteer event for public lands in the U.S.A.

The Greenway runs 3.6 miles through Woodbridge and Edison and Metuchen, from Crows Mill Road at its eastern end to Middlesex Avenue at its western end.

Tom Davis photo