Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

Edgar Felix Bikeway

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Length
  
5.4 mi (8.7 km)

Season
  
Year round

Uses
  
Hiking, Cycling

Trail difficulty
  
Easy

Surface
  
Asphalt

Edgar Felix Bikeway wwwbobluckycomBikingNewJerseyAllaireP6244741jpg

Location
  
Monmouth County, New Jersey

Right of way
  
Farmingdale & Squan Village Railroad Freehold & Jamesburg Agricultural Railroad

Sights
  
Allaire State Park, New Jersey Museum of Transportation, Atlantic Ocean

Trailheads
  
Manasquan, Allaire State Park, Capital to Coast Trail

The Edgar Felix Bikeway is a 5.4 miles (8.7 km) rail trail in New Jersey between Manasquan and Allaire State Park. The trail was constructed on a former roadbed of the Farmingdale & Squan Village and Freehold & Jamesburg Agricultural Railroad railroads.

Contents

The original trail opened in 1971, and has been expanded several times. The Edgar Felix was the first cycling trail created in the state of New Jersey.

Trail heads

  • Allaire State Park - western trail head, contains the restored Allaire bog iron village and the Pine Creek Railroad. The Allaire mountain biking trails are not located here; the mountain biking trails can be accessed from the Edgar Felix Bikeway where it crosses Hospital Road a mile from the park.[1]
  • Route 18 Bikeway Spur - northern trail head, completed in 2005, extending 1.75 miles (2.82 km) to the Wall Township municipal recreational complex along the abandoned Route 18 right-of-way. Unlike the original section, the Route 18 spur was not built on a former rail bed but rather an undeveloped limited access highway right-of-way; as result, the trail is subject to rapid changes in its grade and pathway. The Route 18 spur has electronic crosswalk warning signals at most road crossings; these crossing lights augment the standard Zebra crossing and signage found on typical trail crossings. Unlike a HAWK beacon, these lights are only amber caution flashers that do not require a motorist to stop.
  • Manasquan (North Main Street) - eastern trail head

    • History

    Freehold & Jamesburg Agricultural Railroad operated under the auspices of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). PRR abandoned the Manasquan-Farmingdale segment in 1966. Cycling enthusiast and retired radio researcher Edgar Felix lobbied the town of Manasquan to obtain the abandoned roadbed that same year. The following year the path was extended through the Allenwood section of Wall Township, terminating at Hospital Road in Wall Township. In 2005, the trail was extended west from Hospital Road across state park land to the public access area of Allaire State Park and north along the abandoned Route 18 right-of-way to the Wall Township Municipal Complex.

    As of September 2011, Wall Township was seeking a $180,000 matching grant from Monmouth County to add a spur trail that would extend the Edgar Felix trail 8/10ths of a mile along Hospital road to meet with the Allaire mountain biking trails. This new spur would begin where the current trail crosses Hospital road on its way to the main entrance of Allaire State Park. There is also a proposal to continue this new spur to the Howell Township border at a future date.

    The unimproved right-of-way for the Freehold & Jamesburg Agricultural Railroad continues west through Allaire State Park until it is severed by interstate 195.

    References

    Edgar Felix Bikeway Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


    Similar Topics