Hundreds of cyclists to bike to Princeton, then Philadelphia this weekend to raise money to support Easy Coast Greenway trail development

About 400 cyclists will pedal from Liberty State Park to Princeton on Saturday and then on to Philadelphia Sunday to raise money to support trail development for the East Coast Greenway.

Cyclists will arrive in Princeton in the afternoon and early evening Saturday, Aug. 28, and stay overnight, kicking off the second day of their bike ride at the Princeton Family YMCA on Paul Robeson Place on Sunday morning, Aug. 29. Princeton area businesses sponsoring the ride include Terhune Orchards, 300 Witherspoon Street, Homestead Princeton, Kopp’s Cycle Shop, Le Kiosk Restaurant, McCaffrey’s Food Markets, the Princeton University Art Museum Store, and Small World Coffee.

The 125-mile New York City-to-Philadelphia Greenway Ride fundraiser is being sponsored by the East Coast Greenway Alliance. About $250,000 has been raised so far from the ride to support of continued East Coast Greenway development in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

A number of key projects between New York City and Philadelphia need public investment to help complete the East Coast Greenway, including the Essex-Hudson Greenway from Jersey City to Newark, the D&R Greenway Connector in Trenton, and the Spring Garden Street Connector Project across Center City Philadelphia.

“These connections along the East Coast Greenway form the trunk trail of regional trail networks in development, such as the North Jersey Urban Trail Network and greater Philadelphia’s Circuit Trails network,” East Coast Greenway Mid-Atlantic Manager Daniel Paschall said in a press release about the event.

Key East Coast Greenway projects between New York City and Philadelphia include:

• New Jersey: Build out the Essex-Hudson Greenway connector from Jersey City to Newark (9.2 miles)
• New Jersey: Fill in the gaps between local park trails in Union County (14 miles) and Middlesex County, including linking the Middlesex Greenway to Donaldson Park (9 miles) and the Raritan River Park Connector Trail (0.8 miles)
• New Jersey: Safety improvements to crossings on the D&R Canal Towpath, namely the Whitehead Road crossing in Lawrence and the approach to the Calhoun Street Bridge in Trenton
• New Jersey: Complete the gaps in the Delaware River Heritage Trail in Trenton (2.3 miles) and between Florence and North Camden (approximately 23 miles)
• Pennsylvania: Connect Bristol to Center City Philadelphia, including a trail from Bristol Marsh to Croydon Woods (2 miles), as well as the missing gaps along the Bensalem Greenway (4 miles) and along Northeast Philadelphia’s Delaware River Trail (4 miles)
• Pennsylvania: Finish design and start construction on the Spring Garden Street Greenway, part of a larger, multimodal corridor overhaul including raised, protected bike lanes from the Delaware River Trail to the Schuylkill River Trail (2.2 miles)