Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise, Freeholder Anthony Romano, Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer and Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner joined in a ceremonial ribbon cutting for the new Hudson River Walkway Pavilion at Park Avenue and 15th Streets near the two municipalities border in a ceremony on Tuesday, April, 3rd.
The new pavilion was a key “gap site” in the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway. For the most part, private developers constructed the pedestrian walkway along the Hudson River shore from Bayonne to North Bergen over the last three decades to ensure public access to the waterfront as required by state law.
However certain sections of the walkway not controlled by private development interests, so called “gap sites” remained uncompleted. This section at Park Avenue and 15th Street was an important piece of the shoreline path because it connects the communities of Hoboken and Weehawken in an area bodering a roadway (Park Avenue/Weehawken Cove) that was unsuitable for any private development The Hudson County Division of Planning oversaw its construction to allow the shoreline pedestrian connection between the two communities.
“We are proud to see the completion of the Hudson River Walkway section at Park Avenue and 15th Street,” said Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise. “Many years of work went into this effort to make our congested county a little more walk-able and a little more livable. We hope it will encourage even more residents to visit the waterfront and experience the beauty of this majestic shore.”
The project cost $3.2 million to complete. TOMCO Construction, of Wharton, NJ carried out the work. Funding was provided primarily through a U.S. Department of Transportation “Transportation, Community and System Preservation” Program Grant (TCSP). Additional funding of $515,000 came from the Hudson County Open Space Trust.