Officials say pace of work to pick up on Vernon Township's bike path

VERNON-Vernon cycling enthusiasts now can perfect their hill-climbing skills on the first segment of the Vernon bike route, which begins on Route 515 (Price's Switch Road). Progress on the long-anticipated bikeway was held back until the township concluded its purchase of the Maple Grange property, said Gary G. Gardner, assistant township manager. Gardner also serves as director of community development. A series of N.J. Department of Transportation grants has provided $350,000 in funds for the project, said Township Engineer Lou Kneip. According to Kneip, about $100,000 has been spent so far. The DOT grant expires in spring 2006, so the township is under pressure to move along with the project. The township has used a portion of the original grant to install bike-friendly storm-water drains along the route, Gardner says, and it has erected a series of bike-route identification signs. Department of public works staffers also have widened Canal Road and have created a parking area that will accommodate about five vehicles "The township plans to use public works staffers to do as much of the work as is practical," Gardner explained. "We plan to pave sections of a 10-foot-wide path and surface other segments in crushed stone or a similar material. We'll have to be sensitive to areas that cross wetlands where permeable surfaces are required," said Kneip. A diamond-shaped yellow warning sign with a bicycle icon marks the beginning of the bike route, and small green-and-white bike-route signs mark the way. The bike route as it exists today is not a separate bicycles-only path, but shares the road with vehicular traffic. The route forks right from Price's Switch onto Meadowburn Road, which meanders to the New York state line past red barns, grazing horses and cattle, and meadows shimmering with buttercups, lavender phlox and swallowtail butterflies. The left fork holds to Price's Switch Road, and passes the red-roofed 1840s Price's Switch schoolhouse, continuing up the hill past the Canal Road lane to the New York border. Another segment leads down Buckey Way, and still another follows the unpaved road at the end of Canal Road where a New Jersey Park Service gate stands. Past the gate, an unpaved road bordered by a tumbled-down rubblestone wall curves into Wawayanda country. The road follows the rim of Appalachian Trail land, where the trill of red-bellied woodpeckers, and the fiddling of grasshoppers punctuate the deep quiet. The bike route seems challenging for beginning cyclists. The hills are steep and would require large gears to climb easily. What's more, there is no shoulder. On a recent weekday morning automobile traffic was very light, although some medium-sized trucks passed by. Those planning to explore the bike route should be aware that state law requires bicyclists less than 14 years of age to wear a safety helmet that meets Consumer Product Safety Commission or Snell Memorial Foundation's safety standards. Bicyclists always should ride in the same direction as vehicular traffic. Eventually, the bike route will connect to Warwick, N.Y.'s proposed bike path system, and swing around to Vernon's town center and through Maple Grange Park.