WOODBINE – At the May 21 Council meeting, Mayor William Pikolycky announced Woodbine was awarded two contracts, totaling $741,013, to be undertaken at the Open Space Eco-Park.
According to a release, the first, equaling $164,138, was awarded to Charles Marandino LLC for extension of the Woodbine Bikeway system from Monroe Avenue, just south of Webster Avenue, southerly through the Open Space Park. This extension will continue the borough’s existing bikeway system past the Woodbine Elementary School site through the Eco-Park to Sumner Avenue. Funding for this project was received from the New Jersey Department of Transportation.
The second contract, totaling $576,875, for a project titled “Eco-Park Bikeway Safety improvements: Loop Path & Parking Lot Extension,” was awarded to C. Abbonizio Contractors Inc. This second project, funded under Phases two and three of the County Open Space Grant, is for further improvements at the Eco-Park, including the remaining pedestrian/bikeway loop path.
This loop is part of the 25-acre wooded Eco-Park project, which is an Open Space recreational area and environmental educational park. The project will also include additional parking. This continues a multi-phase project that will ultimately total well over $2 million.
The bikeway system will provide interconnection with various destination points within the borough. It is part of an overall plan to interconnect publicly-owned sites within the borough to New Jersey’s High Point to Cape May bikeway system. The borough’s bike path system is used extensively by residents and visitors alike through organized walking groups.
The Eco-Park and Recreation Area is immediately adjacent to the Cape May County Library Branch and the Woodbine Community School, which includes our community indoor gymnasium.
With the Open Space program funding, the borough is now able to preserve a 25-acre wooded tract adjacent to the Woodbine Elementary School and develop a facility that includes active and passive recreation opportunities, with a strong orientation towards environmental enrichment and enhancement of the area’s ecological values as part of a campus already dedicated to education and recreation.
Major components of this project yet to be completed include environmental interpretative stations, a Jake’s Law All-Inclusive Playground, a rain garden, fitness stations, bike racks, benches, picnic tables, and related amenities, which will help to position Woodbine and the Cape May County Eco-Park and Recreation Area as a destination for cyclists, equestrians, and pedestrians. It will also serve as a setting for a “classroom in nature” for students and visitors who can appreciate the special qualities of this site.
“The surfacing of this bike path will be made accessible to all users, whether pedestrian or bicycle, and even equestrian—walking, biking, and galloping, too,” stated Mayor Pikolycky.
