Wall Comes Up Short On Bike Path Plan

The Wall Township Committee is wrangling with what to do about a shortfall in money to extend the well-used Edgar Felix Bike Path.

At its workshop meeting Wednesday, the committee learned there is about a $36,000 shortfall in the money collected to cover the cost of extending the path down Hospital Road toward its ultimate goal of lengthening the 7.2-mile path to the Howell boundary. The bike path currently begins in Manasquan and runs to Allaire State Park.

Committee members will have to decide whether to pony up the shortage or alter the plans. The proposed extension is about 8/10 of a mile, and would bring the path system to roughly eight miles.

The extension is a two-phased project that would extend the path where it meets Hospital Road, bringing it into Allaire State Park at a different entrance where it would meet up with Allaire’s trail system. Another phase would extend the path along Hospital Road to the boundary with Howell, officials have said.

The project carries a price tag of just more than $500,000, according to Township Administrator Joe Verruni. The township has received a $345,000 state Department of Transportation grant and a $157,000 Monmouth County Green Acres grant to help cover the cost of the path’s extension.

“It’s real money,’’ Verruni said of the  $36,000 shortage. “But we’re getting $509,000 in free dollars from the DOT and the county to do this.’’

Committee members did not immediately sway toward or against fronting the extra money.

“If it was $3,600 I’d be all for it,’’ Committeeman George Newberry said. “But $36,000.’’

“But a lot of people use that,’’ Mayor Jeffrey Foster said.

The path system is one of the most used recreational facilities in town, according to a recent survey placed in residents’ water bills. Of those who responded the bike path was “by far’’ the most popular of the recreational facilities in town, officials have said.

No decision was reached Wednesday. A date for a decision also was not set.