Architects dream up way to escape New Jersey on foot

Conceptual pedestrian bridge from Jersey City to Manhattan could alleviate crowded PATH trains

Rendering of pedestrian bridge from Jersey City to NYC (Credit: Jeff Jordan Architects)
Rendering of pedestrian bridge from Jersey City to NYC (Credit: Jeff Jordan Architects)

If you build it, they will come — by foot and from New Jersey.

A pedestrian bridge between Jersey City and Manhattan — dreamed up by New Jersey resident Kevin Shane and designed by Jeff Jordan Architects — hopes to add another above-ground transportation option between the two cities. The hypothetical project is called “Liberty Bridge” and would connect downtown Jersey City with Battery Park.

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The project is billed as a possible boon to commuters, who face an increasingly crowded ride across the Hudson in jam-packed PATH and NJ Transit trains. Mounting interest in neighborhoods along the Gold Coast, along with a number of other factors, has increasingly put a strain on mass transit options between New Jersey and Manhattan — a problem that Shane asserts is only going to get worse. The bridge would add another option for commuters, who currently can travel directly between Jersey City and Manhattan by ferry, NJ Transit bus, PATH train and the Holland Tunnel.

A change.org petition urges Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, Gov. Chris Christie and Gov. Andrew Cuomo to help make the bridge become a reality. For now, the bridge is just an idea, one that entails — Shane himself admits — pretty hefty challenges. But a Jersey guy can dream, right? [Curbed] — Kathryn Brenzel