The new multi-use pathway on the Garden State Parkway bridge connecting Atlantic and Cape May counties will be the first of its kind in the state. But officials are hoping when it opens in 2019, it will be more than just a “bridge to nowhere.”
Drawing from the success of a similar pathway along the Route 52 causeway to Ocean City, local groups are developing plans to create a destination with signs, parking and recreational access.
On the Somers Point side, the city has applied for a grant through the New Jersey Department of Transportation to add a pedestrian and bicycle path from the Route 52 causeway to the parkway. Somers Point is also working with the state Department of Environmental Protection to create a fishing pier on the west side of Drag Island, located just south of the parkway toll plaza.
After making its way over Great Egg Harbor, the bike path will enter Upper Township at a small bayside beach adjacent to the Tuckahoe Inn. There is also a parking lot, fishing pier and boat ramp. The only other businesses in that area are the B.L. England plant and Beesleys Point Sea-Doo.