KenR, October 2005: summary of
skating distances
GWB - > Wallington - > Newark (Penn rail station) = 22-24 miles
Newark (Penn rail station) - > Linden rail station = 10 miles
Linden rail station - > New Brunswick rail station by direct
route = 17 miles
New Brunswick rail station - > Princeton Boro = 20 miles
Princeton Boro - > Princeton Junction rail station - > Hamilton
rail station - > Trenton rail station = 15 miles
Trenton rail station - > Delaware River = 1 mile
Total: GWB (Hudson River) to Trenton bridge (Delaware River) = 87
miles
(and I guess it would be another 35-40 miles for some sort of
skating route from the Trenton Delaware river bridge to Philadelphia
-- but I have no idea if such a route might exist.)
see also:
skating Philadelphia - > Trenton - > New York City
KenR, October 2005:
Trenton + PA to Princeton to New Brunswick
I started from the NJ Transit rail station at
Trenton on a mid-week day. First I skated around the city, saw some
of the New Jersey state government buildings. Also skated on the
Calhoun St bridge (wood-plank sidewalk) across the Delaware River
into Pennsylvania, south on Rt 32, then across the river back to New
Jersey on the "Lower Free Bridge" (wood-plank sidewalk).
Then headed east out of the city on East State St,
which didn't have much traffic then. Half Left onto Rt 616 -
Whitehead Rd (north) up and down over the northeast corridor rail
line. Right on Sweet Briar Av. Before reaching the NJ Transit
rail station at Hamilton, turned N onto some smaller streets, which
led me to going NE on Basin Rd to its end (unexpected open grate
bridge along the way). E on Bakers Basin Rd a short ways, NE
on Lawrence Station Rd to its end. N on Quaker Bridge Rd (2 traffic
lanes in my direction, no shoulder, and a significant amount of
vehicle traffic). E on Clarksville - Grovers Mill Rd. N on Meadow
Rd, NE on Bear Brook Rd, then Old Bear Brook (somewhat rough, next
time perhaps I'd stay on Bear Brook). Vaughn Dr into the . . .
Princeton Junction rail station: where I took the
pedestrian tunnel under the railroad tracks, then took Washington Rd
NW toward Princeton Boro, then after crossing Rt 1 and Stony Brook
Lake, turned left onto Faculty Rd, right onto another road N into
the Princeton University campus. Skated around the campus a little,
and around the shopping streets of Princeton Boro, had a snack.
Exited Princeton to NE on Rt 27 (perhaps next time
I'd try some side road at first, then join Rt 27 a mile or two
later). Thru Kingston, then turn right onto Promenade Blvd (E), at
first on a paved sidewalk, then on the road (2 traffic lanes and no
shoulder in my direction, but not much traffic). Later a wide
shoulder. Later becomes Ridge Rd (after passing by a turn for Ridge
Rd), with 3 traffic lanes and no shoulder in my direction. At
traffic light, turned left on to Kingston Lane (NE), took that to
its end, Left on Georges Rd (N, then NE) (perhaps it later changed
name to Distribution Way?).
Straight across Rt 130 at traffic light. Just
before again meeting Rt 130, turned right on to Riva Av, which
starts SE, soon turns NE for a long ways. Some fun smooth sections,
later some coarse-stone sections. Shortly before its end, I turned N
on Clay St, took this to its end at Lawrence, tried going left and
further to Lenox (next time I think I'd turn R on Lawrence), then
turned NW onto high-traffic-volume Milltown Rd / Main St, and
crossed Rt 1 on sidewalk (which required crossing some entrance +
exit ramps). Then Right turn on Chrome (NE), L on ?Allg___? (NW) to
its end. R on Georges (Rt 171), quick L onto Nassau St (NW) and some
other streets to turn right on Joyce Kilmer Av (NE) which I took to
near my finish, then some other streets to the NJ Transit rail
station for New Brunswick.
Distances:
Delaware River to Trenton rail station to Princeton
Boro = 16 miles
Delaware River to Trenton rail station = 1 mile
loop around two Delaware River bridges and
Trenton station = 4 miles
Princeton Boro to New Brunswick rail station = 20
miles
Princeton Junction rail station to Princeton
Boro = 3 miles
Map for Trenton to Princeton Junction: Hagstrom
Mercer county.
Maps for Princeton Junction to New Brunswick:
Hagstrom Mercer county + Middlesex county
KenR, October 2005:
Linden to New Brunswick
I skated mostly on Rt 514, except took some other
streets thru Rahway, including Irving St, Milton Av, Main St,
Leesville Av, some road underneath Rt 1 to south on Inman Av, then
east on Avenel St to Rt 514.
Mostly good pavement, many sections with wide
traffic lanes or shoulder. But at least two sections with 2 traffic
lanes in my direction and no shoulder and some significant amount of
vehicle traffic. And a short section with a 2-lane entrance + exit
ramp with significant vehicle traffic. Also some sections with
parked cars, including a few blocks thru Highland Park (? which
perhaps could have been avoided by using some streets a couple of
blocks to the south ?).
Distance: Linden to New Brunswick by this fairly
direct route = around17 miles.
Maps: Hagstrom Middlesex county + Union county
KenR, August 2005:
between Linden + Rahway and Edison + New Brunswick
Why skate to New Brunswick?
During July and August, I did various exploring of
skating between Linden + Rahway and Edison + New Brunswick. Once I
skated from Talmadge Rd east to Rahway + Linden. Another time I
skated from Talmadge Rd west to New Brunswick.
I've
found Talmadge Rd to be a nice way to skate across Interstate 287.
Overall decent to good pavement, but a rough section at its
northeast end near Park (perhaps this could be avoided by some side
roads to the south). When I was going east-bound, I continued on
Park Av, Left on Plainfield Rd (north), straight across Oak Tree Rd
onto New Dover Rd, which I took East a long ways to cross the GSP,
then Left on Colonia Blvd (before crossing Rt 27) to Bramhall Rd
(then various streets thru Rahway and Clark).
I also
went west from Metropark to Talmadge Rd, but didn't find many good
streets for skating until crossed Grove Av. Then west on Calvert Av
(gets better after the first couple of blocks, perhaps next time try
an alternate for that), Left on Southfield Av (west) and Hillwood Av
(west) to Park Av and Talmadge worked pretty well for me.
Idea for future exploration: Perhaps there is some way to connect
Calvert Av west from Grove Av from the Metropark area, perhaps using
one of more of these roads(?): Thornall, Meadowbrook, Parsonage,
James, Mundy, Turner, Monroe ?
west from Talmadge: I
skated Ethel Rd to Suttons La, then into the Livingston College
campus, which had several wide roads decent pavement. I then tried
the Busch campus, but the roads were more coarse-stone. Then Hoes
Lane (southwest) was decent, and I went straight across River Rd
onto the Johnson County Park road (southeast), which was decent,
though had some ruts and roughness in places.
cross
Raritan River on the Landing Lane bridge worked. I turned Left
immediately at southwest end of bridge, then went a short ways
southeast (road not wide and no shoulder), then turned Right onto
road that went uphill thru Buccleuch Park, which was somewhat coarse
but OK, then continued onto Wyckoff St (southeast), which had
tolerable pavement and lots of stop-signs. Then I tried going east
to the Rutgers University College Av campus. New Brunswick Seminary
had some sorta old-looking buildings and houses on Seminary Place.
College Av was coarse-stone, but George St was smooth, so I took
that to the NJ Transit train station, with some new pavement and
sidewalks nearby.
I also checked out the Rt 27 bridge across the
Raritan River, which worked -- see discussion below under
Perth
Amboy to New Brunswick.
Ideas for future
exploration: Try out more of the Johnson County Park road.
Maps:
Hagstrom Middlesex county + Union county
KenR, August 2005:
between Woodbridge + Perth Amboy and Edison + New Brunswick
During July and August, I did various exploring of
skating between Perth Amboy and Edison + New Brunswick. I skated
from Perth Amboy into southwestern Edison (west of Metuchen), but
not from Perth Amboy to New Brunswick.
From Perth
Amboy, I tried the western extension of Smith St under the Garden
State Pkwy, then found my way onto Industrial Highway. (perhaps next
time could try signs for Crows Mill Rd going south, which might
connect more easily to Industrial Highway going south). Right on
Clearview Rd (north), Left on King Georges Post Rd (west), then
Right (north), and Left to put me on Rt 514 West. Then Right on Post
Rd (west), over NJ Turnpike, straight across Rt 1, Right on
Vineyard, Left on Johnstone, Right on Idlewild (north), and across
Rt 27 onto Talmadge (north). (since Johnstone was coarse, perhaps
next time try staying on Post until Right on Miko, then Right on
Idlewild).
I can't say it was all good skating, and
some parts were tricky in route-finding and traffic-handling, but it
wasn't so bad that I'd never do it again.
Idea for future exploration: I might consider taking Rt 514 West
from Woodbridge (and bypass Perth Amboy). The bridge over the GSP
and NJ Turnpike looks OK for skating, but one part that's tricky for
traffic-handling is the interchange with Rt 9 (just west from
Woodbridge).
New Brunswick, crossing Raritan River:
I did skate the Rt 27 bridge across the Raritan River between
Highland Park and New Brunswick. Sidewalks on both sides were in
good condition. Rt 27 has a lot of traffic. On the west side, I
skated the block by the bridge on the sidewalks, which were new
brick, OK for skating. The east side has coarse-stone streets on the
north side of Rt 27, smoother streets on the south side (at least
between 2nd Av and Adelaide, but then there's a significant hill on
the remaining section of Rt 27 to the bridge, with some traffic
crossings. So I would prefer to cross the Rt 27 bridge east-bound, so
then I
could take the block between the bridge and Adelaide as an uphill.
for Landing Lane bridge, see discussion above under
Rahway to New Brunswick.
Maps:
Hagstrom Middlesex county + Union county
