Jersey City production company wants to turn Bergen Arches into public space

A Jersey City production company wants to turn an abandoned railway system into a cultural and ecofriendly destination. The Bergen Arches railway system was a mile-long system of tracks that ran parallel

News 12 Staff

Aug 26, 2016, 4:27 AM

Updated 2,943 days ago

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A Jersey City production company wants to turn an abandoned railway system into a cultural and ecofriendly destination.
The Bergen Arches railway system was a mile-long system of tracks that ran parallel to Route 139 in Jersey City. They linked the Erie Railroad's main line to the Hudson River until 1959. The abandoned tracks now belong to New Jersey Transit.
The area is now littered with empty bottles and garbage and is covered with graffiti. Neighbor say that many homeless people also frequent the area.
The Jersey City-based production company Green Villain recently teamed up with a Berlin architecture firm to produce renderings to turn the area into a public space.
"We want to save as much as the foliage and masonry as much as possible, but make it so people can walk through it bike through it," says Green Villain's Bill Benzon.
The group also wants to get public input on the project before they put a formal proposal together.
"If we don't conserve space and create open space, green space, park space for people, our city is going to be placeless," says Green Villain's Greg Edgell.
More information about the project can be found at BergenArches.com.