Planning Alumni Take Part in Landmark Greenway Project

July 16, 2025

Greenway Project NewarkJulia Wong (MCRP ’19) pictured here with Governor Murphy and other stakeholders, broke ground on Phase 1 of the new Greenway in Newark, NJ. On a LinkedIn post, Wong wrote, “Thrilled to have broken ground on Phase 1 of the Greenway – New Jersey’s newest state park! 🌳

This 0.8 mile stretch in Newark is in the middle of what will be nine miles of park land, connecting eight municipalities, and creating dedicated open space in the densest part of the state for walking, biking, and recreation. 🚶🏻‍♀️🚴🏽‍♀️🛝

It’s been such a pleasure managing this project with the unwavering support of everyone at NJ Department of Environmental Protection, our incredible consultant team at Agency Landscape + Planning / NV5, partners at New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) and NJ TRANSIT, and the many advocates who got us here to begin with (Open Space Institute and New Jersey Bike & Walk Coalition, to name a few).

And of course, special thanks to those ultra-key players who make this group project possible: Sean Moriarty, Magdalene McCann, Shetal Oza, M.A., Lauren Procida, John Cecil… and some others not on LinkedIn. You make me love my job; thank you.”

Greenway website:
https://lnkd.in/eMaqHn6J

Press release:
https://lnkd.in/eWs8ESsh

Julia Wong is the Special Projects Manager for NJ Department of Environmental Protection. Other alumni mentioned in the press release include Ayla Schermer (MCRP ’21), President of Bike Jersey City, and Sofia Barandiaran (MCRP ’23), New Jersey & New York Greenway Manager, East Coast Greenway Alliance.

LinkedIn, July 15, 2025

Recent Posts

Grafova and Williams Examine Medical Debt in New Study

Household economic security and medical debt onset: Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic Abstract Objectives To examine how household medical debt responds to changes in income and new health events. Study design Secondary analysis of a panel survey. Methods We analyzed...

Peck, Co-Authors Evaluate Studies Designed to Detect Earnings Impact

Designing Studies to Detect Impacts on Earnings Abstract This article reports empirical evidence to support the design of evaluations that estimate the impacts of programs that provide postsecondary credentials and/or job training on earnings. Statistical power...

New Jersey Target Zero Commission Adopts Action Plan

On Monday, December 15, 2025, the New Jersey Target Zero Commission officially adopted the first New Jersey Target Zero Action Plan, reaching a major milestone in the State’s goal to eliminate all roadway fatalities and serious injuries in the state by 2040. The New...

Translation as Access: Meet Kenia Gonzalez

Kenia Gonzalez recently joined the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center as its Bilingual Outreach Specialist. We spoke with her about her role and why language access plays a critical part in VTC’s work. Kenia leads Spanish-language translation, interpretation,...