MANY HELPING HANDS WILL BE INVOLVED IN SUMMIT’S PARK LINE CREATION

By: Edir Coronado
Discussions over the proposed Summit Park Line, a green space that would connect various locations throughout the city by cycling or walking, have been in progress for the past two and a half years. Dr. Robert Rubino, Summit council president and visionary for this project, has been reaching out to the public in order to harness the support needed to get this project off the ground. Dr. Rubino has encouraged discussion of the Park Line at council meetings. Other community outreach opportunities included tables at the Farmer’s Market to provide information, and even going door-todoor throughout Summit to bring the information directly to the public.
Dr. Rubino’s investment into this project is concentrated; he and his team have done the homework to ensure there are no roadblocks along the way that might hinder the project’s progress. The team has met with the city’s planning board, the environmental commission, and they have even ventured outside of the city limits to Union County government and Senator Corey Booker to get their input and support. The desired support has been achieved, and the outreach efforts produced letters of support from Senator Thomas Kean and Corey Booker, as well as, energized the county freeholders to pay a visit to Summit to survey the projected area for the Park Line. All of this support is not limited to just public officials, members of the community and elected officials alike seem to be thrilled with the idea of taking unused land around the city and transforming it into green space.
One of Dr. Rubino’s main goals with the Park Line is to get people in the city of Summit to be more active outside, which currently is difficult because of the limited access to the county park within the city, Briant Park, and other places such as the Aquatic Center. Professor Charles Brown of Rutgers University performed a study and found that Briant Park was being underused. When Professor Brown and his graduate students learned of the Park Line project, they agreed with the concept.
The timeline for development of the Park Line is being set in stages to maintain affordability and receive community input as well as donations.
The money being raised for the Park Line is through the use of private donations. Dr. Rubino’s plans to first create a rail trail and envisions that over time, as members of the community begin to see the Parkline’s development and practicality, more members of the community will make the effort to contribute to its evolution.
As difficult and time consuming as it was to plan, raise funds, and perform community outreach, Dr. Rubino acknowledged that the most problematic hurdle was gaining the license for the access of the land, which was acquired from the state in July.
The first part of the Park Line to be developed, which is in discussion, is creating, approximately, a 2-mile walkway by Overlook Hospital, where the Cardiac Rehab Center is located. Dr. Rubino hopes that those patients could use that walkway to take a walk and stretch their legs. It also creates an easier path for pedestrians from Morris Avenue to Broad Street, who currently have to walk down the hill, cross over, then walk back up the hill.
Dr. Rubin was raised in Summit and has seen the town develop and its green space diminish, when the opportunity arose to add more green to his city he took to the challenge. Dr. Rubino sees this project as a way to not only bring nonvehicular mobility access throughout the city, but as a way to bring the community together. Many helping hands will be involved in the Park Line’s creation and through this project Dr. Rubino feels the community will be unified on different levels.
For more information please visit the Summit Park Line Foundation website at www.summitparkline.org .