BY JAY BODAS
Staff Writer
METUCHEN — Middlesex County and Metuchen have teamed up to preserve the township’s remaining green space.
The county and township made a combined purchase of 2.68 acres of land at the corner of Middlesex Avenue and Memorial Parkway, which is one of the last remaining segments of open land in the borough.
“Three acres of open space in Metuchen is almost unheard of,” said Mayor Edmund O’Brien. “The people of Metuchen and of the county will experience a great recreational asset because of this purchase.”
The Middlesex County Board of Freeholders allocated $1.25 million in county funds for the purchase. Metuchen donated $100,000.
“By working together and using both of our resources, we were able to preserve and put to good use this prime land that was destined to be a commercial site,” said Freeholder Director David Crabiel. “The co-purchase of this land took a long time to complete, but I believe everyone who has worked on it will agree, it was well worth the wait.”
The parcel of land will serve as an entry point to the Middlesex County Greenway, a 3.5-mile-long path near an abandoned railroad that is popular with joggers and walkers.
“I expect to see streams of people walking and biking along the former railway in the near future as safety and accessibility improvements are made,” O’Brien said.