With no comment from the public and a lone comment from one of its members, City Council unanimously approved a pair of ordinances that will designate more than 3.5 miles of bikeways within Rahway.

The governing body unanimously (8-0 with 2nd Ward Councilman Michael Cox absent) approved two measures to create designated bikeways during a regular monthly meeting on March 11 that lasted less than 30 minutes.

The first ordinance (O-3-19) describes Class I bikeways (street segment with a travel lane of 15+ feet) and Class II bikeways (a travel lane of less than 15 feet or with traffic patterns that make Class I lanes impractical). A second ordinance (O-4-19) designates the specific streets and cross streets where bikeways will be established. The legislation originally was introduced during City Council’s regular meeting on Feb. 11.

There was no comment during the public hearing before the ordinances were adopted. Only one council member spoke later during the meeting’s City Council comment portion. Councilman At-Large James Baker called the ordinances another investment in infrastructure and credited the ordinances as a “further example of the administration pursuing maximizing opportunities to improve the quality of life” in Rahway.

In response to an emailed inquiry, Mayor Raymond Giacobbe, Jr. said he did not have cost estimates for the bikeways developed yet but could have them as each phase is developed. Funding would come out of the Police Department budget with some contributions from the Department of Engineering, so there will not be a need to request more funding. “Throughout the next couple of years, if grant money becomes available we will pursuit it,” he said. “We’re only doing striping and adding and will be doing three to four yearly.”

Here’s a list of the streets and cross streets where bikeways would be designated, per the ordinance, totaling some 3.7 miles in all:

• Broad Street between West Lake Avenue and Campbell Street
• Bond Street between Washington and Monroe streets
• Central Avenue between Madison Avenue and Campbell Street
• Campbell Avenue between East Milton and Central avenues
• Elizabeth Avenue between Irving Street and Jackson Avenue
• Irving Street between East Milton and Elizabeth avenues
• Jackson Avenue between Elizabeth and Linden avenues
• Linden Avenue between Jackson and St. Georges avenues
• Madison Avenue between Bramhall Road and Old Lake Avenue
• Madison Avenue between Maple and Westfield avenues
• Maple Avenue and Old Lake and Madison avenues
• Monroe Street between Bond and Main streets
• Old Lake Avenue between Madison and Maple avenues
• West Lake Street between Broad Street and Dukes Road

The creation of designated bikeways comes several years after City Council adopted an ordinance to establish a Complete Streets policy in August 2015. Complete Streets encourage creating streets that accommodate users of all ages and types, including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit vehicles, children, older citizens.