Why were 3 Wayne boys crossing Rt 46 on a train trestle?

Simple!  There is absolutely no other way for the kids to walk or bike between the area neighborhoods and towns.

If you haven't heard, over the weekend two boys were hit and killed by an NJ TRANSIT train and another injured as he jumped off the trestle bridge to avoid getting hit (Read the informative and well written article from The Star-Ledger).  This tragedy happened at where I 80, NJ 23 and US 46 all intersect.  This interchange is locally know as the "Spaghetti Bowl" due to its seemingly endless and dizzying expanse of twisting, turning off-ramps and clover leaves.  Unfortunately this interchange was built in an era when no consideration was given to the needs of pedestrians or bicyclists looking to travel between the surrounding neighborhoods.  Even more unfortunate, at least one of the possible alternative crossings was given a major renovation within the past 15 years with nary a consideration given for anything other that the efficient flow of motor vehicle traffic.


View Location of Wayne double fatal NJ TRANSIT crash in a larger map

If you take a close look at the above map I prepared, you can see that there are no practical routes for miles around for non-motorized road users looking to travel north or south over both I 80 and US 46 anywhere near the NJ 23 corridor.