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As Edison moves forward with plans to construct a bike path that will connect a group of the township's public properties, a number of area residents are worried that the path will disturb the normally tranquil Shabbat scene at Earl Schenkmeyer Park. Defenders of the path say it will increase safety in the area for those residents.

The proposed two-mile bike and pedestrian pathway will start at the North Eighth Ave. tennis courts and end at the intersection of Municipal Blvd. and Route 27, connecting the tennis courts, Schenkmeyer Park, Edison train station, Papaianni Park, James Madison School and the municipal complex.

In a portion of town with many Sabbath observant families, community members say that the playground at Schenkmeyer Park serves as a quiet haven for families and children on Shabbat and other Jewish holidays.

"The Orthodox community better wake up before finding out that they will have loud music, bike riders, parties, and all other kinds of distractions invading Schenkmeyer Park, because at that point they won't be able to do anything about it," Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg, of Congregation Beth-El, said. "This is going to destroy the Shabbat atmosphere."

"There's a certain tranquility in the neighborhood, particularly on Sabbath. If this is going to bring in a big crowd it's not a good idea," Congregation Ohr Torah member Evelyn Berg said.

Edison received a $72,000 grant from Middlesex County in December 2007 for the $250,000 project, and the township's capital budget as well as the Parks Improvement Fund will cover the rest of the cost. New picnic benches, water fountains and traffic signs are also planned for the bike path.

At a town hall meeting on May 7, Mayor Jun Choi explained that the project is the first step in a long-term initiative called "Edison Trails" that aims to turn Route 27 into a more attractive town center and commercial destination for retailers.

"We want to make this section of our community much more walkable, so people can finally get out of their cars," Choi said. "Hopefully it will make Edison a much more attractive place to raise a family."

The start of the path will run to the right of the North Eighth Ave. tennis courts and to the left of Schenkmeyer Park without actually cutting into the playground at any point, Township Planner Brandy Forbes said.

After coming out of the Anthony M. Yelencsics Complex and onto Suttons Lane through the driveway of the Edison Boys Baseball League field, the path will run along Central Ave. There will be a division of pedestrian and bike traffic at Papaianni Park with a five-foot bike lane and a three-foot pedestrian walkway, Township Engineer John Medina said. But on the rest of the pathway, including near Schenkmeyer Park, walkers and bikers will travel in the same space.

When asked about how the bike path's potential impact on the Sabbath observing community, Choi responded that instead of creating extra noise and traffic at Schenkmeyer Park, he expects that the path will lead to safer travel by getting more people to ride bikes in the area instead of driving.

"None of us lives on an island; you can't expect that we will close off sections of our town," Choi said. "I think this provides a much better lifestyle and actually improves community relationships."

David Callen, a member of Ohr Torah, noted that most people who use the tennis courts at North Eighth currently come by car, meaning that the bike path could actually make the Schenkmeyer Park area quieter on Shabbat. Additionally, the path allows some Ohr Torah members to walk along Central Avenue to Shabbat services on Edgemount Rd. rather than take a roundabout route, he said.

"It's a better thing for people to come to the park with bikes than with cars [on Shabbat]," Callen said. "But it's not only about the Shabbat, think about the rest of the week."

Rosenberg, however, pointed out that there is minimal car traffic in Schenkmeyer Park on Saturdays in the first place because the surrounding community is almost entirely shomer Shabbat. He added that bikers who normally only use Papainni Park will now learn of Schenkmeyer Park because of the path and subsequently flood the area on Shabbat.

"The park should stay local," Susan Borger, who lives on Fairhill Rd., said. "We all sort of know our neighbors here, and we want to keep using the park rather than people from outside the neighborhood. With little kids running around, it's just more relaxing that way."

While some Sabbath observers who live near the Edison train station might end up using the path to walk to Schenkmeyer Park and Ohr Torah, critics argue that the path's main purpose is for biking. Most of the religious community in the area doesn't benefit from the path because they already live near the park and won't need the path to get there, critics say, making added traffic at the park the path's only real impact on Sabbath observers.

"We are taxed very highly and we don't get much because we don't use the public school system," Borger said. "The little things that we do have, like the parks and the tennis courts, are the things we actually do use."

At the town hall meeting, most of the concerns voiced by residents related to frequent speeding along Route 27, rather than the proposed bike path. Choi said that his goal is to make Edison's portion of Route 27 look more like what he called a "retail and commercial corridor," akin to the road's complexion in Metuchen and Highland Park.

"If you build a town center, traffic automatically slows down," Choi said.