Union Co. Fireman Walks 14 Miles From Summit To Advocate For Pedestrian Safety

SUMMIT, NJ — A local fireman from Kenilworth recently embarked on a 14 mile adventure, in which he biked and walked across the Summit Park Line and traversed several towns in Union County, all with the goal of advocating for pedestrian safety.

Stephen Dunn completed his crusade across the county on Wednesday, March 16 — biking from the firehouse where he works in Elizabeth to his home in Kenilworth, then through the Summit Park Line and ending back at the Elizabeth River Trail. According to his watch, Dunn said he completed approximately 14 miles of walking.

Some of the other towns he passed through included Roselle Park, Springfield and Union.

Dunn said part of the reason he decided to embark on this adventure was simply for his love of biking and walking as a form of transportation, as opposed to traveling by car. Whenever he can, Dunn opts to hop on his bike or use his own two legs to get from point A to point B.

He said he even bikes to the firehouse in Elizabeth everyday for work, which is a little over four miles from his home in Kenilworth.

"Traffic in Elizabeth is terrible," Dunn said. "It's pretty frustrating. So I can actually get home quicker from the firehouse by bike than car."

This also saves him some money on gas — especially now as gas prices are soaring in New Jersey.

Before he was a firefighter, Dunn was an EMT and treated a lot of kids with asthma. He said the rates of childhood asthma in cities like Elizabeth are a lot higher than elsewhere, and he feels that by not driving his car all the time, in a small way, he helps less pollution flow into the air.

But one of the main ideas behind his adventure was to show the connections that exist between Summit and the Goethals Bridge in Elizabeth. These are connections that people can explore without getting in a car, Dunn argued.

Besides working as a firefighter, Dunn is part of "Union County Rails to Trails" — an advocacy group focused on pedestrian and bicycle safety, as well as converting inactive rail lines into greenways — or trails — to connect the county's communities, parks and businesses.

During Dunn's big walk last week, he walked along railroads, trails and even jaywalked across Route 22 — a notoriously dangerous highway.

He said a big reason why he decided to promote trail development in the first place was because of the death of his friend Sarah, who was struck and killed by a bus while riding her bike in Brooklyn.

See a photo below:

This tragedy, combined with all the pedestrian fatalities he has seen through his work as a fireman, has been a catalyst to try and improve safety conditions for everyone who bikes and walks.

Dunn said one of his ultimate goals is to change people's perception on how they view local transportation.

"If you want to go somewhere in Union County, most people have a map in their head, and that map includes roads," Dunn said. "You have the Parkway, you have Route 22, you have 78, you have Route 1. My goal is to change that image."

"If I want to go somewhere, I don't necessarily have to get in my car. I can go up on my bike, or I can just walk, and there's safe and reliable routes that you can take."

After finishing his 14 miles last week, Dunn said he felt really accomplished, but extremely exhausted. He had stayed up the entire night before the walk because of a fire that consumed four houses in Elizabeth.

Read more: Massive Fire Destroys 3 Homes, 4th Damaged In Elizabeth: PHOTOS

Although he completed the walk alone, Dunn said many people voiced their support for him along the way.

The president of the Summit Park Line Foundation Dr. Robert Rubino heard what Dunn was doing and was really excited. Additionally, Dunn said he received many encouraging messages from the community.

"A lot of people sent me messages throughout the day, and it was just awesome," Dunn said. "It was a great feeling to see all the support and to feel the love from everyone. So I when I finished it, it felt like a good accomplishment."

In the future, Dunn said he wants to build on this adventure and tackle more challenging feats. His big dream is to hike the entire Appalachian Trail, but in the meantime, he aims to continue advocating for pedestrian safety and the construction of local trails.

Dunn documented his entire journey last week on his Instagram @thebikingfireman.

Check it out here.

Miraculously, Dunn was able to complete the bike ride/walk with a broken collar bone, which he received surgery for he day after his adventure. While riding his bike back in July, a car cut Dunn off, causing him to fly over the handlebars and land on his shoulder by the wheel of the car.

A photo post-surgery can be seen on his Instagram:

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