Path extending from Twin Rivers development to Etra Lake Park in East Windsor should be completed by March 2006.
By: Marisa Maldonado
EAST WINDSOR The Twin Rivers-Etra Lake Pathway should be complete by March 2006, an official said, after the Township Council recently appointed Remington, Vernick & Arango Engineers to execute the 10-month project.
The Burlington-based company will begin work this month on the trail, which will extend from the Twin Rivers development to Etra Lake Park. The Township Council passed a resolution approving the company’s $80,000 contract at its May 3 meeting.
The project, which will cost about $300,000, is being funded with a $300,000 grant from the Department of Transportation, Mayor Janice Mironov said. The township received the grant last year.
The path would provide a safer and shorter route for residents who want to travel from Twin Rivers, the township’s largest development, to Etra Lake Park. A combination of bicycle and walkway paths will run from the end of Lake Drive to Milford Road, with a pedestrian path spanning from the shore of Etra Lake to the playground at Etra Lake Park.
Engineers from Remington, Vernick & Arango first must survey the plants and other environmental factors along the lake before applying for permits from the Department of Environmental Protection. Construction could be delayed if the project requires a large number of permits, the mayor said.
"It depends on their timeline for review and processing those permit applications," the mayor said. "That becomes something outside our immediate control."
The path will run along the ground as well as a 20-foot boardwalk that will scale a marsh.
"It would be an off-street linkage that would go through open land, past woods, rather than along the roadway," Mayor Mironov said. "It’ll be safe, it’ll be pretty."
Residents now must travel on several major roads in the township to access the park from Twin Rivers, including Twin Rivers Drive and Etra Road.
"Those are relatively busy roadways," the mayor said, "with minimal areas along the side for a pedestrian or a bicycler."
Remington, Vernick & Arango have designed other trails for the township, including the Rocky Brook and Bear Brook bikeways.

