Festivities begin at 9 a.m., with the official ribbon-cutting set for 9:30 a.m. The event ends at 11:30 a.m.
By Lea Kahn
The Lawrence-Hopewell Trail Task Force will open the first leg of the 20-mile loop path in Hopewell Township on Saturday morning at the Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s Hopewell campus on the Pennington-Rocky Hill Road.
The 1.2-mile-path was completed several weeks ago, but Saturday marks its official opening. Festivities begin at 9 a.m., with the official ribbon-cutting set for 9:30 a.m. The event ends at 11:30 a.m.
Lawrence-Hopewell Trail Day festivities will feature the mascots of the Trenton Thunder and Trenton Titans, as well as a bicycle decorating contest, with decorations supplied by the Trail Task Force, and a decorated bicycle parade. There will be face painting, music and free nutritional snacks and giveaways.
The festivities also will feature the 2005 Bristol-Myers Squibb Tour of Hope team. The 20-member team, chosen from among 1,100 applicants nationwide, will conduct relay rides around the Bristol-Myers Squibb loop road inside the Hopewell Township campus.
The Tour of Hope team plans to spend the next four months preparing for a cross-country ride with Lance Armstrong a six-time bicycle Tour de France champion and cancer survivor in the fall. The goal is to increase awareness of the importance of cancer research and clinical trials.
The team members each have been touched by cancer as survivors, caregivers, advocates and researchers. The first team was organized in 2003. This year’s cross-country trek kicks off in San Diego on Sept. 29, and ends in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 8.
Several portions of the Lawrence-Hopewell Trail have been opened in Lawrence, but this is the first leg of the trail that has opened in Hopewell Township. This segment runs along the Pennington-Rocky Hill and Titus Mill roads, from Wargo to Old Mill roads.
The Lawrence-Hopewell Trail is intended to connect the two townships. Plans call for it to cross the Educational Testing Service, Bristol-Myers Squibb campuses in Lawrence and Hopewell Township , the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association property, and Mercer County Park Northwest. It may also run along Lawrence Township and county roads.
In Lawrence, a portion of the trail already has been constructed on the ETS campus off Rosedale Road. Another segment of the trail begins on The Lawrenceville School campus. It crosses Main Street to Gordon Avenue, where it continues up to James Street. It crosses Phillips Avenue and continues to Craven Lane, across Bergen Street and into Village Park.
Now that the Hopewell Township leg is open, trail backers are planning for the next phase of the trail to be opened. A leg of the trail from Village Park across Keefe Road to Mercer County Park Northwest may be opened next summer. There are plans for the path to continue through the county-owned park.
Also on the drawing board is a segment of the trail from Lewisville Road to Princeton Pike and Fackler Road. The trail would cross Route 206 near Fackler Road and link up with another segment of the trail that would be built on B-MS’ Lawrence campus.
Another portion of the trail is planned to bisect the township-owned Carson Road Woods property. In April, Lawrence Township Council approved an application for a $225,000 grant from the state Department of Transportation to construct a segment of the trail.