Township officials held the public hearing on the plan to build a 900-foot-long segment of the trail in order to comply with a request of the state Department of environmental Protection’s Green Acres Program.
By:Lea Kahn Staff Writer
A plan to build another leg of the Lawrence-Hopewell Trail through a wooded area at the edge of Village Park met with kudos from a handful of township residents who turned out for a brief public hearing Tuesday.
Township officials held the public hearing on the plan to build a 900-foot-long segment of the trail in order to comply with a request of the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Green Acres Program.
The public hearing was needed because constructing a path constitutes a change in use of the land, said Steven Groeger, the township’s Superintendent of Recreation. The land was purchased with Green Acres Program money many years ago.
The proposed path would start at the edge of the parking lot off Gordon Avenue, inside Village Park, Mr. Groeger said. It would be constructed through a wooded area and end on Keefe Road.
Mr. Groeger said the 8-foot-wide path would likely be made of crushed stone. A 60-foot-long stretch of the path would be made of mulch where it crosses a wetlands area, he added. A 6-foot-wide wooden bridge also would be built to cross a stream.
The 900-foot-long path is part of the Lawrence-Hopewell Trail. When it is completed, the 20-mile-long trail will link Lawrence and Hopewell townships. The trail is intended to be used by pedestrians and bicyclists.
When it was time for the public to speak, Shirley Lane resident Ann Garwig said she "strongly applauds" the effort to build the path which will connect Village Park and Mercer County Park Northwest. The county-owned park is on the opposite side of Keefe Road from Village Park.
Dix Lane resident Eleanor Horne, who is the co-chairwoman of the Lawrence-Hopewell Trail Task Force, thanked township officials for their cooperation and support of the trail. She said the group "fully supports" the efforts to connect the township-owned park and the county-owned park.
After the public hearing, which lasted less than five minutes, Mr. Groeger said township officials expect to seek bids for the trail’s construction. Work on the trail likely will begin in the fall, he said. The township received two federal grants for $25,000 each to build the path.
Segments of the Lawrence-Hopewell Trail have been constructed in Lawrence and Hopewell townships. It meanders through The Lawrenceville School campus, the village of Lawrenceville and into Village Park. A portion also has been built on the Educational Testing Service campus, off Rosedale Road.
Plans to build another leg of the trail through the township-owned Carson Road Woods have been mired in controversy, as the Friends of the Carson Road Woods have questioned various proposed routes, the width of the trail and the material most likely asphalt that would be used to construct it.
In Hopewell Township, a 1.2-mile-long segment was completed last year. It runs along the Pennington-Rocky Hill Road and Titus Mill Road, from Wargo Road to Old Mill Road. It borders the Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. campus in Hopewell Township.

