By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
East Windsor Township Council has approved a $1.2 million bond ordinance to pay for road work, as well as money for the planning and design of the Union Transportation Trail Extension.
The bond ordinance earmarks $750,000 for the annual road program for repairs and improvements to roads throughout the township.
It also includes a $335,000 grant from the state Department of Transportation to pay for the resurfacing of Wiltshire Drive and Brooktree Road – from Oak Creek Road to Dutch Neck Road.
The bond ordinance includes a $135,000 grant from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission to cover the costs of planning and designing a 3.5-mile-long extension of the Union Transportation Trail, which is a pedestrian and bicycle trail.
The extension of the Union Transportation Trail would begin at the point where the existing trail ends in the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area at the Mercer County/Monmouth County line, near the intersection of Old York Road and Sharon Road.
The proposed extension would continue along an existing Central Jersey Power and Light right-of-way for most of the route. Short connector spurs would connect it to the township’s existing Turnpike Park and the Woods Road Community Park.
The Union Transportation Trail follows the roadbed of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Pemberton and Hightstown rail line, which was chartered by the Union Transportation Co. in 1864. Its use for railroad transportation was abandoned in 1977.
