Friends of Carson Road Woods: News

Lawrence councilman proposes trail alternative

Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
The Lawrence Ledger

August 28, 2003

Proposed bike route would use county park.

Aiming to make the proposed Lawrence-Hopewell Trail a family-friendly bike path, Councilman Rick Miller has proposed placing it in Mercer County Park Northwest.

Mr. Miller suggested creating a bike trail along the perimeter of Mercer County Park Northwest, in a letter to Mercer County Executive Robert Prunetti. The park consists of the former AT&T pole farm, off Keefe and Cold Soil roads, and Rosedale Park in Hopewell Township.

Mr. Miller's plan would be an alternative to the Lawrence-Hopewell Trail, as previously proposed, and take the path completely off roadways.

Officials from Mr. Prunetti's office said they are in the process of drafting a response to Mr. Miller and have no further comment at this time.

Meanwhile, the Lawrence-Hopewell Trail Task Force, which is coordinating the proposed 20-mile bicycle path, is considering all suggestions from the public, according to task force member Eleanor Horne. She is vice president and corporate secretary for the Educational Testing Service.

The bike trail as proposed by the task force would connect the two townships. It would cross the Educational Testing Service, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Stony Brook Millstone Watershed Reservation properties, as well as Mercer County Park Northwest.

Also, the bike trail would skirt the wooded area in the township-owned Carson Road Woods property--a route that has been contested by the newly formed Friends of Carson Road Woods, Inc. It would traverse privately owned land whose owners have granted easements for it.

The trail also would take bicyclists and pedestrians along township- and county-owned roads in Lawrence and Hopewell--and that is one of Mr. Miller's concerns, according to his Aug. 11 letter to Mr. Prunetti.

"The plans that the community has seen so far call for a large portion of the trail to remain on crowded and narrow roadways, some of which are county roads or routes," wrote Mr. Miller, who lives on Carter Road and whose property borders the Carson Road Woods property.

"Easements will have to be attained and roads will have to be widened to safely accommodate the trail as proposed," he wrote. "This will change the rural character of many roads. If these changes are not made, the safety of cyclists will be in jeopardy."

Mr. Miller pointed out that the county-owned park is larger than Central Park in Manhattan. When Mercer County Park Northwest was preserved, it was intended to provide passive and active recreational opportunities, he wrote.

"A 10-foot-wide asphalt bike path, like the one proposed by the Lawrence- Hopewell Trail (task force), fits with the characteristics of a large county park," Mr. Miller wrote. "By keeping the bike path larger on the perimeter of the Mercer County Park Northwest, large portions of the interior could be left undisturbed.

"Such a bike path would be truly family friendly and accessible to all, including the elderly, the handicapped and those who feel that biking on narrow country roads or already congested roadways is unsafe," he wrote.

The trail as proposed by the Lawrence-Hopewell Trail task force is not suitable to any audience, he wrote. It is not family friendly nor is it handicapped accessible, he wrote.

"Instead of creating something that is haphazard and piecemeal, why not create a separate project that truly fills a need," Mr. Miller wrote, adding that he would like to meet with Mr. Prunetti and the Mercer County Park Commission to discuss his proposal.

Ms. Horne, who serves on the Lawrence-Hopewell Trail task force, said the committee would consider any advice it receives on the nature or route of the proposed trail.

However, she does have some concerns with Mr. Miller's proposal.

"Having the trail go through Mercer County Park Northwest doesn't address all of the goals we had for the trail," Ms. Horne said. "It addresses recreational uses, but not the potential as a means of getting around from one place to another."

Ms. Horne said the trail committee "looks forward" to discussing the issue with Mr. Miller, the Friends of Carson Road Woods, Inc. and anyone else who has suggestions for the trail.