On the trail of a worthy project
Pam Mount, May 9, 2009
The Trenton Times

As I attend meetings and functions all over town, one of the most frequently asked questions is: "When will the Lawrence Hopewell Trail be finished and, specifically, the section through Carson Road?"

It has been six years since the Lawrence Hopewell Trail, a 20-plus-mile loop that will run through Lawrence and Hopewell, began. More than half the trail has been completed, and in Lawrence, more than two-thirds of the trail is complete. It is a multi-purpose trail used by everyone, old and young, walkers and bike riders, commut ers and bird watchers and new parents pushing baby strollers.

Since 2002, the Lawrence Hopewell Trail has identified and se cured approximately $4.5 million in funding. Of that amount, 75 percent is from corporate donations, individuals and federal-source grant monies. The remaining 25 percent has been set aside by Mercer County for improvements of the trail system, specifically at the Mercer County Park Northwest (Pole Farm and Rosedale). To date, no direct appropriation for the trail has come from Lawrence Township taxpayers. Nor has any taxpayer appropriation been proposed.

In 2007, our township received $775,682 from Merrill Lynch through ELSA (the Ewing Lawrence Sewer Authority) for municipal improvement. It was a windfall grant after the sewer was extended to the new Merrill Lynch site in Hopewell. At that time, town council directed those funds to worthy projects to benefit all the residents of the town. Some of those funds went to building new bathroom facilities at Central Park and some went to the purchase of the Twin Pines Airport for playing fields. I propose that some of the windfall grant go toward construction of the all-purpose trail at the town park at Carson Road Woods. These funds are not taxpayer money.

These are difficult times and our families need safe places to spend their limited free time without spending their hard-earned dollars.

Pam Mount is mayor of Lawrence Township.


© The Times of Trenton 2009