Bike path draws all-around praise

Joseph Dee
The Trenton Times

November 13, 2002

LAWRENCE - Gas pedals will give way to bicycle pedals along a new 20-mile trail that will loop through two Mercer County towns.

Hailed as a recreational asset and a resource that will give options to commuters who normally drive to work, the $6 million Lawrence Hopewell Trail was unveiled by business and government leaders yesterday.

The trail, which will be reserved for walkers, joggers, skaters, bicyclists and wheelchair users, will form a loop in Lawrence and Hopewell townships. It will link three Bristol-Myers Squibb corporate centers and the Educational Testing Service headquarters, which together employ about 8,300 people.

"Ten months ago, Bristol-Myers Squibb invited people to try to create a trail," said Bristol-Myers senior director Louis Fedele. During those discussions, "The trail grew from several miles to the 20-mile Lawrence Hopewell Trail."

The trail, which also will pass through the Lawrenceville School, Mercer County Park Northwest, Rosedale Park and the Stoney Brook-Millstone Watershed Association Reserve, is expected to be completed in the fall of 2004.

About four miles of the trail already exist. Construction of the remaining portion is scheduled to start in the fall of 2003. Grants are being sought by a committee of citizens and business and government leaders.

"It was apparent this was a great idea," Rep. Rush Holt, D-Hopewell Township, said at the news conference, which attracted 120 people to ETS' Chauncey Center on Rosedale Road. "The only thing that surprises me is how quickly it came together."

During a luncheon that followed the announcement, Princeton Freewheelers bicycle club member Harri Nowrey of Hamilton said, "We're real excited about this loop."

"It will make the busy roads safer, especially if they widen the shoulders," said fellow club member Norene Barish, also of Hamilton.

Holt said he is cosponsor of the pending Bike Commuter Act, which would extend to bicycle commuters tax-exempt financial benefits that corporations can give to car-poolers and those who use commuter parking lots.

"This is a tremendous endeavor," Mercer County Executive Robert D. Prunetti said. "This is a prime example of the private sector, government and private citizens getting together to make life better for everybody."

Bristol-Myers Squibb has pledged $1 million to build portions of the paved trail that will be on its three corporate locations. Mercer County has earmarked $1.2 million in next year's budget to build the trail through its parks and to build bathroom and parking facilities. And ETS has pledged a $250,000 endowment to maintain the trail.

Parts of the trail will run along shoulders of existing streets and roads, and other parts will run parallel to roads but offset from them, said Bristol-Myers director of corporate affairs Becky Taylor, who was praised by many speakers at the news conference as the catalyst for the project.

"We'll look to see what's needed in terms of extending shoulders and putting up (signs)," Taylor said. "We have to go over the route inch-by-inch, and obviously we will, because safety is our first priority."

After the news conference, Holt said a member of an environmentalist organization indicated a wish that the trail skirt the Carson Road Woods, instead of cut through it.

Informed of this concern, Taylor said some modifications to the proposed route could be made as the plan advances. "We'll take into consideration whatever input people provide," she said.

State Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bradley Campbell praised the plan "for achieving the objective of smart growth. I'm grateful for the role we've been allowed to play in this." He promised to provide support "wherever we can in the future."

State Sen. Shirley Turner, D-Lawrence, echoed the view that the trail is a shining example of public and private sectors working together. "I look forward to bicycling on this trail," she said.

Prunetti said the bathroom and parking facilities that will be built in Mercer County Park Northwest will be close enough to be of use to bikers and other users of the trail and will be located "near the area of the park that will be more active, and not intrude on the natural areas."

Others who praised the plan were Lawrence Township Councilwoman Pamela Mount and Hopewell Township Planning Board member Kathy Bird.