Circuit Trails – The Media Pub News (TM)

Signage highlights partnerships to connect Circuit Trails

PRINCETON, N.J. — With funding from the William Penn Foundation, D&R Greenway plans to develop

From left – D&R Greenway Land Trust President & CEO Linda Mead; Bordentown City Mayor James Lynch; Joel Dowshen of the Abbott Marshlands Council; and Kay Widmer, representing Friends of the Abbott Marshlands. All welcome the new sign at Bordentown Beach that signals community partnerships.
— Provided photo

more interpretive signage like the new one at Bordentown Beach that connects communities.

As part of its new “Community Conservation” initiative, D&R Greenway, Abbott Marshlands, and TravelStorys App will partner to connect the Greater Philadelphia and Greater Trenton Circuit Trails.

The connectivity of these trails will feature historical and educational signage along their paths. There will be about four new signs.

“D&R Greenway’s expertise lies in maximizing existing partnerships and building new partnerships at all levels – State Government, County Government, Municipal Government, corporations, community groups, nonprofit organizations and individuals,” says President and CEO Linda Mead.

D&R Greenway recognizes all the beneficiaries of land preservation, and so the new totem-designed signage at Bordentown Beach in the Abbott Marshlands lists collaborators of the effort.

The sign helps to promote the use of the Circuit Trails, Tulpehaking Nature Center, and the TravelStorys app.

“D&R Greenway has acted as the leader to bring all these groups together to understand the importance of connecting communities and merging resources to do so,” Mead says.

“The signage will also acknowledge the perseverance and volunteer work of key community people, those who ultimately protect and care for our watershed with boots on the ground,” she says.

For 25 years now, D&R Greenway has been working toward preservation and stewardship of the Abbott Marshlands. It has worked with Mercer and Burlington counties to make the Abbott Marshlands and the Circuit Trails the robust community assets they are today.

An oasis of natural beauty, the Abbott Marshlands is a unique urban wetland where osprey, marsh wrens, and many kinds of butterflies and dragonflies live. There are also the occasional beluga whale and harp seal.

Human visitors include students on field trips, hikers, cyclists, bird watchers, canoeists, kayakers, fishers, hunters, photographers and artists.

Folks along these trails can also enjoy the offerings at the Tulpehaking Nature Center created by D&R Greenway and N.J. Green Acres Program in partnership with Mercer County.

Along with 15 new signs and trail maps, the new TravelStorys app that was released in 2017 provide paddling and walking tours, enabling visitors to imagine journeying back in time.

This app allows them to navigate Crosswicks Creek in the Abbott Marshlands, visit the bluffs that witnessed Lenape Indian life, early English settlers and French royalty. App users can hear the sounds of a railroad, summer insects and the call of an osprey while learning about key events that shifted the course of American history.

Both the app and new signage along the regional network of hundreds of miles of multi-use trails, enhance community connections, and will soon add the Tulpehaking Nature Center, Abbott Marshlands and Lawrence-Hopewell Trail to the Circuit network.

The William Penn Foundation not only funds the new signage for the Circuit Trails, but it also funds the Alliance for Watershed Education, which is a group of 23 nature centers that bring educational programs to the public with a goal of protecting natural resources of the Delaware River Watershed. More than 15 million people get their drinking water from the Delaware River Watershed.

D&R Greenway Land Trust and the Tulpehaking Nature Center are members of the Alliance for Watershed Education.

Inaugural Trenton Wellness Loop to make many connections

TRENTON, N.J. – At a recent ribbon-cutting ceremony, Trenton Mayor

Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora cuts the ribbon at the opening of Trenton Wellness Loop for bikers in the City.
– Photo by Michelle Dryden

Reed Gusciora, City Council members, D&R Greenway and project partners announced a new Wellness Loop at Trenton Battle Monument.

This Wellness Loop for bikers or cyclists will connect the historic Trenton Battle Monument and the D&R Canal path with the other larger Circuit Trails in the State of New Jersey and beyond.

“This project has been planned for years and is finally on the ground,” says D&R Greenway Vice President, Jay Watson.

The new trail features on-street bike lane striping, signage and way finding through Trenton’s downtown. The City of Trenton and the Partnership for Healthy Kids created the design and Watson spearheaded the implementation.

“This is truly a dream come true,” Watson continues. “For nearly two decades, the State, Mercer County and the City of Trenton were looking for ways to complete trail connections along the D&R Canal and the Delaware River.”

Watson’s leadership brought the partners together.

“Building on our preservation work and close partnership with the City and Mercer County, we were able to bring D&R Greenway’s strategic know-how and efficiencies to the table to get this project done.”

As a result, the Trenton Wellness Loop is strategically and historically making connections.

The Loop starts at the Trenton Battlefield Monument, at an area known as “Five Points,” where the American artillery were placed during the Revolutionary War on Dec. 26, 1776, when the Americans gained victory at the first Battle of Trenton.

This Wellness Loop will connect to a larger trail segment that is in progress, and it will also reconnect the D&R Canal towpath through Trenton’s streets to another section of the D&R Canal in Hamilton Township.

“The D&R Canal State Park is one of the State’s most visited parks. Reconnecting this segment that runs through the Abbott Marshlands to the main trail system creates linkages to the Delaware River Heritage Trail and the Circuit Trail that is currently in creation,” says Olivia Glenn, director of parks and forestry for the NJDEP.

The Circuit Trail is a system of connected public trails in the Greater Philadelphia and South-Central New Jersey region. When it is completed, it will include 800 miles of multi-use paths for cyclists, walkers, runners, commuters and families for recreation and active transportation.

Cyclists gather in front The Trenton Battle Monument stature after taking their first ride around the Wellness Loop following the ribbon cutting.
– Photo by Michelle Dryden

Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora looks forward to this improvement to the Capital City.

“I am very excited about these projects in our city, making bicycling safer for our residents and visitors,” says Mayor Gusciora.

“Many of Trenton’s residents move around our city by bicycle as their primary mode of transportation. Creating bike lanes to integrate them into the proper traffic patterns will serve to protect them and inform motorists to share the roadways,” he said.

Currently, the new bicycle lanes are along Warren and North Broad streets, and Assunpink Boulevard.

“The Wellness Loop is yet another way D&R Greenway is working to enhance the health of the Capital City,” says Watson.

“In addition to making the streets safer for Trenton’s many bicycling commuters, the Wellness Loop is a great way for families to spend time together outdoors, get a cardiovascular workout, see our preserves and reap the health benefits of nature,” he said.

D&R Greenway secured funding from the William Penn Foundation through the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission to bring this project to fruition.

— Follow Michelle Dryden on Twitter @Michelle_Dryden