Politics & Government

Pequonnock River Trail to Bypass Laurel St. Area

Residents want it to run behind the Trumbull Center Shopping Plaza.

Laurel Street and Manor Drive won't become part of the Pequonnock River Trail, but the jury's not in on the rest of the proposed trail, which will run to Quarry Road and into Bridgeport.

The Greater Bridgeport Regional Council said it was rerouting the controversial connection through the Trumbull Center shopping plaza. The original proposed trail would have run up Daniels Farm Road onto Laurel Street, Manor Drive and onto a short path to Twin Brooks Park. Signs would have directed hikers and bicyclers along the road.

The rest will run along Route 127 to the Route 15/25 interchange area to Quarry Road, through Beardsley Park to Trumbull Road. Then it meets a section of Trumbull Road/River Road closed to cars, before returning to Beardsley Park and ending on Crown Street in Bridgeport.

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At the recent hearing at the , GBRC Senior Transportation Planner Mark Nielsen said, "The point is to show preliminary designs for the project."

He added that he has been working on the project since 1992. It will be a continuous shared use trail 16.5 miles long between Newtown and Bridgeport following the old Housatonic Railway Line.

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Laurel Street neighbors and residents near the entrance to the Pequonnock Valley Trail (which would be connected) said parking will be an issue, and increased traffic would endanger the neighborhood.

Nielsen said continuous trails are safer. "We have opportunity to build a trail using an old railbed. Studies have shown these trails are extremely safe."

He added that he grew up in Trumbull and bicycled all over town. White Plains Road and Daniels Farm Road are busy but navigable roads for adults. "When you're a child, a younger adult, it becomes dangerous," Nielsen said.

According to Nielsen, the proposal in its final design phase. He repeated that Laurel Street will not be considered as a connector for the Valley and River trails.

There will also be another hearing before any construction begins, the senior planner said.

About $4.6 million has been spent to date designing and building open trail sections. The total cost of the rest of work as planned so far is estimated at $5,951,500.


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