April 24, 2 p.m. —   Trail opening and ribbon cutting on the Province Line Road side of the Bristol-Myers Squibb campus in Lawrenceville. Join us to celebrate Earth Day and the completion of the trail segments on the BMS campus and the Lawrence Township segment in Carson Road Woods. But ride your bike or walk since parking will be limited.

April 29 – noon -5 p.m.  The LHT, along with about a hundred other community groups and vendors and thousands of visitors, will be at Lawrenceville’s Main Street celebration in downtown Lawrenceville.

May 12, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. — The LHT will be at the St. Lawrence Rehabilitation Center’s annual Bike Rodeo.  A great event for kids and families, come check it out and get your bicycle inspected for spring along with your safe bike handling skills.

May 19, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., The LHT will be setting up shop on the street at Pennington Days, along with over 100 other community groups and vendors and lots of great food.

Come and tell us how you use the trail.

The grant, one of only 3 awarded to New Jersey trail projects, will be used to build a section of trail that will run from the crossing at Princeton Pike Corporate Center, northwest inside the tree line at the property owned by Bristol-Myers Squibb, to the crossing at Lewisville Road near the rear entrance to The Lawrenceville School.

This LHT application, submitted with help from Mercer County Planning Division, Lawrence Township and Bristol-Myers Squibb, is one of 18 regional trail projects in the Delaware Valley that were approved by the commission. The other two approved trail projects in New Jersey are in Camden County, and the remainder are in Pennsylvania.

Lawrence Township Mayor Greg Puliti said he was very pleased with the news. “I’m grateful to the DVRPC for this award. This is a beautiful piece of land that the trail will run on, one that very few people know about because of its location,” he said. “The trail here gives us a very scenic stretch but also brings our riders and walkers to a safe crossing of Princeton Pike.”

“We are very thankful to Bristol-Myers Squibb for their help with this parcel,” said LHT Co-President Eleanor Horne. “The completion of this section of the LHT means the trail will run almost entirely off road in a continuous stretch from the D&R Canal tow path all the way to the Stony Brook Millstone Watershed.”

The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission is comprised of elected officials and professional planners from nine area counties: Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia in Pennsylvania; and Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Mercer in New Jersey. The William Penn Foundation is the primary sponsor of the Regional Trails grant program. The program’s aims are to promote a regional network of multi-use trails.  For the LHT, this meant its connection to the Delaware & Raritan Canal tow path and the connections into Lawrenceville and Mercer Meadows County Park were crucial in its application.

“I was very pleased to get the news of this award,” said Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes.  “It is always gratifying when professional planners and elected officials from other municipalities reaffirm the work we are doing and the community connections and support that the LHT has developed.”

Preliminary site plans and easements for the trail segment have already been completed, thanks to a grant from Bristol-Myers Squibb. This “shovel-readiness” and demonstration of community and corporate support was one of the key factors the DVRPC used in determining where to allocate their trail funds.

“As a founder and longtime supporter of the LHT, Bristol-Myers Squibb is delighted by the progress being made on the trail,” said company spokesman Fred Egenolf. Earlier this month BMS completed another segment on its Lawrenceville campus along Province Line Road. “Our congratulations to everyone involved with this project.”

Bidding for the project will be done over the winter with construction expected to begin in the spring of 2012. On this stretch the trail will be 10 feet wide and made of porous pavement.

The Lawrence Hopewell Trail is a nonprofit, community-based organization developing a 22-plus mile safe, family-friendly trail through the Lawrence and Hopewell communities.  72% of the trail is usable now; the remainder is planned for completion in 2012.

The LHT’s board is made up of community leaders, interested citizens and two major area employers. It started in 2002 when a group of community leaders met at Bristol-Myers Squibb to address concerns about diminishing opportunities for safe, off-road biking and walking.  Hopewell and Lawrence Township officials, state and county government representatives and several private organizations including Educational Testing Service, joined the group, and an independent nonprofit organization was formed to build a biking and walking trail.

Check the website for up-to-date information on trail sections and upcoming events: www.lhtrail.org

“This is a big milestone for the LHT and all of our supporters, both public and private, as we have been working on some of these sections for many years,” said LHT Co-president Eleanor Horne. “I am very excited that with the completion of these segments we can offer trail users much better riding and walking opportunities through some very beautiful areas in Mercer County.”

Construction first began this spring with phase I of Carson Road Woods, the section beginning at the small parking lot on Carson Road opposite Bristol-Myers Squibb continuing back about three-quarters of a mile to small stream crossing near the center of the park. This section, made up of crushed stone, was finished at the end of June. The second phase of construction in Carson Road Woods, also three-quarters of a mile, will continue from the stream crossing out to Belleview Terrace. Construction has just begun and is expected to be completed in October.

The second stone dust segment under construction – Mercer Meadows – is the longest at nearly 5 miles, with different phases of the project to continue into 2012. The redesign of Mercer Meadows County Park, formerly known as Mercer Park Northwest, is an ambitious plan that will link Rosedale Park, Curlis Lake and the Pole Farm. Connected via the LHT and various smaller trails, the park will have four distinct sections and amenities celebrating the industrial, agricultural, historical and environmental/ecological areas of the 1,000+ acre park.  The LHT will connect to the Mercer County Equestrian /Master Gardner’s Center as well as the Twin Pines Athletic complex, also currently under construction.

“The Lawrence-Hopewell Trail has been a key component in our vision for Mercer Meadows,” said Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes.  “As one of the founding partners of the Trail, we are pleased that the segment that runs through this important parcel of open space has evolved into the spine trail for the Meadows. We look forward to pedestrians and cyclists utilizing the trail and enjoying all that the park has to offer,” he said.

The third trail section under construction is on the Bristol-Myers Squibb  (BMS) Lawrenceville campus. It runs from the crossing at Carson Road, approximately three-quarters of a mile down to the end of the BMS property near the intersection of Route 206 and Province Line Road. The BMS trail segment doesn’t simply follow the campus perimeter. Instead BMS has designed its porous pavement segment to weave inside its Sycamore tree line, amidst other native vegetation.  Gentle curves and slopes along the trail route will make it a little more challenging and scenic. This section is also expected to be finished by the end of October.

“Getting over that 70% complete mark is also a big step for us psychologically, as a volunteer organization,” added LHT Co-president Becky Taylor. “It will give us the momentum we need as we work toward our goal of completing the trail loop by the end of 2012.”

Completion of the two adjoining sections in Lawrence Township – BMS and Carson Road Woods – means that riders and walkers now have a 4.5 mile trail section running from Province Line Road and Route 206, through the BMS campus, through Carson Road Woods and onto the trail loop at Educational Testing Service, (ETS). Riders and hikers may also be interested in the miles of other more challenging natural trails on the ETS campus that connect to the LHT. Users of this segment should park at ETS.

Other open areas of the trail to ride and hike.

The Historic Brearley House to Princeton Pike Corporate Center and a connection to the D&R Towpath offer a great area to explore. Parking is available.

Trail enthusiasts can also start walking or riding from Lawrenceville’s Main Street (Route 206) to Gordon Lane and then connect with Craven Lane and a beautiful path through Village Park into Mercer Meadows County Park.

Another good walk or ride could start at the Mercer County Equestrian Center on Federal City Road and ride down Old Mill Road (it is closed to cars) and then cross Pennington-Rocky Hill Road and onto the paved trail at BMS-Hopewell campus. This segment runs along the front of the BMS campus to Titus Mill Road. Cross Titus Mill and continue down Wargo Road to the Honey Brook Organic farm and the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed. Parking is available at either end of this segment, at the Equestrian Center or the Stony Brook Millstone Watershed Association.

The Lawrence Hopewell Trail is a nonprofit, community-based organization developing a 22-plus mile safe, family-friendly trail through the Lawrence and Hopewell communities. The LHT’s board is made up of your neighbors, community leaders and two major area employers. It started in 2002 when a group of community leaders met at Bristol-Myers Squibb to address concerns about diminishing opportunities for safe, off-road biking and walking.  Hopewell and Lawrence Township officials, state and county government representatives and several private organizations including Educational Testing Service, joined the group, and an independent nonprofit organization was formed to build a biking and walking trail.

Most sections of the LHT in Mercer Meadow (Mercer Park Northwest) are complete. Phase 3 should start later this summer. But even those sections are dry and rideable right not, with a mountain bike or hybrid-type tires.

If you go check out Carson Road Woods park at the small lots there  or the larger lots at Educational Testing Service, where the LHT continues.

Happy Spring from all of us at the LHT.