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Health & Fitness

From Madison to New Haven: Enjoy the Shoreline Greenway Trail

Looking for a new place to walk or bike? Check out the Shoreline Greenway Trail. The 25-mile continuous off-road trail will connect the Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven to Hammonasset State Beach Park in Madison.
The newest completed section can be picked up at Hammonasset, the eastern end of the trail.
The Shoreline Greenway Trail website states that this section, completed this past February, includes a boardwalk with 38 helical piers that crosses 72 feet of tidal marsh. A composite grid material allows 88 to 90 percent of natural light into the marsh grasses. The 220-foot-long, 10-foot-wide boardwalk includes ramps to make it accessible to people in wheelchairs and those with limited mobility.
The $57,000 walkway was financed through the Dorr Foundation in honor of Shirley Punzelt, of Madison, who retired from the Board of Directors. Financing also came from the Long Island Sound License Plate Fund, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), and a Challenge Grant from the Community Foundation of Greater New Haven. This section will be connected to the rest of the trail allowing bicyclists, walkers, and runners, to traverse through Madison, Guilford, Branford, East Haven, and New Haven.
The New Haven Register reported that about 18 private land owners were contacted along the trail’s route and all supported the project. Those owners who allow an easement through their property for the trail are protected from any liability by Connecticut General Statue 52-557h. Additionally, the Shoreline Greenway Trail carries liability insurance.
Studies show that trail-front property values increase after trails are built. The Rails-To-Trails Conservancy reports that trails do not increase crime after studying 372 trails in 1995 and 1996.
While the five towns already have hundreds of miles of trails, this will be the first trail allowing folks to be safe from traffic while walking between those towns.
For the town of Guilford, preparations have begun earlier this year for the trail, according to the New Haven Register. It will begin at the East River in Madison and is anticipated to end at Boston Street.
The Shoreline Greenway Trail in Guilford will connect to the 200-mile north-south New England Trail that goes through New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.
As for Branford’s 8.9 miles of trail, there are already four popular sections including the 8/10-mile Stony Creek Trolley Trail, 1/3-mile section going from Birch Road to Pine Orchard Road, a 7/10-mile trail on the Tabor Property, and the Young’s Pond Park.
This past October, a 1 ½-mile section of trail in East Haven on the western end of the trail, opened from D.C. Moore School to Short Beach Road. The next step is to extend the trail through Bradford Preserve.
Another section of trail in East Haven of note is the steep ½-mile section in Farm River State Park.
In total, East Haven will have a 3-½ mile section which will connect with New Haven’s trail going to Lighthouse Point Park, which will be linked with the proposed New Haven Harborside Trail.
The Shoreline Greenway Trail is expected to feature signs identifying trees, plants, as well as manmade and natural features. It will also feature a distinctive pink crushed granite from the local Stony Creek quarry.
Before venturing out, explorers should visit the Shoreline Greenway Trail website to get a status report and map of the trails. They can also get information on how to donate or volunteer on continuing efforts to fix unimproved sections of the trail.

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