Welcome to Shoreline Greenway Trail
The Shoreline Greenway Trail is being built as a continuous path for bicyclists, walkers and hikers and for people of all ages to enjoy the outdoors and help create healthy communities along the Connecticut shoreline.
Our 25-mile trail on the Connecticut Shoreline will extend from Lighthouse Point on the New Haven Harbor through East Haven, Branford and Guilford, to Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison.
Award-winning author Mary Collins to discuss “American Idle” at Shoreline Greenway Trail’s 10th Annual Celebration on May 8
Award winning author Mary Collins, writer for National Geographic, the Smithsonian, and Discovery Channel, will discuss her latest book, American Idle: A Journey Through Our Sedentary Culture at Shoreline Greenway Trail’s 10th Annual Celebration on Tuesday, May 8 at the Branford Community House. There will be a Members Annual Meeting at 6:45 PM followed by Ms Collin’s presentation at 7:15 PM. The public is invited.
Collins will highlight the social, cultural, physical and even moral consequences of living in a society that no longer is active in everyday life, and how to integrate movement back into our everyday life. In this quirky cultural snapshot she visits a potato chip factory and reflects on her own physical habits as an American.
A former part-time faculty member at Johns Hopkins University’s MA in Writing program, Mary Collins now teaches full-time at Central Connecticut State University where she won the 2011 Teaching Award.
At 6:45 PM, the Members Annual Meeting will be held to elect Board members and to recognize outstanding Volunteer Leaders as we celebrate our progress in building a 25-mile Trail through our four shoreline towns from Madison Hammonasset State Park through Guilford, Branford and East Haven to Lighthouse Park on the Eastern shore of New Haven.
Light refreshments will be served. Branford Community House is located at 46 Church Street, Branford.
Final Trail Topping installed in Madison and East Haven!
Last task - to complete the side dressing and shoulder of the trail in East Haven
“Awesome!” exclaimed one East Haven homeowner living near the trail yesterday when he saw the newly-finished trail section near the Hoop Pole Lane trailhead. He ran for his bike to take his first ride on the completed trail!
Jack Woods, chair of our Trail Development Team, is thrilled to announce that after a three-year search, Shoreline Greenway Trail selected our own local Stony Creek Quarry in Branford as the supplier of our crushed granite stone topping material. And, we hired professional trail designer/builder/educator Josh Ryan, owner of Timber and Stone LLC from Central Vermont, to do the work!
Josh Ryan, professional trail builder
Josh, a life-long hiker, has twelve years of experience building sustainable bike trails that blend in with their surroundings, that are aesthetically pleasing and environmentally sensitive. We observed first-hand his impressive trail work using a granite topping mixture on four miles of trail for the town of Wolfboro, New Hampshire.
These first two weeks of April, Josh and his three-person crew have been installing the final topping on 1700 feet of trail in Madison at Hammonasset, and 1200 feet of trail in East Haven at their Trailhead entrance off Mansfield Grove Road. In the fall, Josh’s team will install final topping on trail sections in Branford.
Kiteri compacts the topping with a mini-roller
They have good topping material to work with. For the past three years, Jack, a retired engineer, diligently searched different quarries state-wide, comparing and testing stone mixtures for the best result.
Toppings before spreading along trail in East Haven
The Stony Creek gradation mixture met all the engineering standards established by several experts Jack consulted with, including University of Pennsylvania, Acadia National Park and American Trails Association. The unique light-color Stony Creek granite will enhance the appearance of our Trail. And we are able to avoid long hauling costs, an important factor.
The work of laying the final topping over the rough gravel base layer is a complex process. It involves a few expert workers, a special mechanical Ditch Witch digger,
Josh's crew guiding the DitchWitch
a trail-building hauler to disperse the crushed stone and topsoil for side dressing, a roller compacter, and finally, rain. Water is critical to thoroughly wet and settle the new 7-9” of topping before compacting, to make the surface firm enough for bicycles and strollers.
The current drought presents a huge challenge. Undaunted, Jack has found water trucks to substitute temporarily, chalking it up to just one of many struggles and setbacks we have managed to conquer over these past 10 years.
Stop by and walk or bike these awesome new trail sections! And special thanks to an anonymous East Haven homeowner who left a box of fresh donuts on the roller machine to greet the crew one morning, her ‘thank-you’ to Shoreline Greenway Trail!
The new trail surface in use at Hammonasset
Shoreline Greenway Trail at Zane’s Big Wheel Sale
Zane’s Cycles in Branford held their popular annual Big Wheel Sale event on April 1st weekend and
creative"bike parts" sculptures on display
Shoreline Greenway Trail was there with a colorful photo display and lots of SGT handouts for customers. Everyone enjoyed choosing favorite sculptures assembled from old bike parts, which hung from the ceilings and walls, enlivening the room.
Hmmm.... a multi-family bike!
Zane’s bike store was a perfect environment to expose active people to the Shoreline Greenway trail’s vision to build a trail for family bicycling as well as walking.
It was wonderful to speak to and enlighten people who didn’t know anything about the Trail, and to update those who already support the Shoreline Greenway Trail on the progress we’ve been making. There was a steady stream of traffic by our table (being situated near the cookies and coffee helped!) and people were genuinely interested.
If you were there, thank you for listening to us and we hope to see you out on our Trail someday soon!
Chris Zane, owner and bike enthusiast
Special thanks go to Chris Zane, owner, for his continued support, and to Tom Girard, store manager, who welcomed our participation even during such a hectic time overseeing their major sales event of the year.
And thanks to SGT volunteers Jo Zaehringer, Judy Miller, Peg Stamp, Pam Bisbee Simonds and Ginny Raff for representing Shoreline Greenway Trail at the event.
