The planned Lawrence Station Road connector trail, which will link the Liberty Green and the Eaves at Lawrenceville developments to Avalon Way, is moving ahead.
The Lawrence Township Council awarded a contract for $177,328 to consultant NV5 for engineering design services for the connector trail.
The township had previously received a grant from the New Jersey Department of Transportation’s Transportation Alternatives program for construction of the trail.
The proposed 10-foot-wide trail will begin at Fountayne Lane in the Liberty Green development and end at Avalon Way.
The connector trail will be built through open fields. It will be constructed of porous pavement, which will allow rainwater to seep into the ground.
A boardwalk will be constructed over the environmentally sensitive areas along Lawrence Station Road, such as wetlands and wetland buffers.
When it is completed, the Lawrence Station Road connector trail will link the Liberty Green single-family-home development and the Eaves at Lawrenceville apartment development with the businesses on Avalon Way and Quakerbridge Road.
Residents will be able to walk or ride their bicycles to the nearby commercial and retail areas, both for work and for shopping. The two developments comprise more than 1,200 dwelling units.
The Liberty Green residents must drive to the businesses because Lawrence Station Road is not safe for pedestrians or bicyclists. The speed limit is 40 miles per hour, and the heavily traveled road does not have room on its shoulders for bicycle riders.
The connector trail will connect the north and south sections of the Eaves at Lawrenceville apartment complex, which is bisected by a tributary to the Shipetaukin Creek. Amenities, such as the clubhouse and swimming pool, are on the north side of the stream and reachable by a narrow walkway.
