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$440K Shoreline Greenway Trail Section Proposed for Branford's Tabor Land

Plans of an estimated $440,000 project (with 80 percent federally funded) to construct a multi-use leg of the Shoreline Greenway Trail over town-owned Tabor property will be shared, and public input sought, on Wednesday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. at Branford Fire Headquarters, 45 North Main Street.

There is an existing Shoreline Greenway walking trail already on the property. This project would create a more robust, stone dust-based, multi-use trail (foot traffic, bikes, wheelchairs, etc.) of approximately 3,400 feet from end to end, on Tabor land from Tabor Drive to Pine Orchard Road. Trail head parking improvements, which are to be undertaken and paid for separately by the Town of Branford, are proposed at each trail end on Tabor Drive and Pine Orchard Road.

Non-profit Shoreline Greenway Trail seeks to make segements of the shoreline, from East Haven to Madison, safely accessible with trails that can used by pedistrians, cyclists, wheelchair users, parents pushing strollers, and others. The Tabor project has two alternative add-on options; one is to add a connection to the existing Birch Road section of the Shoreline Greenway Trail (additional $140,000 funding would be required). The other alternative add on is to pave the proposed trail design with asphalt as opposed to laying stone dust, for an addtional cost of $60,000. 

On Oct. 7, abutting property owners were notified of the meeting and project in a letter sent from Town Engineer Janice Plaziak. In the letter, Plaziak wrote that a preliminary assessment of the project puts the anticipated construction cost at $440,000. The Federal Highway Administration will cover 80 percent of the cost and the Town of Branford and Shoreline Greenway Trail would provide 20 percent.

Plaziak said it's the policy of the town and the state to keep citizens "informed and involved when such projects are undertaken.

"It is important that the community share its concerns with us to assist in the project's development," wrote Plaziak.

Comments and concerns need to be made by Wednesday, Nov. 2 and can be sent in written form to Town Engineer Janice Plaziak P.E., 1019 Main St. Branford CT 06405. To send comments by email or for more information, contact Plaziak at engineering@branford-ct.gov

The project will also require several permits, including vetting by Branford Inland Wetlands Agency, Branford Planning & Zoning Commission, and Town of Branford Coastal Area Management as well as gaining Department of Energy & Environmental Protection Flood Management certification

Project scheduling calls for final design and permitting to be completed by spring 2017, with construction starting in late spring 2017.