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10/24/2017 02:00 PMWith the blocking boulders cleared and the site work done, a new Westbrook parking area for access to The Preserve property is now open. The new parking lot, large enough to accommodate up to 30 vehicles, is located on the east side of Route 153 about one-half mile north of I-95.
No formal opening ceremony has yet been set, in large part because the property’s owners have yet to choose a new name for the thousand-acre open space. When that question is settled, signs designating the property’s entrance point can be installed.
The land is currently known as The Preserve because the last developer who applied to the town for approvals to build clustered housing and a golf course there had referred to it by that name in its applications.
In a Sept. 28 meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee for The Preserve, Chris Cryder stated he hadn’t yet heard back from Department of Energy & Environmental Protection Forest Supervisor William Holzhholzen about linking the parking lot to the already-marked yellow trail system in the Old Saybrook section of The Preserve.
Development of the smaller parking area near the end of Ingham Hill Road for Preserve access is on hold until town-planned improvements to the road’s ending are completed. Without a rounded cul-de-sac at that point, larger vehicles like buses and trucks have for years had difficulty urning around there. Planned work to convert this road end into a curved cul-de-sac will provide an improved turnaround at Ingham Hill Road’s ending. With the cul-de-sac in place, planned improvements to the nearby Preserve parking area can begin.
MOU Signed
With action on Oct. 10 by the Westbrook Board of Selectmen, future responsibility for maintenance of the Route 153 Preserve access parking lot will fall to the Town of Westbrook.
The BOS agreed that the Town would sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) negotiated between the Town of Old Saybrook, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and the Town of Westbrook. The MOU allocates to Westbrook responsibility for maintenance of the new parking lot, built on a five-acre parcel of the Preserve that extends into Westbrook.
Preserve Hike Nov. 18
A public Preserve hike sponsored by the Old Saybrook Parks and Recreation Department is planned for Saturday, Nov. 18, in Great Cedars West. Watch for more details as the date approaches.