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STAMFORD, Conn. Residents got their first chance to weigh in on a proposed 37.3-mile multi-use trail that would run along the Merritt Parkway on Thursday night.
Lyda Ruijter said bike paths are along all of the roads in her native Holland and said they could be beneficial in her current home of Stamford. A trail provides a place for people to meet, offers economic opportunities alongside the paths for selling water or ice cream, and encourage exercise, she said.
Its a way to spend time and be healthy, Ruijter said, who hopes to bike on the trail with friends.
One of the few skeptics at the meeting was Michael Sasser, whose property abuts the Merritt Parkway. He figures the trail would be about two feet from it. Sasser said it would add to the nuisance that the roadway already causes and that he expected people would trespass onto his property from the trail.
The New Canaan firefighter also worries about the danger from cars on the parkway to the people using the trail. You better hope there is a tree about 4-feet wide, Sasser said, referring to out-of-control cars that go right through barricades and off the road.
Thursday nights meeting was the first of eight that the Department of Transportation will hold, with one in each town where the trail would be, said William Britnell, the principal engineer for the study. For more meeting dates and information on the study, visit its page on the departments website.
The trail would go through Greenwich, Stamford, New Canaan, Norwalk, Westport, Fairfield, Trumbull and Stratford.
Funding for the $1.3 million feasibility study is coming from a $1 million grant from the National Scenic Byways Program, and the state supplying the rest.
The meetings will be completed by summer. Britnells team will use the information gathered to create a conceptual design. A second round of meetings will then take place next winter. If approved, construction on the trail could begin in three to four years, he said.
Questions and concerns can be directed to William Britnell at willliam.britnell@ct.gov or 860-594-3274.
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