The Shelton Lakes Recreation Path is tucked out of sight in the woods along Route 108, so many Shelton residents haven’t noticed the major expansion underway there.
But over the past two years, the public walkway has grown to almost four miles. Now, with a new grant in hand, Shelton trails officials expect to complete the recreation path by June 2012.
“It’s just an incredible joy to see it finally come, literally, together,” said Terry Jones, the owner of Jones Family Farms and a former conservation committee member who helped start the recreation path project in the early 1990s.
The path currently sits in two separate pieces — one starting at the Huntington center; the other near Shelton High School at Pine Lake.
With a new $14,710 grant from the Iroquois gas company, and the recent purchase of a sliver of land in the central portion of the recreation path, the city is ready to connect the two trails into one continuous pathway.
When that happens, people can walk, bike or push a stroller through the woods from Huntington Center to Pine Lake.
Click here for a large map of the entire recreation path.
Background
The process started in the early 1990s.
The area around Route 108, also called Shelton Avenue, was mostly wooded open space, poised for possible development.
Shelton Conservation Commission members started talking about creating a walkway through the woods mirrored on one that exists in Stowe, Vt.
“The idea was to get developers to set (land) aside so we would have a path through the woods,” said Shelton Conservation Commission member Bill Dyer.
Then, in 1996, the Bridgeport Hydraulic water company decided to sell 238 acres off Route 108. The city had first right of refusal, and gathered enough support to get the purchase approved by voters in 1997.
The land became home to the new Shelton High School, Shelton Intermediate School and the first leg of the Shelton Lakes Recreation Path.
Over the past 20 years, the Shelton Conservation Commission has gathered bits and pieces of other parcels to add to the pathway.
While other towns have focused walking paths along former railroad beds and rivers, the Shelton path was “literally blazed through the forest,” Jones said.
“There was no former infrastructure to follow,” Jones said. “It was made from scratch.”
In August 2011, the city bought the last 13-acre parcel needed to connect the two sections of the recreation path. The $14,710 Iroquois grant awarded in December will pay for the city to install the crushed stone walkway. Volunteers and city workers will clear and level the land beforehand to save money.
The length of the unfinished trailway portion is about a half a mile.
The Shelton Trails Committee, a subset of the Conservation Commission, regularly blogs about the various trails in town.
The Trail
The trail is similar to paths like the Derby Greenway — it’s wide, flat and easy to travel. The Shelton Lakes Recreation Path is 8‑feet-wide. The surface is dirt or gravel.
“If you’re a runner training for a marathon, or a biker, this is great,” said Conservation Commission member Thomas Harbinson.
The trail meanders through the woods, and smaller hiking trails branch off from it.
“This is sort of the backbone,” Dyer said Wednesday, while giving a tour of the recreation path with Harbinson, Shelton Conservation Agent Teresa Gallagher and Conservation Committee member Richard Skudlarek.
The trail meets main roads at several places — including Nells Rock Road, Oak Valley Road, Meadow Street, Constitution Boulevard and Lane Street. There are several small parking areas at each opening. Pine Lake and the Shelton Dog Park offer more parking at trail entrances.
Working Together
The trail came together as a result of several different city commissions and volunteers working together toward a common goal.
The Planning and Zoning Commission knew the plans for the trail, and worked with developers to get open space set aside in the right areas, Jones said. The Conservation Commission pursued grants from the state and other organizations.
And volunteers worked to clear, build and clean up areas to save money.
“Fierce cooperation, that was our mantra,” Jones said. “I think it’s a feather in the city’s hat that it undertook this very dedicated effort for two decades.”
Over the past 20 years, the city has received more than $400,000 in grants to build the trail, according to a press release announcing the latest grant.
The city has kicked in $191,600 to develop the trail, the press release states.
Hidden Path
While the work of expanding the Shelton Lakes Recreation Path has happened largely off the beaten path, Conservation Committee members believe the path will become a wildly popular destination once it’s complete.
“2011 was the year a sizable number of Sheltonites knew what you were talking about when you said the Rec Path,” said Gallagher, the city’s conservation agent.
Gallagher has been posting signs around the trail that say “You are on the Rec Path” to help with the name recognition. The recent success of the city’s new Dog Park, which is adjacent to a trail entrance, also helped.
Wednesday, a handful of people walked through the trail at midday.
One of them was Bob Gannon, of Shelton.
“I walk it everyday,” Gannon said, not breaking his stride to talk to a reporter. “I think it’s great.”
Jones said the familiarity with the trail will grow, now that it’s close to being finished.
“I’m sure a lot of people aren’t aware of it (now),“Jones said. “But before we reach the end of the decade, it will be the most used recreation facility in town.”
