Burlington County and Bordentown City Officials cut the ribbon on the first segment of the Delaware River Heritage Trail. The on road section of the Delaware River Heritage Trail mainly consists of new sidewalks along with excellent signage and kiosks along the entire 3 mile length. While there is current minimum accommodation for bikes, Burlington County will be installing bike lanes on the southern section of the trail after the road is resurfaced.

Among those present at the Ribbon Cutting included Freeholder Director Joseph Donnelly,  Freeholder Aimee Belgard, Bordentown City Mayor Joseph Malone and Bordentown Commissoners James Lynch and Commissioner Zigmont Targonski. Targonski noted that the trailhead is only the first phase of improvements to the Bordentown Beach area, which is mostly an open and dusty parking area for launching boats. Freeholder Donnelly already saw the success of the expanded sidewalks - noting that city residents are utilizing it to access the Acme Supermarket on Route 130 in Bordentown Township.

Kudos to the County's Trail Planner Matt Johnson, Rails to Trails Conservancy's Akram Abed, NJ Conservatoin Foundation Camden Area director Maria Tranguch and Trenton Cycling Revolution's Don Pillsbury for leading cyclists to the event. We especially want to thank the anonymous River LINE operator who held the train to make sure everyone got off safely at Bordentown.

We are looking forward to the county's next projects, which will be to design and build a 2 mile section of the Kinkora Trail - Jobstown (pronounced Jobestown) to Columbus. Other projects in the pipeline include obtaining funding to design and build the first section of the Rancocas Greenway from Delanco RIver Line Station to Bridge St at the Moorestown/Mt. Laurel Border, and looking at alternatives to US 130 for the Delaware River Heritage Trail south of Bordentown. When completed these three trails - The Delaware River Heritage Trail, The Kinkora Trail and Rancocas Greenway - will form a triangle that will serve as the core of the Circuit in Burlington County.

Ribbon cutting was covered by the the Burlington County Times.

Tomorrow on June 12th, the Burlington County Board of Chosen Freeholders will hold a hearing and vote on a reduction of the County's Open Space tax. The current 4 cent tax will be cut to 1.5 cents: a 63% reduction from $20M per year to $7.5M per year. The County claims that a $48 million dollar surplus in th program would be enough to continue build out of the County's Master Plan. While the proposal is a "one year cut", it is uncertain that the 4 cent tax rate would ever be restored due to the fact that it could be seen as a 167% tax hike.

65 miles of the Circuit are in Burlington County. Currently only about 6 miles of trail have been completed including a 3 mile section of the Delaware River Heritage Trail that was completed last month. We roughly estimate that it will cost at least $30 million dollars to complete the Circuit in Burlington County.

The Rancocas Greenway is a case in point.  The County has spent millions in Open Space Funds acquiring land bordering the Rancocas Creek. Virtually the entire corridor between Delanco and Brendan Byrne State Forest is in Municipal County and State ownership. The opportunity to build the 25 mile multi-use trail is now.

The public hearing will take place Tomorrow,

June 12th - 7PM 
Burlington County Offices
49 Rancocas Mount Holly Road
Mount Holly, NJ

The Freeholders are expected to vote on the proposal at the end of the meeting.

Please attend this meeting and ask the Freeholders to preserve the current tax rate and build the 65 miles of Rancocas Greenway, Delaware River Heritage and Kinkora trails.  

The Bordentown Trailhead of the Delaware River Heritage Trail was completed late last month.

The Pemberton Rail Trail in New Jersey is a two mile Y shaped trail on the western edge of the Pine Barrens, adjacent to the Maguire-Dix-Lakehurst Joint Base. The trail is planned to be a part of the Rancocas Creek Trail which if completed would traverse an east west line across Burlington County. It would also link up with the Kinkora Trail to Roebling.

Pemberton is a military town that features a traditional small town business district. On the north edge of this district is the former Pemberton Railroad Museum, an abandoned station restored in the 1990's that due to a dispute with Township Officials has been closed for two years. Shortly after the closure of the station the Township closed the Rail Trail as well. The Pemberton Rail Trail which was mostly paid for with State DOT funds and Federal Rec Trails grants enjoys the distinction of being the only trail on the Circuit that is closed to the public.

Looking at the rusting chain link fence and Christie Whitman's "2000 more miles" I couldn't help but think that this is what it probably looked like before the investments were made to build the trail and restore the station. Despite the foreboding feel the trail seems to remain popular among the locals who ignore the No Tresspassing signs. Dog walkers and people on their lunch break follow a loop between the north and south forks of the trail. Interestingly enough the south entrance to the trail (next to the canoe rental) has no warning signs and appears to be open.

If Pemberton cannot realize the economic value of being a trail town then perhaps its time for Burlington County to take the trail off their hands. Resurface the trail (porous asphalt would be nice), put up new signs and move forward by extending the trail east and west.

This is what a closed trail looks like, and its part of the The Circuit.

Burlington County’s Bicycle Master Plan team wants your participation. Following public meetings held in January, Cross County Connection TMA has released an online comment map and survey for you to sound off on where you want bikeways in the county. We want to hear where you want to go, your concerns and suggestions. Both the map and survey can be found on the project homepage:

driveless.com/BurlingtonCountyBikePlan

This is the first ever Bicycle Master Plan for the county, so participation at this stage has a real impact on the plan’s outcome. Help us ensure meaningful access to the Circuit in Burlington County by putting your thoughts on the map.

We would also like to thank everyone that came out to January’s public meetings.

For more information or to submit comments contact:
Graydon Newman, CCCTMA

856-596-8228

Wednesday January 30th 4-7 PM at the Roebling Museum