Curtiss Brook Work Party

 

Digging in the south end

We had 34 people at the Sunday work party to start clearing the new Curtiss Brook Connector (that's the working name of the trail, not sure what it will be called officially), many of them high school students. We now have a 'rough draft' of a trail. It still needs more work, but it can be followed. 

Much of the work was picking up decades of litter, including about 25 bags of litter, a pool ladder, car parts, wire, old garbage cans, and other assorted materials (these were hauled away the next day by the Highways & Bridges Department). 

Some of the crew before they got dirty

The other big task for the day was digging the trail into the side of the hill. The north and south end each needed lots of digging, while the center section was in mostly good shape. The south end (near Pine Lake) was harder digging and steeper, but had less garbage. 

Mark Vollaro, Ray Hansen, and Teresa Gallagher had done some preliminary work before the work party, including chainsawing and raking out the tread. Terry Gallagher put together a big list of all the equipment that would be needed and staked out a section of parking lot ahead of time. This allowed the volunteers to get right to work. 

Digging in the south end, looking towards
Pine Lake

The center section didn't need much work

The north end

The north end (towards downtown Shelton) was at the base of a stone retaining wall holding up the state highway, and it was impossible to dig without hitting layers of old cans, bottle, asphalt, wire, etc. Aiden Zitnay managed to finally pull out a big coil of wire that was buried in the trail, and then found an old horse shoe. This section looks like it might be part of the old Shelton Turnpike from the 1800s, so that was pretty cool. 

Aiden managed to pull a 
big coil of wire out of the ground

The other issue with the north end was all the landscaping debris the homeowners across the street have been dumping over the wall. 

The north end starts at the base of the Rt 108 
retaining wall. 

The crew pulled out about 25 bags of litter, car parts,
a pool ladder, garbage cans, and other stuff

The last of the crew

There is still more litter in there, especially down in the brook and up the opposite side, if anyone is looking for a challenge. And there is more digging to do. But it's getting there! 

Curtiss Brook Connector to be Constructed

A narrow part of Shelton Ave, with the Pine Lake parking
area up ahead. A new trail will provide an alternative to the roadwalk.

One of our long-term goals for the Rec Path was to promote better linkage between the trail and surrounding community, especially with downtown Shelton and by extension the River Walk and Derby Greenway. When the Rec Path first opened, we were happy to see SHS students using it to walk home from school. But sad to see that when the students reached the end of the trail at Pine Lake, they had to walk along the edge of Shelton Avenue, a state highway. 

[Help needed for our Curtiss Brook Connector work party scheduled for Sunday 4/13 at 1:00 pm. More details on our Work Parties page]

There is one stretch of the highway that is especially narrow due to a guardrail and old retaining wall that drops down along the Curtiss Brook ravine. The highway is so narrow that traffic sometimes has to come to a stop if there are pedestrians.  Several years ago, the City had DOT representatives take a look at that stretch of highway to assess pedestrian safety.  The DOT suggested a cantilevered walkway (although it's a state highway, the City is apparently responsible for sidewalks). This doesn't seem very likely to happen.

The same area at the bottom of the old retaining wall

The Trails Committee did notice, however, that the ravine below the retaining wall is more scenic than expected, and that a trail could be constructed through it, providing a safer and more scenic access to the Rec Path from the downtown area. The path wouldn't go all the way down to the water, but would descend about half way down the slope and then follow the grade. 

(click image to enlarge)

For now, we plan on creating a "pilot trail." (See our Work Parties page if you're willing to help out). That  would eliminate about 750 feet of walking along the state highway, leaving about 650 feet of highway that still has no sidewalk of any kind (the sidewalks further along the highway are less than ideal, but at least there is something). If there is a public need, this type of access trail could qualify for future upgrades under a DEEP Recreational Trails Grant. Here are some winter views of the trail route: 

Curtiss Brook

The work will mostly involve digging the trail into the side of the hill and cleaning up years of litter and dumping. There are tires and all sorts of trash, especially up near the road.  Note that cleaning up litter in here would be a great group project since there is good parking and endless litter (see the DontTrashShelton.org website for info on our annual Shelton Clean Sweep). 

Looking upstream towards the Pine Lake dam

Southbound along the new trail (heading towards Pine Lake), there comes a point where the ravine ahead is too steep for a trail, so the path rises to the top of the hill. There's a nice view of the Pine Lake dam from that part of the trail, with water spilling over it. 

Heading back up out of the ravine (looking towards Pine Lake)

And here are some satellite images showing handicapped-accessible, multi-use trails in red (the Rec Path, Derby Greenway, and Shelton River Walk), along with the sidewalk system that almost links them. This trail project will cut the gap in half. 

Multiuse paths in red, sidewalk connections in white

 

Birdseye view from Derby showing multiuse paths in red
and sidewalks in white