With help coming in the form of a $17,”000 state grant, visitors to West Windsor’s Zaitz Park will soon find easier access to trails winding through the park’s woods. At the same time, they will also be able to catch a glimpse of two environmental rarities in Mercer County.##M:[more]##
The grant from the Department of Environmental Protection was three years in coming, said Bruce Ellsworth, a trustee of the West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance, who wrote the grant application. He, along with other members of the alliance, as well as the Friends of West Windsor Open Space, and the township, worked together on the application three years in a row. The project finally received the funding this year.
The project entails improving access to the existing trail system and the building of two new sections of trails to create a two-mile system through the forest, Ellsworth said. The 159-acre park is located on Southfield Road.
The grant is also funding the installation of a kiosk containing an explanation of the history and goals of the nature preserve, a description of the preserve’s habitats, and a map of the trail system, as well as signage for the trail and trail markers, according to a press release.
“The big thing they’ll be doing is purchasing and installing a bridge that provides access from the parking lot to the trail system,” Ellsworth said. In addition, “there are a few wet parts of the trails that have some refuse from old farms, but we’d like to clear it out. That’s part of the grant as well.”
The trails would take visitors through the woods’ mixed upland and wetland forest — which is fairly rare in Mercer County — passing a few vernal pools on the way. Vernal pools are those that exist for only certain parts of the year, in the winter time, and when the environment is wet, that are home to certain wildlife, including 21 types of salamanders, toads, and frogs, Ellsworth said. Officials are anticipating the pr
