http://www.trentonian.com/articles/2009/10/09/news/doc4aceaa86a4a8d919312715.prt


By JOAN GALLER
Trentonian Staff writer

LAWRENCE — The Johnson Trolley Line Trail will be upgraded and expanded in 2010, thanks to a $16,520 grant awarded to Lawrence Township by the Federal Highway Administration. The grant funds will permit improvements of the recreational trail from the Lawrence Township border with Ewing at the Shabakunk Creek to the Heritage Park entrance next to Eggert’s Crossing Village.

Lawrence Municipal Manager Richard Krawczun, who announced the grant earlier this week,said it will be administered by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Natural and Historic Resources. The grant will pay improvement of another 700 feet of the trail, the continuation of already completed sections of the path next to Johnson Avenue, and an entry path from Hazlehurst Avenue. Still visible on the ground are rails and spikes, evidence of the defunct trolley line’s history.

Trail construction will start next spring and entail site preparation, a surface capped with stone dust and a design that is compatible with the surrounding landscape and neighborhood, taking advance of nearby Heritage Park. Where feasible, the path will be eight-feet wide



http://www.trentonian.com/articles/2009/10/09/news/doc4aceaa86a4a8d919312715.txt

Taken from "New Jersey Interurbans and Streetcar Railroads" -- http://www.american-rails.com/new-jersey-interurbans.html

"Trenton Princeton Traction Company: The Trenton Princeton Traction Company operated within the City of Trenton and would come under the control of the Reading Railroad. Passenger service on the railroad lasted until 1941 but freight service carried on into the 1970s before the route was finally abandoned."

Here is a forum post by rail-fans about the line including links to historic maps, Google-maps, Bing-maps, and photos in Photobucket.


http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=24020&p=236776#p236776



Johnson Trolley Line Trail and Trenton-Princeton Traction Company on Stickymap -- http://www.stickymap.com/mappage?m=47489&t=Johnson Trolley Line Trail




Lawrence Township, NJ - Trail Guide

http://www.lawrencetwp.com/documents/LawrenceTrailGuide.pdf

Regarding Fred's review.
Some people in Central New Jersey confuse the names of the Interstate Highways. When Fred write "I-195", what he means is "I-95", which is around the north of Trenton, not running East to Belmar, NJ.

"I evaluated this trail in two separate trips, since there is no starting point or ending point listed for the 2.5 miles, and the ROW is much longer than that.

There is a section in the northern part of Lawrenceville from Gordon Rd to Denow Rd (at I-195) which parallels Rte 206 (to the west of it). It varies from mown grass, packed earth, and fine gravel. It is less than a mile long and pleasant. There is a narrow open culvert, which can be stepped across, but bikes would have to go around (easy). I-195 is at ground level, so there will be no connection to the ROW on the other side, except by a long road detour.

From I-195 to Eggert Crossing Rd (just over 1 mile), 1/3 at the north end is completely overgrown, the next 1/3 is a flooded cut on the campus of Rider U. The next 1/3 is a grassy, dirt road, with a detour to ford a very shallow brook where a bridge is out.

From Eggert Crossing Rd south, the trail is wide and paved for about 1/2 mile, then grassy to packed dirt for another 1/2 mile. Here the ROW crosses a good, solid wooden bridge into the town of Ewing. It continues over a mile in Ewing and the surface is good. There is some puddle formation, but plenty of dry ""shoulders"". At Spruce St in Ewing, the ROW ran down the middle of 5 th St to Olden Ave. Here the ROW disappears into brush in a used car lot.

The better sections are not bad, but the middle is the pits! It would help if the town would define it's official route!

Rates 1 4 out of 10!

Fred"