The Town of Woodbridge is working to create a bike route and bike/pedestrian safety amenities in and around the center of town. The bike route -- a five mile route linking several destinations, including Amity Regional High School, the Town Center Campus, Fitzgerald Tract, Beecher Road School, former Country Club of Woodbridge and Pease Place Playground -- will be marked by signage and enhanced with bike racks and solar-powered speed awareness signs to help slow down traffic.
The community is encouraged to join this initiative by donating to a crowdfunding campaign or volunteering in the effort. If the campaign reaches its $7500 goal by its fundraising deadline of April 25, the project will receive a matching grant of $7500 from Sustainable CT’s Community Match Fund, which is an innovative funding resource for public, community-led sustainability projects. For project details and to donate, please visit: Patronicity.com/WoodbridgeBikeRoute.
This project follows a survey about walking and biking in Woodbridge in which many residents responded that they would like to walk or bike more but don’t feel safe doing so. They survey showed support for features such as bike lanes, sidewalks in limited areas, additional signage and safety enhancements.
“More and more residents are using our streets and walking paths during the pandemic and I hope this campaign will allow us to be responsive to this,” said First Selectman Beth Heller. “Bike amenities will make it safer and easier for people to get around town without a car and the signs will encourage drivers to be more mindful of others on the roads.”
Sustainable CT is an initiative of Eastern Connecticut State University’s Institute for Sustainable Energy that inspires, supports, and recognizes sustainability action by towns and cities statewide. The Community Match Fund — supported by the Smart Seed Fund, Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation and the Connecticut Green Bank —provides a dollar-for-dollar match to donations raised from the community, doubling local investment in projects. Anyone can lead a project and ideas can be proposed at any time.
"Through the Community Match Fund, we aim to put residents at the forefront of creating positive, impactful change," said Abe Hilding-Salorio, community outreach manager for Sustainable CT. "Match Fund projects are community led and community funded, demonstrating the power of people working together to make change in their communities."
Have a great idea for a public project in your community? Contact Sustainable CT at hildingsalorioa@easternct.edu.