Enthusiastic Support

We stepped out on our own, chose Shoreline Greenway Trail as our name and set construction of a 25-mile trail from Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven to Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison as our mission. We held our first public meeting to inform and engage the community in April 2002 and were excited to see about 120 people turn out. Many of those who came got behind the concept as passionately as our founders did.

We received a joint proclamation of support from the First Selectmen of Madison, Guilford and Branford, and the Mayor of East Haven (we weren’t working with the City of New Haven at the time). State legislators Ed Meyer, Pat Widlitz, Deborah Heinrich and Noreen Kokoruda have been strong supporters—as have Connecticut U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro, and U.S. Senators Chris Dodd and Joe Lieberman.

We incorporated in December 2002 and received our 501c(3) designation as a nonprofit four months later. By then, we had more than 400 members and hundreds of volunteers. Our first groundbreaking, in East Haven, took place in October 2003, and our first trail section—on the grounds of the former D.C. Moore School—opened in 2005.

State Senator Ted Kennedy and State Representative Sean Scanlon picked up the ball from their predecessors and have been strong supporters and sage advisers.

Growing and Evolving

As a grassroots, all-volunteer organization, we’ve grown substantially over time while evolving our strategy. Thousands of SGT members, supporters and volunteers from the Shoreline and elsewhere have dedicated themselves to bringing this exciting and unique vision to fruition.

We’re encouraged that more than 3,000 Shoreline families, businesses and organizations have contributed financially to the effort, and that the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Connecticut Department of Transportation and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection have invested in the project. To date, they’ve enabled us to raise $4.25 million in grants, bonding and donations for the trail.

From the beginning, we’ve been driven by a passion to better our communities—to make them safer, healthier, environmentally cleaner and more economically vital and liveable. Our goals have always been more than simply “building trail,” and over the years we’ve worked ever more explicitly on the project’s core connectivity, safety, health, environmental and economic goals: holding bike-safety rodeos for kids, promoting exercise in the form of guided walks and bike rides, providing fitness and education programs for schoolchildren, and working with towns to develop bike/ped networks that connect key places while improving safety and facilitating economic growth and tourism.

First meeting is held in Guilford

Town committees formed and concept adopted for a 25-mile trail route from New Haven to Madison

First public meeting held at Guilford Community Center with 120 people in attendance

State Rep. Pat Widlitz shares excitement for the project and pledges to notify constituents and suggest that her colleagues do likewise

First Selectmen of Madison, Guilford and Branford, and the Mayor of East Haven issue joint proclamation of support

Shoreline Greenway Trail is incorporated

Statements of support issued by U.S. Sens. Christopher Dodd and Joseph Lieberman, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection

Shoreline Greenway Trail gains approval for 501(c)(3) nonprofit status

First trail groundbreaking held in East Haven at Elliott Street behind D.C. Moore School

First fundraising campaign begins, yielding $14,000 in four months

Branford’s first Pine Orchard/Birch Road section completed

U.S. Department of Transportation awards three grants totaling $2.65 million for construction of the Shoreline Greenway Trail in East Haven, Branford, Guilford and Madison

East Haven’s D.C. Moore trail section completed

Fundraising total exceeds $100,000, not including U.S. grant

Branford’s Tilcon Road trail section completed

The towns of Madison, Guilford, Branford and East Haven approve the allocation of $20,000 each, satisfying a match for the federal grant

The Connecticut State Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) grants $23,200 each to East Haven and Branford for construction of the Shoreline Greenway Trail

Connecticut State Bond Commission approves $665,000 in matching funds for federal grant

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield grants $100,000

Branford’s second Pine Orchard/Birch Road section completed

“First Saturday” program of walks and rides begins

Construction starts on first section of Hammonasset section in Madison

7,700 feet of contiguous trail completed in East Haven

East Haven’s D.C. Moore School section completed

First Hammonasset section in Madison opens

Extension of trail from Hammonasset Beach State Park to Webster Point Road in Madison completed

Shoreline Greenway Trail reaches innovative agreement with East Haven Public Schools to provide students with exercise and education

Connecticut DEEP awards Shoreline Greenway Trail $366,000 grant for trail sections in East Haven and Guilford

East Haven’s Farm River State Park section completed