Ridgefield Thrift Shop helps get the Ridgefield Ramble ready for construction

                                       Ridgefield Thrift Shop helps get the Ridgefield Ramble ready for construction

The Ridgefield Thrift Shop has granted $8,000 to the Norwalk River Valley Trail (NRVT) to help fund the costs of surveying, engineering and permitting for the Ridgefield Ramble, the NRVT’s first section in town.

A planning team of Ridgefield residents has selected a 1.5 mile section running north from the intersection of Rt. 7 & Simpaug Turnpike to Bobby’s Court on the Redding line.  It’s been dubbed the Ridgefield Ramble.  It will be a ten-foot wide, multi-use trail winding through conservation land along the Norwalk River.  When completed, the Ramble will be readily available to a wide range of trail users; hikers, bikers, moms with baby strollers, dog walkers and young children learning to ride their bikes. The NVRT will, wherever possible, be constructed to be accessible to people with mobility disabilities.

Timber & Stone, NRVT’s trail builder, has designed and flagged the 1.5 mile route.  Prior to construction, there are wetlands flagging, surveying and engineering costs required for the construction permits from the Town of Ridgefield and the State Department of Transportation.  The $8,000 grant from the Ridgefield Thrift Shop will enable the NRVT to get started with these pre-construction projects.

The NRVT anticipates completing permitting process within the next year.  Construction of the Ridgefield Ramble will depend on private, corporate and foundation grants.  The NRVT hopes to start construction of the Ramble in 2020.

The NRVT’s vision is a 30-mile, ten-foot wide, multi-use trail running from Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk, through Wilton, Ridgefield and Redding and terminating at Tarrywile Park in Danbury.

Photo shows Charlie Taney, NRVT’s Executive Director, receiving grant check from Debbie Murphy, Ridgefield Thrift Shop Finance Committee Chairperson along the planned route of the Ridgefield Ramble.