Norwalk River Valley Trail (NRVT) holds construction kick-off for WilWalk
The Norwalk River Valley Trail (NRVT) held a construction kick-off celebration on Tuesday, May 11th at the NRVT Chipmunk Lane parking area in Wilton. WilWalk is a long-awaited section of trail that will connect the City of Norwalk and the Town of Wilton. The WilWalk section now under construction runs from Old Belden Hill Rd in Norwalk to Chipmunk Lane in Wilton, as well as south in Wilton from Wolfpit Road to the Quarry Pond.
Assembled for the ceremony were Norwalk’s Mayor Harry Rilling, Wilton’s First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice and municipal officials who have been involved with making this project a reality. Additionally, NRVT Board members, President of the NRVT Board (Charlie Taney) and Executive Director (Beth Merrill) were in attendance. Members of the Timber & Stone Trail Construction Co and Conte Construction teams also celebrated the event.
When completed, WilWalk (standing for Wilton and Norwalk) will connect Norwalk’s Broad
Street along the Norwalk River, over open space corridors, rises up the hill for a vista overlooking the
railroad and river to Kent Road (Wilton), and returns again to follow the river to Wolfpit Road in Wilton.
There it connects to the NRVT Wilton loop heading an additional 2.2 miles north.
”We are so very pleased that this day has arrived.” said Beth Merrill, NRVT Executive Director. “This wonderful new section of the NRVT has been in the planning stage for a very long time. Both Norwalk and Wilton worked together with the NRVT to breathe life into this wonderful new addition to the trail.”
A major new trail donor was also announced. A $100,000 gift was allocated through an anonymous Donor Advised Fund managed by Fairfield County Community Foundation (FCCF). Karen Brown (FCCF ) shared why the NRVT was worthy of this donation. The FCCF Donor Advised Fund program oversees all administration aspects of philanthropy so that individual, family and corporate donors can focus on supporting the causes that matter most to them. Learn more here.
During the Coronavirus pandemic, the NRVT had trail use spike up to 260% over prior years. The NRVT has over 8 miles of the planned 30 miles completed, with an additional 3.4 miles under construction in 2021.
For more information, please visit: http://nrvt-trail.com/