A group of cyclists rides towards the camera on a newly completed steel bridge/boardwalk. The bridge has a temporary wooden ramp connecting it.

Pennington residents and fans of Mercer Meadows and the Lawrence Hopewell Trail (LHT, a lovely part of the Circuit Trails) recently celebrated the opening of the Stony Brook Pedestrian Bridge, which will provide safe access from Pennington Borough and Hopewell Township to the 1,600-acre county park, in a virtual “ribbon-cutting.”

“Mercer Meadows Park, one of the most beautiful parks in the Northeast, is a favorite destination of the many fans of the LHT. The Stony Brook Pedestrian Bridge will provide a much safer, family-friendly way to enter the park from Pennington, Hopewell, and other communities west of the park,” said LHT trustee Jill Young, an early advocate for the bridge. “We applaud the Mercer County Park Commission for constructing the bridge.”

“The opening of the bridge in time for the July 4th weekend could not have come at a better time,” said County Executive Brian Hughes. “This bridge is the perfect metaphor for the long-standing partnership that created the LHT, which bridges communities; state, county, and local governments; corporate partners, and land preservation groups.”

More than 20 miles of the Lawrence Hopewell Trail is complete, with about two miles of the loop remaining to be built. Completion of the LHT is expected in about three years.

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