Landscape Re-Designs For Blackwells Mills, Griggstown Causeways On Display

The Millstone River Scenic Byway stretches from Kingston to East Millstone. Graphic: U.S. Federal Highway Administration.

A dozen proposed landscape re-designs for the Griggstown and Blackwells Mills causeways will be on display from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 15-26 at the D&R Canal State Park Headquarters, 15 Mapleton Road in Princeton.

The re-designs were created by Rutgers University students. One re-design for each causeway along the Millstone Valley National Scenic Byway will be chosen.

The new design for the Blackwells Mills Causeway will be planted in October, while the new design for the Griggstown Causeway will be planted in October 2018, according to a press release from the Millstone Valley Preservation Coalition.

Barbara Walker, a Rutgers students who will create the final landscape design for each causeway, will be at the headquarters from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 23 to talk about the project, according to the release.

The Coalition is the sponsor of a National Scenic Byway, a 27-mile loop through the Millstone Valley from Kingston to East Millstone. The byway, located between the Millstone River and the Delaware and Raritan Canal, consists of two mostly parallel waterbodies, and the floodplains between them, sandwiched between roadways and causeways that connect historic villages and nature preserves.

The two causeways targeted for this re-design are each approximately two-tenths of a mile in length. They connect River Road on the west side of the Millstone River and with Canal Road east of the D&R Canal.

The Causeway Project was launched to re-vegetate portions of the Scenic Byway to improve the overall health of vegetation located there and to improve the byway’s visibility, according to the release. The project is a partnership among PSE&G, Franklin and Montgomery townships, the D&R State Park, the state Department of Transportation, the MVP Coalition and Rutgers University.

In March 2017, Rutgers University Landscape Architecture students focused on the two causeways, developing proposals that were designed to enhance the experience and provide spectacular new walking trails through proposed native plantings from parking areas to the towpath walk, to historic buildings, and to water access areas along the river, according to the release.  Some designs have rain gardens to cleanse and gather roadway runoff in light rains.  Deer-resistant and pollinator-friendly plantings provide wildlife nourishment and habitat and rebuild the local ecosystem while augmenting the visitor experience, according to the release.

More information about the Millstone Valley National Scenic Byway is available at: http://www.millstonevalley.org.
 

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