FW: New Curtiss Brook Trail bypasses Shelton Ave
Teresa Gallagher
FYI, I sent the following blurb to various city leaders, Brian at the CT Post/Herald, and others. I encourage all of you to go check out the new trail, which is only 1/8 mile long.
Conservation Department Notice: A new trail has been completed that allows SHS students and other pedestrians to bypass a narrow stretch of Shelton Avenue near Pine Lake and the Rec Path. The state highway in this location was designed with a guardrail above a retaining wall, forcing pedestrians to walk in the travel lane, with no practical way to build a sidewalk (see photo below). The new “Curtiss Brook Trail” runs through the brook valley just below the highway for 0.15 mile and is surprisingly scenic. A trail spur provides water access to the brook. This trail, which required significant earthwork with hand tools and the construction of a bridge, was built by volunteers with the Trails Committee and Conservation Department. Decades of litter were removed with the assistance of the Anti-Litter Committee, Shelton Clean-Up Project, and the Highways & Bridges Dept. The trail can be accessed from the Pine Lake parking area and is blazed orange. More information about the trail and its creation is found on the Trails Committee’s blog at https://sheltontrailscom.blogspot.com/2025/11/curtiss-brook-trail-completed.html. Photos and a map are below.
SHS Student walking along the highway
Student walking home from school at dusk using the new trail
The east end of the trail below the retaining wall and guardrail
Teresa Gallagher
Natural Resources Manager
City of Shelton
54 Hill Street, Shelton, CT 06484