A Milford Parks and Recreation intern is back at college, but left his mark on the city.
Recreation education major Dylan Graham decided to install mile markers and directional signals along the Milford Riverwalk, a series of pedestrian and bicycle paths that hug the banks of the Mispillion River.
Sara Pletcher is the economic development and community engagement administrator for the City of Milford.
She says Dylan was really looking for a project that would enhance the city and leave a lasting impression.
“This is something that we haven’t had before; it was definitely needed," said Pletcher. "Our Riverwalk is very segmented. It’s not necessarily easy to follow if you’re not from Milford. And so I think that when he walked the Riverwalk and was doing various projects on the Riverwalk, he probably put together that we needed some kind of signage to connect the mile-long trail.”
Pletcher says the main benefit of the marker system is that it provides a set route to follow, including navigation arrows at set intersections to show where the trail continues.
The new mile markers will also be uploaded to the City’s GIS system.
“There’s also a massive safety issue that it resolves," said Pletcher.. "So if you’re walking and you feel unsafe and you want to call the Milford Police Department, you can say I’m a Mile Marker 0.7 and it will be uploaded into our City’s GIS system that talks to the Milford Police Department system and so they can easily find the person and respond in a much faster way. The same would be true for an ambulance or any kind of an emergency response vehicle.”
Pletcher says Dylan’s project also includes a new trail map at the trailhead on Maple Avenue. That will be installed in the coming weeks.
