Where's this wonder??

By -
This may look like a photo of trail work in one of the more progressive states somewhere west of Connecticut, but it is actually of the new tunnel being built on the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail/East Coast Greenway under Skiff St. in Hamden. If you have never ridden this section, the trail currently goes up a short, steep incline to the street, then crosses busy Skiff St. at grade via a button activated traffic signal. It was never pleasant, or easy, or all that safe, but this tunnel will correct all that.
How could something like this happen in a place like Hamden, and why not something akin to it here, like bridges over Northwest Drive or, even bigger, over Route 6 in Farmington? It can happen here, if there is the will for it amongst the citizens of Plainville and Farmington that will get the politicians and the DOT moving in this direction. I have been told, by those with more experience with local trail building than I have, that to include a bridge in the trail design guarantees considerable additional cost for construction and delays in obtaining approvals, both the result of DOT involvement in the process. I know that such was the case at the Salmon Brook bridge in Granby, CT. By the time that project was finally into construction, the cost was $140,000 over the amount the Town had received in funding. This difference was funded from generous contributions of several trail organizations (made possible by members like you) and by some creativity of the Town itself.
Let's hope that when our turn comes to close the gaps in Plainville and Farmington, the will will be there.

Comments

Anonymous said…
It took me a while to see the finished tunnel, but I finally have and I love it. It fits perfectly and is so much easier!
April 14, 2012 at 9:29 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Trail Route Discussion in New Haven

By -
Image
Here's a bold new idea for routing the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail through downtown New Haven. If you look closely at the photo above, you'll see a space between the tracks and the open area sloping down from the abutment along State St.. That's a service drive that Friends of the New Haven Farmington Canal Greenway are proposing to the City. But the City is nearing completion of engineering work on a completely different route that must be built or risk losing existing (and hard to come by) funding. Read more about it here . This is one of those situations that could be "lose/lose". If the City stops completion of engineering documents so that construction bidding and contracting cannot begin by 31 AUG 2013, they lose the $7.6 Million in funding earmarked for completion of the trail from Hillhouse Ave./Temple St. to Long Wharf. As the article states, the route proposed by FNHFCG is fraught with uncertainty: will the USPS agree to grant an easement t...
Read more

Please contact CT DOT about this!

By -
Image
  This is a sketch of how an on-road bike lane should intersect with a railroad track crossing the road at a severe angle, as is the case on the proposed route of the multi-use trail at East Main St. (CT Rte. 372) here in Plainville. Such a feature allows the cyclist to cross the tracks at, or nearly at, a right angle with two important benefits: prevents the cyclist from having to swerve into the travel lane to make the crossing. prevents the possibility of getting a front wheel caught between the rail and the pavement if riding straight across and being thrown from the bicycle (this happened to me a few years ago, fortunately when the road was not very busy, because I wound up in the travel portion where cars would normally be on a busy day). This sketch has been shared with the Town Engineering staff, but they have no jurisdiction over a State road, so it was suggested that this be brought to the attention of CT Department of Transportation (CTDOT). I did this recentl...
Read more

Is it OK to kill cyclists?

By -
Now that I have your attention, this really is the title of a recent article in the NYTimes about how motorists get away with murder, literally. But, before your blood pressure gets too high thinking about this sorry fact, read the article right through to the end; especially the end (click  here ). We cyclists bear great responsibility in how others perceive us. We are often our own worst enemy, blowing through stop signs and red lights with reckless abandon. So, if we want motorists and police to respect us and take us seriously as road users, we need to "ride different".
Read more