Trail crossing construction underway in Cheshire

This is work underway at West Main St. (Routes 68 and 70) in Cheshire on a streetscape improvement project, part of which is an improved pedestrian crossing at the location of where the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail will intersect with this busy road when it reaches here. The improvements should be finished this summer and will look like this in plan:

(That's the island in the center of the roadway, with the future trail shown as a dashed line). This will permit a safer crossing for pedestrians and cyclists of this busy road. It's not ideal, but every little bit helps.

The big news accompanying this stuff is that the section of trail south between here and the current trail end at Cornwall Ave. (and around the often irksome Dalton Co. property) is being designed by the CT DOT, while Milone & MacBroom of Cheshire is designing the section from here north to Jarvis St.. This would still leave a gap between Jarvis St. north to the trail end in Southington, but, I have been told that CT DOT is designing this as well. What this means is that the 9.1 mile gap between Curtis/Hart St. in Southington and Red Oak Hill in Farmington, which includes all of Plainville, will be the last remaining gap in the trail. That will put enormous pressure on getting this gap closed and opening the 68 mile CT section of the trail from New Haven to the MA border. The MA towns between there and Northampton are working hard to get their sections of built. We can almost taste the sweetness of riding all 84 miles one day soon. 

SUN was a beautiful day for cleanup along the trail! 150 volunteers showed up to enjoy the weather and rid the trail of trash. For a first hand report from the field, click here and then click the arrow button to watch a short video from which this screen shot was captured (that's PGA member Judy Chatfield busy at work on the left. Well done Judy). Thanks to all who pitched in.

Route 6 Trail Crossing in Farmington?

Where is this beautiful bridge? Actually, it is one of two such bridges within a mile of each other along the Cuyahoga Valley Recreational Area Towpath Trail in Valley View (just outside of Cleveland). I've posted about it back in 2007 (omigosh, 5 years ago!), but it seems important to do so again, as folks are studying the extension of the trail from Farmington to Plainville, and seriously considering an at-grade crossing of US Route 6 at New Britain Avenue, a serious safety issue to my thinking. Imagine you are a serious cyclist out for a fast ride on the trail in this area once it is complete, and you come to cross  Route 6 with its current push button signal activation (or even if the signal is successfully upgraded to permit detection of the cyclist by the loop wires in the paving). Most such cyclists will be sorely tempted to cross this high volume, high speed road against the red light, with the real possibility for an accident that would certainly be the cyclist's fault, but could be so easily (and elegantly) avoided by providing such an elevated crossing as this bridge would provide. Imagine riding over the road with this as your view:

It can happen here, if there is the will for it amongst local citizens and trail users 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 necessary will will be there.


One additional thought. In order to reduce costs, perhaps design and engineering costs could be underwritten by one of the corporations located in the office park alongside the trail south of the proposed  bridge crossing. The one that comes first to my mind is Trumpf, primarily because they seem to be an organization that cares about good design (one need only visit the Farmington campus to witness this). Perhaps some "naming rights" for the bridge could be worked out.

And, as it turns out, I also happen to have a set of construction drawing for this bridge in my possession, the result of a lengthy process with lots of help from folks along the way. Here is one of those drawings:

Oh well, what would life be if we couldn't dream, and why not dream big dreams while we are at it? If you think this is a good idea, please let others know by clicking here, or let the Farmington Town Manager know by email at: eagenk@farmington-ct.org.

Rails-to-Trails "Trail of the Month" article

We finally got some respect! Our trail has been noticed by the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC), a national organization advocating for and assisting communities to build these wonderful trails, as a "Trail of the Month". They have published a story about the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail in their monthly, national publication, "Rails to Trails", which you can read in full by clicking here.
It does a good job of covering the trail from New Haven (skyline photo from the trail on top) to the northernmost bridge just before the MA state line in Suffield (bottom photo). However, you will notice one glaring omission, failure to mention the critical 9.1 mile gap in the trail that includes all of Plainville. This is a little hard to fathom, since RTC staff have walked the trail here in town with us in the past and, when asked what RTC could do for us, were told, "help us to close this gap"! You will also notice that local spokespersons for the trail also fail to mention this gap. It makes one wonder, whether folks think that the gap will be closed on it's own and there is no need to point out the obvious: as wonderful as this trail is, until the gap is closed, "the emperor has no clothes on", or the trail is not quite as wonderful as it seems If you want to do something about this, please let our Town Manager know your thoughts by completing an online feedback form.
Enjoy the Spring weather and keep on biking.

Smiles and a "Safety Cycle"

This is what the smart women rode back in the day when the bicycle was new. The guys liked a little more of a risk, so they rode the "high wheeler", alternatively known as the "bone shaker", or the "penny farthing" (the larger wheel in front being the "penny", compared to the smaller wheel in back being the "farthing", both coins of the realm in the UK at the time of the introduction of the bicycle).

New bridge raised into place

Here it is, hot off the press. 

This bridge was raised into place across Route 316 in Andover, CT, and will provide a vital link for users along the Airline Trail across this busy road. The bridge was mostly prefabricated off-site, with the final stages involving a shut down of the road on last FRI evening to allow removal of electrical and phone/cable lines and transport of the bridge to the site yesterday (SAT), when it was set into place by the oversized red crane you see in this photo. This was a giant step forward for this part of the East Coast Greenway (ECG) in Connecticut. Slowly, this 200 mile long gem is getting completed, thanks to the incredible perseverance of a few believers like Bill O"Neill (CT trail building Grampa from Manchester), Rob Dexter (hardworking ECG ambassador from West Hartford who manages to be in lots of key places along the ECG around the State). There are a few believers hoping for similar good things to happen to close the 9.1 mile gap in the trail from Southington through Plainville and into Farmington. Hopefully, that too will involve a bridge across US Route 6 in Farmington for a safe and pleasant trail crossing of that busy road. God grant us all a similar large dose of patience, perseverance, and political will to accomplish all this.
And, not to be outdone, Peter Marteka has written a great piece (click here) for the Hartford Courant (one of 10 on just this bridge) where he gives credit to CT Legislator Pam Sawyer for dreaming her dream about this momentous day. Let's include Peter himself in that dreamer category as well.
Stay tuned.