Decades of advocacy, hard work, easement negotiations, delays, and persistence culminated Friday morning with a ribbon cutting in a tunnel under Whitney Avenue — marking the official opening of the final downtown stretch of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail.
Mayor Justin Elicker, City Plan Director Laura Brown, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Downtown Alder Eli Sabin, and Farmington Canal Rail-to-Trail Association Board Member Aaron Goode, among many other past and present city workers and cycling advocates, gathered in the newly renovated tunnel to celebrate the completion of what has long been known as Phase IV of the bicycle and pedestrian trail’s New Haven buildout.
The trail runs 80 miles from Northampton to New Haven, with unfinished sections remaining in Southington and Plainville.
