This is National Bike to Work Week. Taking two wheels to get around New Haven has been a growing trend for years. Leaving the car at home has never been easier.
“There are so many different ways that people can get around by not driving alone to work,” Yale’s Director of Sustainability Amber Garrard said. “Actually, we know from our surveys that people who don’t drive alone and much happier and more satisfied with their commute.”
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.
On Friday, May 9th at 11 am, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker and other elected and community leaders will ceremonially cut the ribbon to celebrate the grand opening of Phase IV of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail. This section is particularly interesting because it includes a lighted tunnel with informational signage and an adjacent below-grade section that connects via stairs and a ramp to the “Park of the Arts,” a gem of a pocket park where you can refresh your trail trek at a café.
The event will take place at the Grove Street entrance to the trail, which is located between Orange and Church Streets. Note that Church St becomes Whitney Ave as it crosses Grove St.
Please attend this celebratory event if you’re free!
Ribbon cutting is at the crude asterisk and P shows nearby parking garages (see map). There is also limited on-street metered parking. While you’re in the area, you may want to visit the Yale University Art Gallery, the Yale Center for British Art or the Yale Peabody Museum (all have free admission). Many places to get lunch are in the area.
Since the 1990s, the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail has offered safe passage to people bicycling, running, walking, commuting and exercising across a growing number of Connecticut and Massachusetts miles. From the south, it rolls through Yale University’s storied campus before linking New Haven neighborhoods to Hamden, Cheshire and Southington. Farther north, a longstanding gap in Plainville is soon to be filled, before continuing up through Farmington, Avon and Simsbury en route to the Massachusetts border, where its Bay State miles are about two-thirds complete. In both states, it’s become a magnet for trail connections. (See sidebar.)
Developed piecemeal on a former canalway turned railway through citizen-led efforts, the trail has gained widespread buy-in from neighboring communities and state-level partners. It also serves as a key link along the ambitious East Coast Greenway, a 3,000-mile, 15-state project. In Simsbury, a trailhead sign lets hikers, bikers, runners, cross-country skiers and other trail users know the distance to each of the East Coast Greenway’s eventual endpoints: 706 miles to Calais, Maine; 2,194 to Key West, Florida. (The skiers might want to aim for Calais.)
This article was originally published in the Winter 2025 issue of Rails to Trails magazine and has been reposted here in an edited format.
Governor Ned Lamont and Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Commissioner Katie Dykes today announced the release of a series of grants totaling $10 million that will support the planning, building, expansion, and improvement of 45 multi-use trails located in towns and cities throughout Connecticut.
The grants are being awarded through Connecticut Recreational Trails Grant Program, which is administered by DEEP. Funds to support the grants were approved by the State Bond Commission at its October 2023 meeting. Governor Lamont serves as chair of the commission.
“The Connecticut Recreational Trails Program and Connecticut Greenways Council are continuing to serve a vital role in providing funding for the planning, design, construction, and maintenance of trails across Connecticut,” Governor Lamont said. “The funding for these 45 projects represents a significant investment in our state’s outdoor economy, and our trails and proximity to nature are a big part of why Connecticut is an attractive place to live and work. I am thrilled to announce funding for these projects, which will improve and expand recreational trail opportunities around our state.”
The following is a list of local projects receiving grants under this round:
To read the full announcement including a complete list of grants, please click here.
Volunteers currently maintain 6 trail counters to detect traffic in these locations.
This data has been used for the Canton/RT 44 Corridor Study, Simsbury LAW Bicycle Friendly application among others.
Want to know how well-used the trail is? Click here.
The Town of Simsbury will be undertaking a large scale renovation of the Old Drake Hill Flower Bridge that will begin in October 2023 and likely go through the end of the summer in 2024. We will not be accepting any reservations for public gatherings (weddings/anniversaries/photos) for this October/November and all of 2024 until we know the Bridge work is completed. There will be no flowers on the Bridge in 2024 and the park adjacent to the Bridge will not be open to the public until the construction is completed.
See complete information here: https://www.simsbury-ct.gov/culture-parks-recreation/pages/the-old-drake-hill-flower-bridge
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