Plans to Complete Canal Trail Come into Focus
- Philip Thibodeau
- 1 hour ago
- 6 min read
About a year ago, Southington finished work on a 1.27 mile section of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail that runs from Lazy Lane north to Aircraft Road. Bicyclists and pedestrians can now travel past I-84 as far the rusting remains of the old Pratt & Whitney complex. With the completion of that segment, another missing piece has been added to a trail project that, once finished, will run all the way from the New Haven shoreline to central Massachusetts.
But Southington’s task is not yet done. The stretch of trail running from Aircraft Road to the Southington-Plainville border on Townline Road is still missing. State funds are in place to cover the costs of the trail improvements, but it is up to the town to finalize a plan for the route and make sure all the stakeholders are on board so that work can begin.
It has been a long and often frustrating process. In recent years, Town Council Chair Paul Chaplinsky has been helping to lead the effort. On a call with the Outsider, he recounted the recent history of the effort, described the problems with the first two routes that were considered, and sketched out a third route that may turn out to be the one that gets implemented.
Plan A: Aircraft-West Queen–Redstone
“The original design that town staff came up with,” Chaplinsky said, “is to have the trail go west on Aircraft Road from its current endpoint. Aircraft Road dead ends on a pedestrian bridge. That bridge is currently barricaded, and not in service. It was going to cost a million dollars to replace it.”
“Another issue occurs after you take Aircraft Road to West Queen St, after that pedestrian bridge. To get across West Queen Street to Redstone Road on your way to Townline, you need to go east on West Queen. That’s a safety challenge."
"The Public Works subcommittee that was taking a look at it had concerns there. West Queen is a racetrack. It’s got two lanes going westbound and cars that are accelerating. It’s common to see cars doing 50mph plus. The question is, how do you get pedestrians safely across three lanes of traffic? Remember that some of them are with dogs, some with little kids learning how to ride a bike.”
Plan B: Working on the Railroad
“So we paused and asked, why is it that we’re going down Aircraft Road? Why not just continue along the train track, which is not in use, towards Townline Road? All we would need is access to Birch Street.”
“We started to talk to the rail company, but they were going through an acquisition. So we paused and said, let’s wait for this acquisition to go through, to see if the new stakeholders would be willing to talk to us.” The new company was Gennesse and Wyoming Rail Services.
“We waited six, eight, nine months," Chaplinsky continued. "We finally got to the leadership of the new organization and they said, ‘we’ll take a look at this, but no guarantees’. Finally, after 18 months and numerous calls, they brought this to their real estate committee. That is a joint committee belonging to the new organization and the old organization which still had some legal tentacles in the new one.”
“They came back to us and said, ‘we never know if we’re going to use that segment of the trail. There’s a growing need for commuter rails. Maybe someday this will be a commuter rail’.”
Chaplinsky paused to let what he saw as the mild absurdity of the idea sink in. “We pushed back and said, ‘you know, guys, it’s a quarter-mile long. It’s already defunct, it’s not being used, and the rails are paved over.”
“But they held firm and said we’re not going to give it up. We asked if they would donate it to us, if they would give us a lease, if we could purchase the property outright. They were not interested in anybody using the rail that would change its current state.”
“In a nutshell, that’s where we are. We weren’t in a rush because the Plainville side was also delayed. Some tenants up there are suing about the property takings. We said, let’s do this right.”
Plan C: Newell-West Queen–Redstone
“At that point we started thinking again about options. We regrouped with the DOT, with the Public Works team, and town staff in Engineering and asked ourselves some questions.”
“Should we go back to the original plan – and if so, how do we work on that intersection of Aircraft Road and West Queen and Redstone to make it safer? Or – and this is what we’re working on now – should we take the trail from where it now ends and go north on Newell Street, then, at the intersection with West Queen, go west on West Queen?”
“There is a potential crossing at that 4-way stop [of Newell and West Queen]. We could close the right hand lane of West Queen from the intersection at Newell all the way to Redstone. We would put some barriers up, maybe some landscaping, and at Redstone it would pick up northward again.”
“We have to talk to Yarde Metals and A. Duie Pyle that have properties along this route. We are also waiting from feedback from the DOT and our town engineering. Those [plans A and C] would be the two options that would go from town staff to the Public Works subcommittee, and then to Town Council. That’s where we are now.”
Local Benefits
The question, why put all this effort into building the trail, can be answered simply by visiting the trail on a nice day and watching all the walkers, joggers, bicyclists, stroller-pushing parents, and enthusiastic dogs parade by. The trail encourages recreation and a bit of community spirit as people share the public amenity.
Beyond the benefits to the public from recreation, the trail has been good for nearby businesses. Josh Norris at Kinsmen Brewery said the foot traffic helps keep his taproom busy. “At another brewery where I worked, there was no foot traffic. People came on planned visits in their cars and left that way. Here there are people from the trail who come in all the time.”
Justin Dawley, the owner of Vue Brewing Company on Lazy Lane, seconds that. He estimates that since he opened last summer, up to the 30% of his business has come from trail users curious about his low-gluten beer selection.
“The trail is still in its infancy,” Chaplinsky observed, “especially when you think in terms of development along it. I think you’re going to see more places pop up along it as time goes by.”
Bicyclists are an especially enthusiastic group of trail users, since the path is one of the few places in the region where they can travel long distances with minimal interference from cars. Norm Berg, an avid cyclist who belongs to the leadership team of the Farmington Canal Rail-to-Trail Association, notes that downtown Southington and Plantsville could attract many more two-wheeled visitors simply by putting out a few bike racks.
Berg has also asked the town to consider having a bike lane painted on the south side of Center Street and cut back the curb on the southeast corner of the Center Street and Liberty Street intersection. That small change, he believes, would pull more visitors into the downtown area around the green - and do so without adding to the current parking congestion.
Problems in Plainville
For the trail to run the length of Connecticut, Southington will certainly have to do its part. Plainville, however, has an even bigger job to do to fill a three-mile gap:
Work to fill this gap should be starting soon. The course of the trail through Plainville has been divided into three parts. The southernmost part extends from Townline Road to Norton Park, roughly following the old Farmington Canal through wooded areas. Construction equipment is already in place for this phase of the project, and work should begin once weather and staffing permit. This particular section of the trail is expected to open in the fall of 2027.
The route for the northernmost part of the trail in Plainville has also been decided on. This will extend from Northwest Drive to Route 72 and connect to the existing trail near Farmington. Bids for the project will be taken this summer and work is expected to be complete by 2028.
The central portion of the trail will take the longest time to complete, since no route has been decided on yet. Three different options are on the table for bringing the trail from Norton Park to Route 72. Planners have to navigate wetlands and a dense residential area near the intersection of Broad Street and Route 177. A group of homeowners who do not want the trail passing in front of their houses recently won the support of State Representative Rebecca Martinez in opposing one of the routes. Final plans are not expected until the middle of 2028, which means completion of the entire Connecticut trail project is unlikely before 2030.
