Study: Filling gap would create Central Connecticut loop, priority phase mapped for Middletown

Sam Gold, executive director of RiverCOG, told the steering committee that the Central Connecticut Loop Trail Study is now in public comment and recommends a priority construction phase in Middletown.

"We're right now in a public comment period," Gold said during his presentation to the regional greenways steering committee, urging members to review the study in the meeting agenda and submit feedback.

The draft study maps how filling roughly a 20-mile gap between existing trail segments could create an approximately 11-mile loop in central Connecticut by linking the Airline Trail, the Farmington Canal Trail and other existing segments. Gold described the project as both a recreational and transportation asset and said the study focuses on an 11½-mile portion connecting Portland and Cheshire through Middletown and surrounding towns.

Why it matters: the loop would link longer, already built corridors and provide safer walking and biking routes for school trips and local trips that otherwise require travel on busy roads. Gold cited examples in East Hampton where middle and high school students already use a trail segment as a route to school.

The study identifies technical barriers and multiple route alternatives. Key challenges include steep topography in east–west corridors, the Connecticut River crossing where a movable rail bridge remains in occasional rail service, and weaving a trail through built urban areas such as downtown Middletown. Gold said the Aragoni (Aragonia) Bridge sidewalk recently received safety upgrades, which creates an opportunity to segregate directional bicycle and pedestrian traffic on different sides of the bridge.

Public engagement for the study included workshops, a presence at Middletown's holiday festival and children’s activities; one workshop in Middletown City Hall drew roughly 50 attendees, Gold said. Consultants FHI and VHB prepared branding options and route evaluation matrices that scored alternatives on factors such as traffic safety, wetlands impacts, cost and connectivity.

The study highlights a recommended priority phase to connect Middletown’s North End to Newfield Street, the middle and high schools and nearby parks. Gold said state bond money secured with help from state Sen. Matt Lesser is available for engineering for that priority phase and that the project team has revised a previously higher estimate down to about $7.7 million for the phase the study prioritizes (the slide earlier showed an $11 million estimate before value-engineering). Gold also described opportunities to use that design funding as a local match for a future federal BUILD (or similar) grant application to fund construction.

The study lists specific design options for constrained areas: a boardwalk across wetlands of roughly 750–800 feet to connect a new housing development (about 400 units in early phases, with potential future phases) to downtown Middletown; benching a trail into steep slopes along I‑91 with fencing to separate highway traffic; and improved underpass connections where existing trolley-line trail segments already exist in the city’s north neighborhoods.

Gold said private developers have offered easements or rights-of-way for trailheads at a new housing site that would benefit from a direct trail connection. He also noted the project team removed photos that showed people walking on active rail right-of-way after Connecticut DOT objected, underscoring safety and ROW constraints.

The study recommends advancing the Middletown priority phase into engineering using the bond funds and continuing to assemble grant matches for future construction funding. Gold closed by inviting committee members to read the draft study linked in the meeting agenda and submit comments.

Ending: The steering committee did not take a formal vote on the study during the meeting; Gold asked members to submit comments via the agenda link and said he would remain on the call to listen to the remainder of the meeting.