Southington Council OKs Contract For New Hiking/Biking Trail

SOUTHINGTON, CT — A large section of hiking/biking trail will be built in Southington for $2.25 million, with local leaders this month approving a contract to get the job done.

The Southington Town Council June 12 unanimously voted to hire the Shultz Corp. of Plymouth to build the trail section.

When finished, the new trail will be part of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail, a 56-mile trail network stretching over 11 Connecticut towns, including Southington.

Southington Town Manager Mark Sciota, updating the council, said this new trail would be from Lazy Lane to Aircraft Road.

He said the state Department of Transportation recently received the OK to start this new trail project, which is funded by state and federal dollars, but administered by the town.

"There's some good news from the Department of Transportation, they've received the authority to move forward," Sciota said.

He said 80 percent of the project, expected to cost $2,247,328, would be financed by the federal government, with 20 percent by the state of Connecticut.

There would be no local tax impacts for Southington taxpayers.

Sciota said he wasn't sure when the work would be done, but the hope is that it would be complete this year doing the current construction season.

For now, he said he's pleased that this much-desired plan will get done, with future trail extensions in the project's future.

"It's good to see that we're actually going north, hopefully we'll see all the way to the Plainville line in the not-too-distant future," Sciota said.

For the minutes of the June 12 Southington Town Council meeting, click on this link.

For more information on the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail, click on this link.