Major Trail Project Gets Boost From West Hartford Council

WEST HARTFORD, CT — A major trail project that would improve the ability of hikers and bikers to enjoy West Hartford's passive recreation scene has seen funding for it OK'd by local officials.

The West Hartford Town Council Tuesday voted 9-0 to appropriate $1.17 million in state grant funds for the project, which would go along Trout Brook from Fern Street northward to Duffield Drive.

West Hartford Town Manager Rick Ledwith said the funding finances what is known as "Phase 6" of the Trout Brook Trail, a popular trail that continues to grow in town. Last summer, "Phase 5" of the Trout Brook Trail was finished and opened.

According to the approved resolution, the council action takes that dollar amount out of the 2021-22 budget's Local Transportation Capital Improvement Program (LoTCIP) fund and allocates it, specifically, for the trail project.

The reason the funding is linked to the 2021-22 budget is because the project has been beset with multiple delays associated with cost increases and design changes as requested by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

Tuesday's action is a key step toward getting that project done, which Ledwith said would be sometime this year.

According to Ledwith, the new portion of the Trout Brook Trail would be on the east bank of the brook and it would be about 2,900 feet.

Plans, he wrote to council members in a memo, include a 10-foot-wide bituminous concrete trail; retaining walls; drainage improvements; installation of Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant sidewalks and ramps; guiderails; wood fencing; benches; landscaping; along with signage and pavement markings.

Council members were more than pleased with the progress at the trail.

"We are very excited to have this trail get completely connected," said West Hartford Mayor Shari Cantor.

"I'm also happy that this trail is being extended because, now that I have a little more time, I have been experiencing the trail," said Councilperson Carol Blanks.

Councilperson Mary Fay said the trail extension not only has aesthetic benefits, but safety ones as well as it will improve accessibility to the trail for some residents in the area.

"Its just so perfect to be able to walk because we're looking to be more walkable in town. It's lovely and now you can be safe at the same time," Fay said. "It's going to be great."

For the minutes of the March 28 West Hartford Town Council meeting, click on this link.

For documents related to the Trout Brook Drive trail, click on this link and go to Page 19.

From July 26, 2022: 'West Hartford Trail Network Grows'