Diaz at his fishing spot.
Hector Diaz was netting healthy-sized blue crabs and even big eels in the Mill River Tuesday afternoon.
Two dozen non-angling environmental and development officials from the city and state, along with Mill River Trail Association devotees, were on hand to admire the catch. They were also there to tell Diaz, through the ceremonies that ensued, that in the months and years ahead his access to the river for fishing and other enjoyments will be a lot easier.
That’s because of a $289,000 state grant, the subject of Tuesday’s celebratory event.
The trail will have a loop on the sidewalk of John Murphy Drive as well as this loop along the banks of the Mill.
Standing at the bank of the river off John Murphy Drive on a public easement between the properties of tech manufactuer Radiall and the sprawling Acorn Group‘s 370 James St. parking lot, officials hailed the state Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) and CT Greenways Council grant to develop a trail along the Mill River between East Rock Park and Grand Avenue — furthering a project years in the making to create a connected system of trails and bike routes.
If we do it right, a kid ought to be able to walk from Fair Haven to Wilbur Cross High School along the river trail, said SeeClickFix’s Ben Berkowitz, an early organizer of the volunteer effort.
“The [Mill] River is deeply ingrained in our history. Sometime we make mistakes. Now we get it right,” added J.R. Logan, head of the Mill River Trail Group, a lightning rod in the process.
That grassroots group’s enthusiastic recruiting of the city in the effort — for several years volunteers have been meeting weekly, with the help of Urban Resources Initiative (URI), to remove invasive species and do other trailblazing — ultimately led to the award of the competitive grant, said Laurie Giannotti, a DEEP project director.
Radiall’s Bill Neale said his company maintained the trail adjacent to its property for 25 years.
The money, to be supplemented by a $72,287 match by the city to pay for the design, will help to construct two segments of the trail — one from the Ralph Walker Rink on State Street to the Amtrak rail line; the other from James Street at Humphrey, where the track goes overhead, all the way to Grand Avenue.
The new construction will link segments that already exist but are separate from one another. The public can now easily access the banks of the Mill River only at East Rock Park. The proposal would allow more biking and walking opportunities around East Rock and Fair Haven.
All hands praised Jacob Heydorn Gorski, who while a super intern at New Haven’s City Plan Department, wrote the grant; he now works for parks and rec.
The grant money, which was first announced in April, will go first and foremost to upgrade the picturesque, looping eighth-of-a-mile trail along the Mill River between Grand Avenue. There’ll be access points behind Grand Paint, along the river, behind aerospace manufacturer Radiall‘s property, roughly to where the celebration took place, several yards before the railroad bridges, said Logan.
The funding will go toward creation of a solid trail with some paving elements suitable not only for walking but biking.
The grant monies also provide for signage, benches, and other amenities, Giannotti added.
Officials had less clarity about the details of the trail’s next section north from the site of the celebration, from the easement at the bank of the river between Radiall’s and 370 State Street’s property, up to Humphrey Street.
That’s because the state Department of Transportation needs to be involved in granting permission for this leg of the trail’s journey. That process has just begun.
Several officials pointed out one of New Haven railroad history’s survivors that in its one remaining span still traverses the Mill River.
Hall and the Mill River Watershed Association’s Cordelie Benoit expressed the hope that somehow it might be saved and restored, or at least stabilized, as a feature of the trail.
Also in the initial planning process is how the trail will cross Humphrey Street, whether below the bridge or at street level.
In the next section beyond Humphrey, going toward East Rock, the developers of the DISTRICT, an evolving high tech campus that recently broke ground, are required in their land disposition agreement with the city to build and help maintain the section of the trail that runs along their property.
Part of Reed-Hilderbrand‘s contract, which City Plan staffer Donna Hall said is about to be finalized, will involve looking into the options that might open up there, as well as to setting standards for the appearance of the trails different sections — signage, pavement, materials used — for a sense of construction and visual cohesion.
Amid Tuesday’s proceedings, Diaz caught more blue crabs.
For those interested in pitching in — volunteer work goes on as part and parcel of the effort — URI-led work sessions for removal of invasives along the trail is taking place summer Thursdays from 4 to 6 p.m., said URI Intern Delilah Griswold.
This certainly looks like a wonderful addition to the city's walking trails! I'll be interested to see how the railroad tracks are crossed! Though I suppose, in a pinch, one could just walk up Murphy to James, then to Humphrey and circumvent the trains altogether.
It would be great to have canoe launch sites just above and below the tide gate under Route 91. This would link the navigable waters of the Mill River (accessed from Orange Street) with the Quinnipiac River (accessed off Cliff Street).
Of course this would work only if it did not disrupt the squatter encampments too much - or the squatters interfere with the hikers, cyclists, and paddlers...