Seeking Improvements, Canal Trail Boosters Are All Ear(mark)s

If Congress is handing out earmarks — what about earmarking some to support the 80-mile stretch of land known as the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail?

Volunteers on Hamden’s nine-member Farmington Canal Commission raised that question at their latest meeting.

They were referring to the revival in Congress of the practice of representatives ​“earmarking” local projects for support in broader national bills. U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, who represents New Haven and Hamden (and the trail), oversaw the revival of the practice as new chair of the House Appropriations Committee. She recently released a list of local projects she’s promoting for earmarks, a list that did not include the pedestrian and cycling trail.

That didn’t stop commissioners from drawing up a wish list for improvements at their monthly meeting, held online Tuesday night. They also resolved to renew their mission. They are in the process of revising their mission statement 28 years after its creation to describe their groups’ aim to ​“promote, advocate, improve access, and protect the linear trail” and allow people in ​“parks, schools, and neighborhoods of Greater Hamden” to ​“safely walk, bike, and be active outdoors.”

The trail sits on the remains of a canal route that extends from New Haven at the coast up through Northampton, Mass. Eventually that canal became a railway. As the railway fell into disuse, advocates began turning these railways into trails as part of the Rails-To-Trails movement.

Commission members Tuesday night reflected on the work necessary to sustain the trail while recognizing the limitations of their powers. The original duties of the commission from 1992 included establishing a budget to improve and develop the park; that responsibility was moved to the Hamden Legislative Council in 2000. Now the commission serves primarily to monitor the trail and make recommendations to the town regarding maintenance and improvement of the area.

Use of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail more than doubled in Hamden during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now that virus cases are decreasing and state guidelines have been modified, larger events are also being scheduled to take place on the trail. For example, a 5K race with more than 50 expected registrants to raise money for the Virgin Mary & Archangel Michael Coptic Orthodox Church in Hamden was approved to meet on the trail at 9 a.m. this Saturday.

As use of the trail increases, caring attention to the trail has become more crucial in ensuring the safety of those who walk, bike, and skate along it. Commission members who regularly visit the park listed a broken fencing meant to guard a precarious 30-foot drop along the linear park, a series of bumps where roots have pushed up the pavement, and lack of signage around busy intersections as safety hazards that will require new funding to address.

Commission Chair David Schaefer remarked that while the trail was not on the ​“wish list” of any congressional representative, ​“that doesn’t mean that process is gone, or that it won’t happen next year.” As the nine Commission members work to put together a list of concrete goals and recommendations for the development of the trail in order to secure more monetary support this year, they’re looking to collect and center broader public opinion through surveys distributed to trail goers and Commission Facebook followers.

During a discussion on whether or not to hold next month’s planning session remotely or in-person, the question was posed: How many people from the public usually show up to these commission meetings?

“None,” replied Commission Clerk Gerry Tobin. ​“But if we publicize it as a picnic, you never know!”

Interested readers of this article and trail fanatics alike may join the Commission at the Brooksvale Veterans Building on July 21 at 6 p.m. for homemade steak, potato, Caesar, and bean salads. And cake.