Trails & Bike Routes -- Let's Get Organized!

(Pictured above are various bike-friendly road treatments, applicable to the projects to be discussed on May 23.)

The Jonah Center for Earth and Art and The Rockfall Foundation invite the public to learn about recreational trails and bike routes being constructed, planned, or envisioned in the greater Middletown area. The program will take place on Wednesday, May 23, 7- 8:30 p.m. at the deKoven House, 27 Washington Street, in Middletown.

The main presenters will be John Shafer and Kathy Herron, members of Portland’s Air Line Trail Steering Committee and Complete Streets Group; Howard Reid, co-chair of Middletown’s Complete Streets Committee; and John Hall, Executive Director of the Jonah Center.

The presentations will cover the large number of current projects at various stages of development in Portland, Middletown, and extending west through Meriden to connect the Air Line Trail with the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail in Cheshire. A section of the Air Line Trail in Portland is scheduled to open on June 2. Other trails and routes in Middletown are under construction, or construction is scheduled to begin soon, or projects are in the concept and planning phase, or awaiting funding.

Those in attendance will have ample opportunity to ask questions, offer ideas, and join other advocates in exploring strategies to support these walking and bicycling infrastructure improvements. Many studies have demonstrated the health, economic, and quality of life benefits that come with safer and more convenient places to exercise and use non-motorized transportation. But these improvements are not likely to happen without an informed and mobilized citizenry. The need for public awareness and coordinated action is behind the Jonah Center’s Speak Out For Trails & Bike Routes campaign that was launched in February 2018.

For more information, contact John Hall at 860-398-3771 or via “contact us” from www.thejonahcenter.org