Public & Pols Support Bike Pathway

At back-to-back meetings Tuesday night, both the public and elected officials showed support for a pedestrian and bike pathway through the city.

The Economic Development Committee voted unanimously in favor of a proposed multi-use pathway, or “linear park”, running from the Wesleyan Hills residential community through Wesleyan University and into downtown. The project, estimated at one million dollars, would be financed by $800,000 in Federal Transportation Enhancement funds, with the city providing the remaining $200,000.

The project has high interest among the public. Approximately 35 people attended an informational session prior to the committee meeting, with the vast majority voicing support for the proposal -- and especially for a separate appropriation of $20,000 to develop a bicycling “master plan” to include the rest of the city. The committee also approved that expenditure.

Director of Planning, Conservation and Development Bill Warner sketched out a vision that would use 3-4 different pedestrian and bicycle pathways to connect 80% of housing with downtown. But he focused on the multi-purpose pathway from Wesleyan Hills to downtown. “This is a concept; nothing is written in stone” he said. Specific engineering questions would need to be worked out, with public input. But the application for the federal funding is due December 22nd, so the Common Council will need to vote on the application at its December 5th meeting.

Improving roadways with bike lanes, and utilizing some already existing off-road paths, the route would range 3.6 miles from Wesleyan Hills to a set of bike lockers near the Middle Oak Assurance parking garage, and be open to walkers, runners, cyclists, and rollerbladers. (See map.) Warner noted the pathway would connect both upscale housing, such as Wesleyan Hills, and lower income housing on Santangelo Circle. "I'm always talking about the urban/suburban/rural character of Middletown, and this path takes in all three" said Warner.

The Jonah Center for Earth and Art has signed on to the application as an advocate, and will attempt to "create opportunities for public input."

Members of both the public and the committee questioned who would be in charge of maintaining the pathway. Warner replied it would be up to Parks & Recreation. None of the federal money may be used for maintenance.

If the project moves forward, Warner hoped to put "shovel in the ground" by 2014.

At both meetings, Warner used photo slides and a little Google Maps(r) wizardry to take a virtual tour of the proposed route. Many attendees commented on how it allowed them to see the concept more clearly. Committee member Linda Salafia said it helped persuade her. "Last week, I wouldn't have voted for this."

EDC To Address Bicycle Project Tomorrow. With Commentary

The Economic Development Committee (EDC) will hold a special meeting on Tuesday (Nov. 29, 6:30, Room 208), to address the proposed path which will allow residents in the large Wesleyan Hill subdivision to travel to Main Street and to Wesleyan by bicycle.

The "Wesleyan Hills/Wesleyan University/Downtown Connector Project" would be largely funded by the Federal Department of Transportation. City Planner Bill Warner will present a bicycle path plan developed by City Engineer Tom Nigosanti prior to the EDC meeting. His presentation starts at 5:30 on Tuesday, also in Room 208.

Commentary:
If the EDC and Common Council believe that parking is an important factor for economic development in our city, they should approve the Connector Project without delay.

Every Main Street shopper who arrives by bicycle instead of by car creates one free parking space for others, reduces traffic, and marginally reduces the frequency of road repair. The EDC has recently approved the expenditure of hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on parking and traffic studies and on parking lot construction (Melilli Plaza just finished, North End lot just beginning). The rationale for this spending has been that parking lots are necessary for the vibrancy of downtown.

A bicycle path taking people to a store or employment location creates open parking spaces in a cost-effective manner. This is especially true when considering that no businesses or homes are displaced for a parking lot--there is no reduction in the grand list as there is when downtown land is covered in a municipal parking lot.

Moreover, in communities throughout the country, property values have risen after the introduction of a bicycle paths (see HERE for a study in Massachusetts). The construction of bicycle trails connecting our city's residences, workplaces, shopping locations, and schools may be one of the most cost-effective ways to increase our grand list.

Dancing Cycles

This was sent to me tonight, looks like a great event to watch and an even better event to be part of!

Hello Cyclists!
I want to extend one more invitation to join our wheelie performance. It is part of tomorrow's "Common Moment" for incoming Wesleyan students. We will rehearse 6 - 7 pm on Andrus Field and then perform around 7:30. The more the merrier, so if you have friends that want to jump in, please bring them along! 

Thanks so much~ Margot

Margot Greenlee

Liz Lerman Dance Exchange

Prospect Hill

The first four of my "Seven hills in seven days" took me to the west (Higby Mountain and Lamentation Mountain), to the south (Round Hill), and to the East (Bear Hill).  Today I wanted to summit a hill in the north of Middletown. I found one on a topo map which seemed perfect: in the North End, near a cemetery, and most importantly on a busy work day not too far away.  Prospect Hill is just west of Prospect Street, which is almost the western border of the North End residential area. I biked there and discovered that the map was not quite accurate, the actual top of the hill is almost certainly right on Prospect Street. Thus, this became my second bicycle ascent of a Middletown hill.  Prospect Hill, like all the others except for Round Hill, is actually somewhat of a ridge. To the east it slopes gradually down to Main Street and the Connecticut River, to the West it drops very steeply down to the Coginchaug River.  The Prospect Hill ridge is bisected by the deep cut for the railroad tracks, which curve here towards the river.  

I continued north along Prospect Street to the St. John's Cemetery.  This is a small cemetery and mausoleum, housing about a hundred people whose lives mostly spanned from about 1900 to 1985.  The grave markers are flush with the ground, giving an impression of modest people who lived practical lives.  The roster of names included many familiar ones, important families during the years after the big wave of European immigrants at the end of the 19th century, names like Coleman, Marino, Milardo, Kidney, Footit.  

When I was bicycling around the North End, I passed a car on jacks with one man working on the brakes, and another man and a woman leaning against the car, smoking and chatting. When the woman saw me, she said in a very loud voice (it sounded like a shout to me), "Look at that guy on the bike, he bikes around everywhere. I mean it, no matter where I go, there he is."  I laughed and turned around to reply, but she was turned away to chat with her friends.  I don't know if she thought I couldn't understand the language, or if she thought I couldn't hear her shout, but I felt a little bit like a funny-looking lemur whom the tourists assume cannot understand things that are said about him.