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Bike Walk CT and the Rails to Trails Conservancy team up to advocate for putting trails funding on the January 2016 Bond Commission agenda. click for pdf  Dear Governor Malloy:
We commend you for the leadership you’ve shown with Let’s Go CT and for seeing to it that active transportation is part of our short- and long-term transportation vision. We think you agree: Connecticut’s longtime lack of investment in multi-modal transportation networks is a competitive disadvantage. With that in mind, Bike Walk Connecticut and the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy write jointly to ask you to ensure that the January 2016 Bond Commission Agenda include $7 million in funding for the Recreational Trails Program of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. With 88% of Connecticut’s workers driving to work alone by car, it’s no wonder that our roads are congested, costing us some $1.3 billion annually in lost time and wasted fuel, according to DOT. Nor should we overlook the fact that transportation is the single biggest source of Connecticut’s greenhouse gas pollution. According to DEEP, that’s mostly from passenger cars. We believe that multiuse trails should no longer be considered as “nice to have” amenities. For reasons of economic competitiveness, climate and health, Connecticut should view multiuse trails as critical components of our active transportation infrastructure. We would we like to see Connecticut take a holistic view of complete streets and multiuse trails as complementary parts of an overall active transportation network. We need to connect Connecticut. Moreover, we believe Connecticut must go beyond accommodating cyclist and pedestrian travel to actually promoting it, so that we can simultaneously relieve congestion, address climate change, and attract and retain the millennials and knowledge workers that will give Connecticut's innovation economy a true competitive advantage. We agree with other advocates that it is urgent to include trails funding on the January bond commission agenda so that work on trail projects can start as soon as possible when the field season begins in Spring 2016. More than $6 million in trails projects are reported to be shovel ready. Thank you for considering our views. Sincerely, Kelly Kennedy, Esq., Executive Director, Bike Walk Connecticut Andrew N. Dupuy, Manager of Policy Outreach, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy cc: Ben Barnes, Secretary of OPM Garrett Eucalitto, Under Secretary, OPM Office of Transportation Policy  In only a few more years, the longest interstate rail trail in New England will be complete, but what does that mean for tourism and economic development in the region?
There are lessons to be learned from NY and keynote speaker, Fran Gotcsik of Parks,Trails New York has first-hand knowledge about not only what happened there, but how it came to be. Saturday October 18, 2014, 9:30 AM Eno Hall 754 Hopmeadow Street Simsbury, CT Cost is $20 and includes a box lunch. State and local goverment officials from along the entire 84 mile corridor, tourism and hospitality industry officials, advocates and the press are all invited. There will also be an optional, guided bike tour of the area. Click here for the agenda and information about the keynote speaker and the bike tour. Please register at: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-interstate-trail-summit-tickets-12405957553?aff=es2&rank=15 Following are links to the ride routes for this event: Tonight is the big night! The final public meeting with ConnDOT on the Merritt Parkway trail feasibility study is tonight at 7pm in Greenwich (Town Hall Meeting Room, Greenwich Town Hall, 101 Field Point Rd).
Please consider joining the Merritt Parkway Trail Alliance prior to the meeting at 5:30pm for a get together at Cosi (129 West Putnam Ave, Greenwich). The group will discus strategy, letters of support & next steps. Please email molly@greenway.org if you plan to be there. If you haven't already submitted a letter of support for the trail to DOT, please consider doing so and forward the template to your friends, family & colleagues (http://www.greenway.org/?attachment_id=4618). (See more below.) Let's keep the momentum going. Hope to see you tonight! Letter of Support Information Please support the Merritt Parkway Trail. October 3rd is the deadline for comments. If ConnDOT does not have enough people saying they favor, in concept only at this point, a multi-use trail that connects the 8 towns along the Merritt Parkway, this valuable project will die on the vine. There are a couple of points that people seem to be confused about:
Here is the URL to the form to support the trail: http://bit.ly/parkwaytrail And this is a link to read more about the trail itself. http://www.merrittparkwaytrail.org/ Bi-State Trail Summit
New Haven to Northampton Trail Group Saturday October 18, 2014 Eno Hall, 754 Hopmeadow Street/CT10 Simsbury CT. In only a few more years, the longest interstate rail trail in New England will be complete, but what does that mean for tourism and economic development in our region? There are lessons to be learned from NY and our keynote speaker, Fran Gotcsik of Parks, Trails New York has first-hand knowledge about not only what happened there, but how it came to be. Cost is $20 and includes a box lunch. State and local officials from along the entire 84 mile corridor as well as tourism and hospitality industry officials, advocates and the press are invited. There will be an optional, guided bike tour of the area. Go to www.2014TrailSummit.org for the agenda and information about the keynote speaker and the bike tour. Please register at: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-interstate-trail-summit-tickets-12405957553?aff=es2&rank=15  Next Tuesday, Sept. 16, the Connecticut Department of Transportation will present its Merritt Parkway Trail feasibility study at Greenwich Town Hall. After their presentation the public will have a chance to ask questions and share why they support the trail (or why they do not). Over the last few months ConnDOT has held meetings like this in all the other towns through which the Parkway runs. The meeting in Greenwich next Tuesday will be the final one in this series, so it would be great to have as many supporters there as possible. Read more below. Download and distribute the flier at left. Website: www.merrittparkwaytrail.org 
A public informational meeting on the Merritt Parkway Multi-Use Trail Feasibility Study on Tuesday, September 16 at 7 p.m. at the Greenwich Town Hall Meeting Room, 101 Field Point Road in Greenwich.
More information on the study is available at www.ct.gov/DOT/MerrittTrailStudy. The Scoville Road section of the Rails-To-Trails path in Avon will be closed for pedestrian and bicycle use during the weekdays through Wednesday, September 3. The path will however be open on the weekends.
The closure begins at Scoville Road in Avon and goes south to Griffinville Road in Farmington. The path will be closed in order for Connecticut Light & Power to remove utility poles and wires on the path that are no longer in use. The CT DOT will hold a public informational meeting in regards to the Merritt Parkway Multi-Use Trail Feasibility Study on Thursday, September 4, 2014 at 7 p.m. The meeting will take place in the Stratford Town Hall Council Chambers at 2725 Main Street in Stratford.
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