The Town of West Hartford received a sizable grant to creation of a dedicated bike lane to connect the Trout Brook Trail and the Center.

Trout Brook Trail near the intersection with Farmington Avenue, April 2025. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

By Ronni Newton

West Hartford is one of 17 municipalities to be awarded a Community Connectivity Grant through the most recent round of funding announced by Gov. Ned Lamont and Connecticut Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto this week, and the $384,552 award to the town will be used to build a dedicated bike lane connecting the Trout Brook Trail to West Hartford Center.

While the engineering designs and exact specifications for the project are not currently available, according to Town Manager Rick Ledwith, the two-way separated bike lane will be 10 feet wide, and will be located on the north side of Farmington Avenue between Trout Brook Drive and North Main Street.

“We are thrilled and deeply grateful that West Hartford has been awarded funding for the West Hartford Center to Trout Brook Trail Bicycle Connector Project,” Mayor Shari Cantor told We-Ha.com. “This investment will make a meaningful difference in strengthening safe, accessible, multimodal connections between our vibrant town center and one of our most beloved community assets.”

Trout Brook Trail sign. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Expanding safe bicycling routes in West Hartford has been a longtime goal of members of the nonprofit advocacy group Bike West Hartford, as well as the town’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Commission.

Ethan Frankel, a board member of Bike West Hartford and one of the organizers of the town’s annual Center Streets event, held each August, said having a bike path that leads directly to the Center has been a longtime goal.

“Jay Stange – Bike Shop manager at Play It Again Sports, who lives in West Hartford and served on the Town’s Vision Zero Task Force, and is a Bike West Hartford member and an active transportation consultant who bikes with his kids to school every day – and I have been talking for years about the need to connect West Hartford and Hartford along Farmington Avenue with a protected bike path,” Frankel told We-Ha.com. “We know that this is essential for a thriving city and this thriving suburb. It is a big dream,” he said, acknowledging that they didn’t expect to be able to snap their fingers and make it happen.

The new path that will be funded through the Community Connectivity Grant is a great first step that grew out of a pop-up bike lane that he and Stange advocated for, that was first piloted during Center Streets in 2024.

“We knew that a baby step would be to connect this wonderful Trout Brook Trail, which is now almost complete from north to south in West Hartford. Jay created an entire plan for creating a separated path on the south and north side of Farmington Avenue between Trout Brook Drive and Main Street.” Frankel said that Stange sent his plan to Duane Martin, who was the town engineer at the time and is now director of Community Development. “It was a big ask,” Frankel said.

“When I was planning for Center Streets 2024 I contacted Town Engineer Greg Sommer about the possibility of testing a separated path to the [Trout Brook] trail for just the four hours of Center Streets 2024,” Frankel said. Sommer responded that it was possible, but needed to be funded, and there wasn’t much time to raise the money.

“Jay said he thought we could do it with a GoFundMe campaign,” said Frankel. “Jay set up the GoFundMe and we successfully raised the additional money for police coverage, and public works. Greg planned it and generous donors paid for it.”

Pop-up bike lane from Trout Brook Trail headed west up Farmington Avenue. Center Streets West Hartford. Aug. 25, 2024. Photo credit: Ronni Newton (we-ha.com file photo)

During the Center Streets event in 2024, Sommer had a camera set up to observe the use of the pop-up bike path that ran along the north side of Farmington Avenue, connecting Trout Brook Trail to North Main Street. “Center Streets draws about 2,000-3,000 people on bikes and on foot ,and over 300 people counted using the trail to get to the Center that day!” said Frankel.

“We did it again this year and had similar if not more users access the Center that way,” said Frankel about the return of the pop-up bike lane for Center Streets 2025, held on Aug. 24.

“We know that the town has been working on plans to make this connection permanent, and now we have the good news that there is funding for this project,” said Frankel.

Trout Brook Trail between Fern Street and Farmington Avenue, June 2025. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

According to a press release from the governor’s office, the grants are being awarded through the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s (CTDOT) Community Connectivity Grant Program. This is the seventh round of grant awards – which support construction activities that cost between $100,000 and $800,000 – and to date a total of 155 awards totaling roughly $74 million have been awarded statewide as “financial support for local infrastructure initiatives that make conditions safer and more accommodating for pedestrians and bicyclists in urban, suburban, and rural centers.” The grant-funded projects are expected to be completed within three years.

“We would like to thank Gov. Lamont, Commissioner Eucalitto, and the entire CCGP team for their continued commitment to improving transportation safety and connectivity across Connecticut. This project aligns perfectly with our Vision Zero goals and our ongoing work to expand active-transportation options for residents, businesses, and visitors,” Cantor said.

“Connecting residents with their communities through these projects is vital to boosting economic development, creating dynamic town centers, and encouraging alternative modes of transportation like walking or biking,” Lamont said in a statement. “Supporting this program improves the quality of life for towns and cities across the state.”

“We remain focused on increasing safety and enhancing connectivity across Connecticut,” Eucalitto said in a statement. “This grant program, which helps fund these important community-driven projects, is an integral part of our mission. This state funding is helping towns and cities deliver important projects. We’re grateful to Governor Lamont and the General Assembly for their continued support of these efforts.”

“This initiative is another welcome step toward our broader goal of increasing healthy transportation alternatives by building infrastructure that encourages physical activity,” Gilchrest said in a statement. “I am grateful to Gov. Lamont, our delegation, Mayor Cantor, and everyone working to help realize a more interconnected future.”

“Expanding the very popular Trout Brook Trail to include a connector to West Hartford Center means a safer and more accessible path for pedestrians and bicyclists,” said Farrar in a statement. “I am happy that this funding came through for West Hartford, it is vital to help improve mobility and growth in our town.”

“I envision an expanding bike network, which means more people will turn to a healthier mode of transportation that is also safe and contributes to the vibrancy of our town,” Exum said in a statement.

“It’s great to see this funding come through for West Hartford,” said Sánchez in statement. “Investing in safer, more accessible infrastructure for pedestrians and bicyclists will make our community healthier, more connected, and easier for everyone to get around.”

“I am grateful for Gov. Lamont’s continued investment in West Hartford, especially in projects that strengthen our infrastructure, Gibson said in a statement. “This project will make the town more accessible and safer for cyclists who want to explore everything the town has to offer.”

“Trout Brook Trail is an incredible asset to our community and this connector will expand its reach even further,” Slap said in a statement. “By providing dedicated bike paths we are not only increasing connectivity and helping West Hartford residents get outside and stay active – but we are keeping bicyclists safer. I’m grateful to Gov. Lamont and DOT Commissioner Eucalitto, and to Mayor Shari Cantor and the West Hartford Vision Zero Council who are taking an innovative and comprehensive approach to keeping our roads safe for everyone.”

West Hartford has previously received state support for the construction of the Trout Brook Trail, as well as grant funding for increasing connectivity between the trail and infrastructure in other towns. In June 2024, the town received $100,000 through the Connecticut Recreational Trails Grant Program to study the feasibility of building connections to Hartford and Newington.

In the last round of Community Connectivity Grant Program funding, in 2024, the town received nearly $700,000 to improve sidewalk accessibility.

The town has also received $600,000 in grant funding from the state for two mobility hubs, which are being constructed as part of the West Hartford Center Infrastructure Master Plan and intended to increase multimodal transportation access. One will be located in the Arapahoe Road parking lot, while the Farmington Avenue/Main Street hub will be constructed in the alley just west of the Veterans Memorial – easily accessible to the new bike path. Plans for the mobility hub include provide bike storage as well as bus stop access, seating, branded wayfinding, and capacity for future bikeshare and e-bikeshare features.

Courtesy of Town of West Hartford (we-ha.com file image)

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