Group focuses on bringing Greenway back to life

Group focuses on bringing Greenway back to life
A fading sign for the North Greenway in North Canaan is adjacent to North Canaan Elementary School and near the town pool. 
Photo by John Coston

NORTH CANAAN — The Great Falls Brewing Co. on West Main Street was the setting Thursday, Nov.  9, for a discussion about sprucing up the town’s greenways that have suffered from a lack of maintenance and use over the years. 

Mike Reagan of North Canaan organized the get-together to gauge interest in reviving the trails that date to the 1990s when community leaders and citizens created the small network of greenways.

Reagan focused the discussion on the North Greenway, which opened in 1998 and is located near Whiting Drive, north of the town pool and North Canaan Elementary School (NCES).

The group of about a dozen people decided to hold a fall cleanup on the North Greenway, but the plan changed after Rich Forman  took advantage of recent warm weather to get a head start. So, the first Saturday in December, Dec. 2, at 11 a.m. will commemorate a trail re-opening. 

The group envisions a second spring spruce-up day around Earth Day in April.

The North Canaan Greenway network had its start in 1990 with discussions at the state Department of Transportation (DOT) level and with the Inland Wetlands Commission about a parcel of land on North Elm Street. 

In the spring of 1991, a Greenway Committee was formed, which was followed by the creation of the South Greenway that runs from the north side of Route 44 near McDonald’s northeasterly to North Elm Street across from the Bitterman Center.

A third Greenway — Camp Brook Trail — was once operational and was the site of a disc golf course, but it is now off-limits because the land, formerly leased by the town, is DOT-owned. 

In 2019, a singles tournament sanctioned by the Professional Disc Golf Association was held at Camp Brook, drawing 72 competitors.

The Camp Brook Trail opened in 1995. The state has been trying to sell the land at auction. A recent auction ended on Oct. 11 without a submitted bid for the 27.45-acre parcel. The state lists the property with an asking price at $200,000. It has frontage along Route 7 and Granger Lane.

Reagan proposed that the group put its focus on getting something started again with the North Greenway near NCES, proposing that it could become an educational resource for teachers. 

The discussion also centered on whether local Boy Scouts could be enlisted to help in some way in restoring the North Greenway to draw people back. 

“Most people don’t know it’s there,” he said. “Let’s just get something done in this town.” Reagan said he was pleased about the turnout.

“I wasn’t expecting this many people,” he said. 

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