16-05-2025
Farmington Canal Trail completed in New Haven, just in time for National Bike to Work Week
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — This is National Bike to Work Week. Taking two wheels to get around New Haven has been a growing trend for years. Leaving the car at home has never been easier.
'There are so many different ways that people can get around by not driving alone to work,' Yale's Director of Sustainability Amber Garrard said. 'Actually, we know from our surveys that people who don't drive alone and much happier and more satisfied with their commute.'
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Yale and other groups celebrated National Bike to Work Week by doling out snacks and information. About 15 years ago, Yale started holding bike safety classes for students.
'A lot of students were biking on campus, so we thought it would be a great idea to come up with a bike class to teach them about the rules of the road, wearing helmets and being safe out there,' Safety Advisor with Yale Environmental Health & Safety Douglas Noble said.
Since then, around a thousand students have taken that class and New Haven has gotten more and more bike friendly.
'They're putting in a lot of cycle tracks in around campus, so if people are over in East Rock or at the med school, they have more access to get to the university,' Noble said.
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Getting around New Haven is actually easier during this National Bike to Work Week than it's ever been before. That's because, just last week, they opened up the last couple blocks of the Farmington Canal Trail, including a 400 foot-long tunnel that has taken years to complete.
'Two decades. Literally two decades, and finally just opened up last Friday,' the president of the Farmington Canal Rail to Trail Association Lisa Fernandez said.
The tunnel goes under Temple Street and Whitney Avenue, following the path of the old canal, which became a railroad. It lets users get all the way to corner of Orange and Grove Streets. That makes biking to work in parts of downtown even easier, and easier on the environment.
'It's keeping some of those greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere, because instead of people having to drive to work, they can bike, scoot, or walk to work using the trail and staying out of car traffic,' Fernandez said.
New Haven also has new E-bike and scooter share programs to make that even easier.
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