Bringing the Air Line Trail to Portland & Middletown

Tuesday, November 26

7 – 8:30 p.m.

Portland Library, Mary Flood Room

20 Freestone Avenue, Portland

The Jonah Center for Earth and Art invites the public to a presentation and planning forum on extending the Air Line multi-use trail from East Hampton to Portland.

The program will be led by John Shafer, President of the Jonah Center for Earth and Art, Deanna Rhodes, Planning and Zoning Administrator for the Town of Portland, and Robert Haramut from the Lower CT River Valley Council of Governments. They will describe the project using maps, ground level and aerial photographs, cost estimates, potential funding sources, and elements of the planning and community organizing tasks that will be required to realize this vision.

Shown here is a section of the unimproved rail bed in Portland.

The Air Line State Park Trail follows the right-of-way of the former Air Line Railroad, which was built to connect Boston and New York City in the latter half of the 19th century. The corridor was known as the Air Line because it traced the most direct route possible – as if by a line drawn through the air. For 86 years, from 1873 to 1959, the Air Line provided a high-speed passenger rail connection between these prominent northeast cities.

In 1975, the Air Line rail corridor was deeded to the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), and in 1996 the DEP proposed rehabilitating the rail bed as a linear state park. The 17.6 mile stretch between East Hampton and Windham is presently the most improved and popular section of the trail, featuring scenic bridges, ponds, marshes, and gorges.

For more information about the program or the Jonah Center, contact John Hall at 860-398-3771 or visit www.thejonahcenter.org .