Portland breaks ground on 2.3-mile Airline Trail slated to open in spring

The Portland Airline trail, ground for which was broken this weekend, will eventually connect to the Connecticut Air Line State Park Trail that runs from East Hampton to Putnam. The Portland Airline trail, ground for which was broken this weekend, will eventually connect to the Connecticut Air Line State Park Trail that runs from East Hampton to Putnam. Photo: Contributed Photo Photo: Contributed Photo Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Portland breaks ground on 2.3-mile Airline Trail slated to open in spring 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

PORTLAND — The town held a groundbreaking ceremony Saturday to mark the beginning of construction on the first phase of the Portland Air Line Trail: a 2.3-mile section of a linear park route for recreational use.

The trail will eventually connect to the Connecticut Air Line State Park Trail that runs from East Hampton to Putnam, and, ultimately, the town hopes to take the trail to downtown Portland, the Arrigoni Bridge and Middletown, according to a press release.

The section of the trail to be constructed runs 2.3 miles from Depot Hill Road to the YMCA Camp Ingersoll property with a trail head parking area on the former Keegan property off Middle Haddam Road. Dichello Construction will be doing trail work under the direction of Jacobson Engineering and town officials, the release continued. Construction should be completed and the trail opened for public use by spring.

The ceremony included representatives from various organizations that have supported or been involved in the project’s development: Jamie Lintner from Eversource Energy, who provided a lease for the land; Tom Tyler, state parks director for the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, who provided grant funding for construction; state Rep. Christie Carpino, who provided legislative support; Portland First Selectwoman Susan Bransfield, who directed the town’s involvement for the Board of Selectmen; and Rosario Rizzo and Louis Pear, cochairs of the Portland Air Line Trail Steering Committee who oversaw development of the trail.

The first phase will be constructed on land used by the Air Line railroad that ran between New York and Boston between 1873 and 1955, according to the release. The Connecticut portion of the railroad east of Portland ceased operations in 1968, the tracks were abandoned, and the land between East Hampton and Massachusetts was purchased by the state for recreational use.

Since then, it has been gradually developed into the current Air Line State Park Trail. Due to a lack of interest at the time, the land in Portland was sold to private property owners, including CL&P, now Eversource Energy, the release continued.

In 2013, John Hall and John Shafer, members of the Jonah Center in Middletown, initiated an effort to develop the trail in Portland. This led to the formation of a town steering committee initially led by Shafer and later led by Rizzo and Pear. Working with town leaders, including Bransfield, and former town planner, Deana Rhodes, the committee was able to successfully negotiate a lease agreement with Eversource Energy to use a 2.3-mile portion of their land for trail use (referred to as “Phase 1”), according to the statement.

They developed a site plan, purchased additional property and received grant funding from the DEEP. After three years of preparations, construction of Phase 1 of the Portland section of the Air Line Trail is ready to be connected to the new East Hampton section.