Community Corner

Volunteers Needed to Track Trail Usage

Participants to count number of cyclists, pedestrians on Farmington River Trail

Volunteers are once again being sought for bicycle and pedestrian counts on the Farmington River trail.

In Canton, counts will be held between 1 and 3 p.m. Sept 10 and from 4 to 6 p.m. Sept. 14 and include numerous locations such as Bridge Street (Route 179) and Main Street in Collinsville, Maple Avenue and River Road (Route 179), Maple Avenue and Allen Place near Atwater Road and the intersection of the trail with Route 44.

Volunteers count the number of trail users who pass a given spot within the two-hour time period.

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Town Planner Neil Pade said it will be the third year data has been collected although this year's count will focus on newly constructed portions of the trail. The highest usage was 315 crossings at an intersection in just one hour.

And the counts have many practical uses including traffic safety justification, infrastructure improvements and documentation for grant applications.

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"It changes how things work when you have that data," Pade said.

And with the new sections of trail, the survey will help the town and state identify safety and planning concerns, he added.

Canton will join many other area towns in the counts this month, said Sandy Fry, Principal Transportation Planner for the Capitol Region Council of Governments.

The effort is part of National Bicycle and Pedestrian Data Collection program this month. State counts on the Farmington River Trail, the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail and others will take place throughout the Capitol Region from Sept. 10 through Sept. 18.  Counters observe a location for 2 hours, noting how many bicyclists and pedestrians pass by. Rollerbladers and others non cyclists are included in the pedestrian count, Fry said.

Fry said CROG is looking for people who can count from 4 to 6 p.m. on a weekday or 12 to 2 p.m. (some locations, 1 to 3 p.m.) on the weekend. 

In addition to recreation, weekday counts will include assessment of commuting and will include some Hartford locations, Fry said.

"We get a sense of how many people are commuting and how it's changed over time," she said.

While Canton did counts last year, CROG did not, she added. However, the council now has a database that will make it much easier to log, track and analyze the data, she added.

Anyone interested in helping with the Canton counts can e-mail NPade@townofcantonct.org.

To express interest in helping outside of town, contract Fry at sfry@crcog.org.

Later in the week we will feature some trail safety tips from police officer Mark Selander.


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