South Windsor got some good trail news this fall. On October 1, the governor's office announced that the town would receive $200,000 to plan and design Phase 3 of the Crosstown Trail. It was one of 50 trail projects to share roughly $10.5 million in state funding administered by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

Before anyone pictures a ribbon-cutting, there's important context. When Patch covered the award on October 13, it pointed out that the grant pays for planning and design only. No construction schedule, opening date, or Phase 3 route has been published. And no segment of the trail has been built yet. Phase 1A, the stretch from Wapping Park to Priest Farm, earned site plan approval back in January 2025 and is still waiting to break ground.

From what I can tell in the town's own records, the slowdown has nothing to do with enthusiasm or grant money. It comes down to approvals from landowners and a utility, plus bridge costs that came in higher than anyone first expected. Here's how the pieces fit together.

One Trail, Four Segments, Four Different Timelines

As planned, the Crosstown Trail would run about 6.2 miles from south to north. At its southern end it would link up with the Charter Oak Greenway in Manchester, and to the north it would point toward East Windsor. Along the way it would pass Wapping Park, land owned by the South Windsor Land Conservation Trust, Nevers Park, and the South Windsor Wildlife Sanctuary. The path is designed to be off-road and usable by walkers, cyclists, and people using wheelchairs.

Here's where each segment currently stands:

  • Phase 1A: Wapping Park to Priest Farm on Sullivan Avenue, roughly 5,500 feet. The site plan was approved January 28, 2025. As recently as the September 16, 2026 agenda, the bid process and funding were still listed as open business.
  • Phase 1B: Covers the pedestrian crossing of Sullivan Avenue at the existing traffic light. In November 2025, the Plum Ridge board told the town it didn't want to keep talking.
  • Phase 2: Town records offer few details. A March 2025 update suggested its design would wrap up before long.
  • Phase 3: No published route yet. The $200,000 state planning and design grant was announced October 1, 2026.

Notice the common thread in the first two phases: both rely on someone outside town hall. Phase 1A needs sign-off from a utility and from the holders of conservation land, while Phase 1B depends on a private community.

Phase 1A Rides Along an Eversource Corridor

The first segment begins at Wapping Park, which already has a parking area, and heads northeast to Priest Farm on Sullivan Avenue (Route 194). At the Priest Farm end, plans call for a new crushed-stone lot that includes accessible parking spaces.

The trail itself would be paved and typically 10 feet wide, with a boardwalk section of around 60 feet. Where it shares an existing Eversource access drive, it widens to 12 feet. Routing the path through the Eversource right-of-way keeps it out of residents' backyards, but it also means the utility has to agree to it. That approval has been the sticking point:

  • November 19, 2025: The Parks and Recreation director reported that Eversource had turned down the license agreement because of a bridge proposed on its easement. The town sent the request back in without the bridge.
  • March 18, 2026: Revised contract language was with Eversource, and the town was waiting on a signature. Meanwhile, the director was hunting for grants to complete the Phase 1A plans.
  • July 15, 2026: According to the minutes, the town still needed a signature from South Windsor Conservation covering the conservation land along the route. With that in hand, the expectation was to put Phase 1A out to bid in early fall 2026.

Those same July minutes acknowledged that costs would run above the original estimates, with bridges the biggest culprit. The plan is to pursue more grant money after bids come back. Until the signatures are secured and real bids arrive, nobody knows how large the funding gap actually is.

From a Summer 2025 Target to No Firm Date

It helps to see the full sequence in order:

  1. October 2023: The State Bond Commission approved $1.2 million for Phase 1A.
  2. Late 2023: A town manager's report anticipated construction starting in summer 2024 and finishing by summer 2025.
  3. January 28, 2025: Planning and Zoning approved the Phase 1A site plan.
  4. November 2025: Eversource declined the license over the bridge, and the town resubmitted without it.
  5. March 2026: The revised contract sat awaiting Eversource's signature.
  6. July 2026: A conservation signature was still outstanding, with a bid targeted for early fall 2026.
  7. September 16, 2026: Phase 1A bidding and funding reappeared on the subcommittee agenda.
  8. October 1, 2026: The state awarded $200,000 for Phase 3 design.

The summer 2025 completion date has come and gone, and no later document offers a new construction start. If someone tells you exactly when Phase 1A will open, they're making an educated guess at best.

Crossing Sullivan Avenue Belongs to Phase 1B

A detail that surprises many neighbors: Phase 1A stops at Priest Farm on the near side of Sullivan Avenue. It doesn't cross Route 194 at all. Getting trail users across the road at the existing signal is part of Phase 1B.

An earlier version of the Phase 1B route passed through private community property near Sandstone Road. Patch reported that committee conversations in 2024 touched on screening, signage, and gates to keep motorized vehicles off the path. In September 2024, the subcommittee noted the route could shift if Plum Ridge wasn't on board with a path across its land. By November 2025, the Plum Ridge board said it had no interest in further talks.

The March 2026 minutes mentioned a public forum on Phase 1B scheduled for May 20, open to every resident, with notices sent to Plum Ridge and surrounding neighborhoods. Since then, no final Phase 1B route has been released. That open question determines how Phase 1A will eventually connect to everything north of Sullivan Avenue.

Why the Phase 3 Design Grant Is Still Worth Celebrating

State Sen. Saud Anwar praised the awards in an October 2 statement that covered trail funding for East Hartford, East Windsor, and South Windsor. And while design money can feel abstract, it matters. The design stage is when routes get drawn on maps and when conflicts with property owners first come to light. Phase 1A spent much of 2025 and 2026 working through exactly those issues after its design was approved.

Funding Phase 3 design now means the next round of easement conversations can begin years before anyone asks for construction dollars. That's a smart head start. Remember, state money has shown up before, with $1.2 million for Phase 1A in 2023. The holdups since then have come from a utility contract, a conservation signature, a private board, and the price of bridges, not from a lack of support.

Get to Know the Route Now

You don't have to wait for pavement to explore the area. A couple of upcoming events make it easy:

  • Full Moon Walk, Tuesday, November 24: Gather at 6:30 p.m. at the Nevers Park Rotary Pavilion, 55 Chief Ryan Way. The 1.5-mile walk starts at 6:45 p.m. Everyone is welcome, so bring a flashlight, and if there's snow on the ground, snowshoes or cross-country skis are fine too.
  • Trails to Taps Hike, Saturday, December 12, 2 p.m.: A guided hike at Wapping Park, where Phase 1A will begin, followed by a stop at CT Valley Brewing.

According to the July 2026 minutes, a previous moonwalk brought out around 50 people, so these outings are catching on.

If you want to follow the project more closely, the Walk & Wheel Ways subcommittee meets at 6:30 p.m. on the third Wednesday of every other month at the Parks and Recreation building, 350 Foster Street. That schedule took effect in late 2025. The next meeting falls on November 18, the first since the Phase 3 grant announcement, and it should include an update on whether Phase 1A has gone out to bid.

Thinking About What This Means for Your Home?

If you live near Wapping Park, Priest Farm, or Sullivan Avenue, you may be wondering how the Crosstown Trail could affect your street or your home's value down the road. I'm happy to talk it through with you. Reach out anytime, and let's look at what the trail could mean for your part of South Windsor.