RNEWS is reporting an upcoming change to the Erie Canal Trail:

Town and state officials kicked off a $755,000 project that’s expected to improve both the safety and aesthetics of a portion of the Erie Canal Trail near the Monroe Avenue Bridge.

The section of trail they are talking about is actually a part of the seven mile segment I’ve walked the last two months. (As a bonus, I now know what street crosses the canal via the unlabeled bridge I walk under, thanks to this article.) I have to admit that this is a welcome change to the trail, at least to my mind. For a thousand feet or so, the trail dumps you out onto a side street (which is extremely lightly trafficked, thankfully). The trail picks back up once the road gets just past the sanitation building/office. So it will be nice to be able to avoid car traffic (no matter how sporadic it is anyway) completely once this construction is done.

I’m hoping to make my monthly trek this Sunday. I’ll have to check out the construction in the area while I’m there.

Of course, I’m also pleasantly surprised to see that the trail is considered that important to tourism and the general economy of the area.