The Day is happy to add our voice to the enthusiasm generated this week by the announcement that construction could start soon on a pedestrian and biking trail between downtown New London and the Fort Trumbull peninsula.

The trail has been on the wish lists of planners and civic volunteers for a long, long time.

As the crow flies, those two locations are near neighbors, but for walkers and bikers it is not a straight line. Commercial and industrial development, rail tracks and marine traffic access to Shaw's Cove all present hazards to navigation by foot and bicycle.

The city's Economic Development Commission, whose work is often overshadowed by other entities tasked with developing New London, stayed with the job of finding a route and paying for it at the lowest possible municipal cost. This month the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection announced a grant of $265,000 through its recreational trails program. The new grant quadruples the amount awarded for design of the trail three years earlier.

Making the news even more welcome are efforts going on in the north end of the city to establish a gateway trail for pedestrians and bicycles. Connecticut College, the Lyman Allyn Art Museum and the Hodges Square Improvement Association have joined in developing a plan for a path that would begin on campus — the northern border of the city — and wind through 12 as-yet undeveloped acres of the museum property before heading down the hill to Hodges Square.

The dream is to be able to hike or bike from one end of New London to the other.

Connecting the parts of this tiny city to each other seems absurdly difficult, but the age and density of New London's urban development reflect the priorities of pre-automobile settlers and residents. In those eras, a footpath could become a cart path and eventually a lane for motor vehicles. Superimposed on the 18th and 19th centuries is the 20th, in the monster proportions of Interstate 95 access roads and the twin spans and stanchions of the Gold Star bridges.

The 21st century, however, has come to value recreational trails that both connect the near neighborhoods and open up a safe path to others farther away.

Some obstacles will remain tough to negotiate. The route for the downtown-to-Fort Trumbull trail will touch Bank Street sharrows — shared bike and motor vehicle lanes — at one end and the fort peninsula at the other. It will traverse South Water Street, a new walkway on the hurricane berm at the end of Sparyard Street, and an existing path along Shaw's Cove that will get improvements. The trail will bring residents and visitors to the riverside and reintroduce the historic cove, which is smack in the middle of downtown but invisible to drivers just a few hundred feet away.

We believe the commission members, including Abel Donka, who said he has been working on the trail concept for eight years, that there is no easy fix, maybe no fix at all, for the obstacle presented by the need to keep the cove entrance open for marine traffic.

Even mighty Amtrak has to have its bridge swung into place every time a train needs to pass from May 1 to Oct. 31. Otherwise, the narrow entrance is open for boats to reach the marina — also a vital and welcome element in the downtown landscape.

Perhaps technology or changing uses of the area will eventually offer a way to keep the trail on the very edge of the river, but for now it is wise and exciting to go forward with the best route available.

The Day urges the parties working on their separate trails to come together and work on a New London top-to-bottom walkway/bikeway, which would appeal to funders, tourists, developers and anyone who loves to be outdoors in beautiful places. The river, the parks and the historic neighborhoods are out there and a bicycle ride sharing program is coming soon. It has been worth waiting for, but let's not wait anymore.

The Day editorial board meets with political, business and community leaders to formulate editorial viewpoints. It is composed of President and Publisher Timothy Dwyer, Executive Editor Izaskun E. Larraneta, Owen Poole, copy editor, and Lisa McGinley, retired deputy managing editor. The board operates independently from The Day newsroom.