Until this summer, there was no sidewalk on the stretch of Main Street between Chestnut Hill Road and the Old Cider Mill. The town's engineering division describes that part of Route 17 as a high-volume, high-speed arterial with only a shoulder. If you wanted fritters and a gallon of cider, you drove, even though the village center was close by.
That changed on Thursday, July 16, 2026, when the town opened the Phase 3C sidewalk to the public. This October is the first cider season with a continuous sidewalk from the South Glastonbury village center to the Old Cider Mill and Earle Park. Coffee, the bakery, the market, the cider mill and the park are now one walk.
What the Town Built Along Route 17
Phase 3C is the last phase of a longer effort to connect South Glastonbury to the sidewalk network that runs north along Main Street to the town center. Earlier phases were planned in 2020, including a 1,500-foot segment from the Cider Mill property to Mallard Drive. The July segment closed the remaining gap. The work involved more than pouring concrete:
- A 5-foot concrete sidewalk on the west side of Main Street, between the Old Cider Mill and Chestnut Hill Road
- A realigned road. Parts of Main Street were shifted as much as 9 feet to get around steep slopes
- New crossings at Main Street and Chestnut Hill Road/Red Hill Drive, with ADA-compliant curb ramps and crosswalks
- A Lead Pedestrian Interval signal at the same intersection. Press the button and walkers get a few seconds' head start before parallel traffic moves
- New drainage that collects stormwater and sends it to Holland Brook, which runs along the Old Cider Mill property
A state Local Transportation Capital Improvement grant, known as LOTCIP, paid for all construction costs. The design came from the town's engineering division and the firm Tighe & Bond. If you drove this road in April or May, you'll remember why it took a while. Northbound traffic was detoured over Chestnut Hill, Coleman and Overlook Roads during working hours, and paving in early June was done overnight.
The project isn't fully closed out. As of the town's July 17 update, contractor B&W Paving & Landscaping still had a punch list to finish. It included painting the sidewalk markings at the Chestnut Hill/Red Hill intersection and restoring the gravel staging area at Earle Park and American Legion Hall. Final acceptance by the Connecticut Department of Transportation was also pending. Patch reported the same open items on August 4. If the crosswalk paint looks unfinished, that's the reason.
The Walk Starts in the Village Triangle
The South Glastonbury Historic District is bounded by High, Hopewell, Main and Water Streets, and its National Register nomination calls the High–Main–Water triangle the village center. The town lists what this sidewalk connects you to: a full-service grocery store, a bakery, banks, churches and restaurants. Each of those has a name and a schedule, and the schedules decide which morning works best for the walk.
| Stop | Address | What it offers | Posted hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two Brothers Cafe SG | 875 Main Street | Breakfast, brunch and lunch | Daily, 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. |
| Harpo's Bakery & Cafe | 908 Main Street | Scratch-baked goods, breakfast, lunch | Tue–Sat 5 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sun 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., closed Mon |
| Brookside Market | 874 Main Street | Groceries | Daily, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. |
Two Brothers Cafe SG is the newest of the three. It opened this year in the former Flynn's Grill, the second location for two brothers who started in East Hampton. Harpo's has been family-owned since 1992. On a Monday, when Harpo's is closed, Two Brothers is the breakfast stop. On a Sunday, both open early enough to eat before heading north.
The village's history shows up before you reach Route 17's busier stretch. The district nomination names St. Augustine's Catholic Church on Hopewell Road, St. Luke's Episcopal Church and the Congregational Church on Main Street, and the former Methodist church that now houses the South Glastonbury Public Library. St. Augustine was founded as a mission in 1878 and is still a place of worship.
The New Stretch Ends at the Cider Mill
North of the village, the route crosses Main Street at Chestnut Hill Road and Red Hill Drive. The new pedestrian signal is at that crossing, and this is where the July sidewalk begins. The concrete runs along the west side of the road toward Holland Brook and the Old Cider Mill at 1287 Main Street.
The Cider Mill sits on town-owned land leased to local farmers. The town lists it as a seasonal farmers market with a petting zoo, open space, public bathrooms and scenic views, and says it typically runs August through October. The current operator, Riverview Farms, says it brought fresh-pressed cider back to the old mill. Its site lists pumpkins, mums, corn stalks and straw bales outside, plus jams, apple butter, kettle corn, local honey, maple syrup and fudge inside, and advertises apple fritters on weekends. The Hartford Courant included the mill in its September 2, 2026 roundup of Connecticut cider stops, mentioning the fritters and the petting zoo.
The town and the Courant both describe the mill as the oldest continuously operating cider mill in the United States. When the CTMQ blog looked into the claim in 2008, its author found little documentation beyond the fact that the mill is very old, and noted that other old cider mills claiming the title tend to add qualifiers such as "in Michigan." At the time of that 2008 visit, the cider sold there was pressed elsewhere, which makes Riverview Farms' fresh-pressed cider at the mill a more recent return.
Riverview Farms' website still shows its fall 2025 schedule, including a Columbus Day date from last year, so it doesn't settle this season's hours. Call the store at 860-657-9197 before planning a walk around a fritter run.
Earle Park is just past the mill at 1325 Main Street, with walking-trail access, fishing, picnic areas and parking. The park is the other end of the walk. The Earle Park and American Legion Hall area also served as the staging area for the sidewalk project, which explains any gravel still on the punch list.
Evenings Back in the Village
Since the sidewalk runs both ways, a late-afternoon walk to the mill can end at dinner back in the village. Cotton Hollow Kitchen at 840 Main Street has the busiest October calendar in the village center:
- Tuesday, October 6, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. The free 3rd Annual Shop for a Cause, with more than ten local vendors and proceeds going to Interval House
- Thursdays, 6 to 9 p.m. Live music: The Boomers on October 8, KT Lay on October 15, David "Davey Blues" Sadloski on October 22 and Ali Kat Acoustic on October 29
- Tuesday, October 27. Murder at the Manor, an interactive three-course murder-mystery dinner
The other two dinner options are at the same corner. 2 Hopewell Bistro & Bar is at 2 Hopewell Road, where Hopewell meets Main. Sayulita, at 865 Main Street, doesn't take reservations, so walking over is no worse than driving.
The Mid-Month Weekend Is Still a Drive
The walk has a limit. The Glastonbury Apple Harvest & Music Festival returns to Riverfront Park on Welles Street on October 16 through 18, 2026. Hours are 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. The 2026 festival site still lists vendors and activities as coming soon. Last year was the festival's 50th edition, so that lineup isn't a guide to this year's.
That weekend, the Cider Mill makes a good Saturday morning stop by foot, with the festival as an afternoon trip by car. Some of the walk's daytime stops close early. Harpo's closes at 3 p.m. on Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday, and Two Brothers closes at 2 p.m. every day. If you plan to eat in the village before or after the festival, Brookside Market is open until 8 p.m. and Cotton Hollow serves dinner.
At the Jacek Mikolajczyk team, we track changes like this sidewalk because they affect how a street works long before they appear in any listing description. If you'd like to talk about how projects like Phase 3C are shaping South Glastonbury and the rest of the Glastonbury area, Let's Connect.
