You may soon be able to run between NYC and Canada on a continuous trail

You may be able to run between New York City and the Canadian border via a trail network by 2020.

Governor of New York Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Jan. 10 plans to create the Empire State Trail, a 1,200-kilometre network that would be the largest state multi-use trail in the United States. The project would involve completing both the Hudson River Valley Greenway and Erie Canalway trails, according to the release.

Cuomo proposed spending $200 million over three years to connect gaps between trails. When completed, the north-south trail portion would extend between New York Harbour “through the Adirondack Mountains to the Canadian border.” Currently, the Erie Canalway is nearly 80 per cent complete. The Hudson River Greenway is nearly 50 per cent finished. The trail would extend north to the Canadian border near Montreal as well as west to Buffalo near Fort Erie, Ont from Albany.

It’s not clear whether the Empire State Trail would connect to trails within Canada.

A trail that will be the largest state trail in the NATION: that's what I proposed at my State of the State address today. The new Empire State Trail: ?750-miles of trails, stretching from NYC to Canada ?Including nearly 350 new trail miles ? It will attract people from all over the world, create jobs & stimulate local economies

A photo posted by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo (@nygovcuomo) on Jan 10, 2017 at 11:59am PST

In total, 560 kilometres of paved or graded trail would need to be constructed for the Empire State Trail to connect the distant parts of New York. Cuomo is expected to ask that $53 million be earmarked for the first phase of the project to add 116 kilometres to the trail. The second and third phases of the project would add 132 kilometres and 315 kilometres, respectively, to the Empire State Trail.

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A new website will also be created so potential trail users can map out their routes to check difficulty, nearby amenities and trail descriptions. The creation of the Empire State Trail would eliminate the need to take roads to connect already-existing parts of the New York trail system.

RELATED: Canada nears completion of world’s longest recreational trail system.

Meanwhile, Canada is currently in the latter stages of completing the Great Trail, which, when complete, is expected to be the world’s largest multi-use trail system. The Great Trail is more than 85 per cent complete according to late-2016 estimates. The Great Trail is slated to be completed in 2017.