PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- The newest section of the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail is nearing completion. It’s about one and a half miles long, and once completed, it will finally bring the trail into the city of Pittsfield.

The new section stretches from the trail’s current endpoint by the old Berkshire Mall in Lanesborough down to Crane Street in Pittsfield.

The paving and fencing are set to be finished in the next couple of weeks, and a new restroom building next to the new parking lot on the south side of Crane Street still needs to be built.

Construction will slow down during the winter, so it’s expected the new trail will open in the spring of next year.

Efforts to bring the trail into Pittsfield go back for nearly a decade, and the hope is it will be a new recreation asset and help to connect the city to the Northern Berkshires.

“Folks come out here, they’re getting fresh air, but at the same time, this trail is also designed to be used as part of the transportation network, getting folks back and forth from the towns and cities along the trail,” Pittsfield's park and open space program manager, Jim McGrath, said. “So that’s very much a part of the goal of this trail. It connects towns, it brings people together, in just a wonderful setting.”

However, Crane Street won’t be the final end point of the trail. There are already plans in the works to extend it even further into the city, and the ultimate goal is to have the trail run all the way down into Lenox.