Central Connecticut Rail Study Hartford-Waterbury (Busway)

Exactly, Cosmo my friend. I would think the inevitable lawsuit is not far off.

It's all the work on the portion running alongside the Springfield Line that's under redesign after redesign, at extreme risk for lawsuit in West Hartford, and subject to potential additional extreme cost bloat because Amtrak hasn't worked out usage fees. About the only place that is "shovel-ready" is the New Britain Secondary from downtown New Britain to CCSU. And without the rest settled they wouldn't be able to continue building past Ella Grasso Blvd./Holly Dr. straddling the NB/Newington town line because it's the last side road access before joining the Springfield Line. So, whoopee, 2.7 miles out of 9.4 they can build basically across the 9/72 interchange, one neighborhood, a cemetery, and another highway interchange. That is by far the least costliest part of the project, with most of the work at existing CDOT expressway overpasses/underpasses. The Amtrak-running portion and the downtown Hartford touchdown are the defining aspects of the project.

Guess what: if Amtrak gets more HSR investment in the next Congress those usage fees for the ROW easement are going to skyrocket. They are getting a BIG gift from short-sighted CDOT to bide their time instead of...I don't know...this being negotiated as first order of business. Then there's the matter of the West Hartford lawsuit wildcard over the invasive overpasses and new intersections. And then there's the fact that any I-84 viaduct replacement will require destroying and starting over the downtown Hartford busway structures, meaning if that project gets expedited before the busway is sufficiently complete (say, by some big chunk of 84 falling off) then they're going to punt that leg.


If you want to know how cynical this project is, it basically all hinges on 1) beating the political fortunes of the Springfield Line in this Congressional environment before future Congresses' HSR investments pump up Amtrak's land value on the ROW and busway easement so much the lease becomes cost-prohibitive or Amtrak altogether reluctant to give them that much space, and 2) gambling on the condition of I-84 before the Aetna Viaduct replacement gets accelerated. Neither are happening according to plan because of all the design redrafts and other delays they're covering up. They can skirt on the PR as long as they can clear the land, trench utilities, do bridges and whatnot on the NB Secondary over almost entirely CDOT land and say "yaargh! The busway is HERE!" But outside of New Britain-proper it's still in grave danger in almost every stage of falling completely apart and getting ARC'ed. Malloy doesn't have to care, because he's probably not got ambitions to stay in the Capitol for 4 terms like Rowland/Rell and it'll be his successor's problem to kill it. He gets to milk the shovels-in-ground during his reelection campaign on the 2 miles of it that was never in doubt.

At least the NB Sec segment is too useless to even pave, much less partially open, without a connection at least as far as 173 near the Newington/West Hartford line. It basically can't operate as an open road to nowhere without the Amtrak and West Hartford crazy ramps settled, so there's little more they can do except prep the roadbed base, bridges, and utilities.

NH2060 wrote:Just remember, the ARC tunnel died AFTER its construction started, so whoever says the fight isn't over is correct; It ain't

Very, very true. Like I've said before in this thread, the whole thing reminds me of the Super 7 project in Fairfield County. State DOT wanted an expressway from Norwalk to Danbury; Norwalk said yes, Wilton, Ridgefield and Redding said hell no. *Forty* years of bickering/litigation later, the State finally gave up and started selling off the land acquired for the row-- leaving the Expressway to basically dead-end at a rock face on the Norwalk/Wilton line.

Ridgefielder wrote:

NH2060 wrote:Just remember, the ARC tunnel died AFTER its construction started, so whoever says the fight isn't over is correct; It ain't

Very, very true. Like I've said before in this thread, the whole thing reminds me of the Super 7 project in Fairfield County. State DOT wanted an expressway from Norwalk to Danbury; Norwalk said yes, Wilton, Ridgefield and Redding said hell no. *Forty* years of bickering/litigation later, the State finally gave up and started selling off the land acquired for the row-- leaving the Expressway to basically dead-end at a rock face on the Norwalk/Wilton line.

AGAIN!
"ARC Tunnel"?!?!?!
PLEASE remind me what this is/was and where and when. (It may have been before I moved here.)

ARC was a NJ Transit plan to add capacity between Newark NJ and NY-Penn Station, with a pair of tunnels under the Hudson River, dead-ending at a deep cavern station below 34th Street. It would have been no help to Amtrak since the new "station" would dead end, not connecting to anything. The governor of NJ killed the project, after some work was performed.

See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Access_to_ ... n%27s_Core

Ok, thanks. Yeah, now I can see the similarities.

shadyjay wrote:ARC was a NJ Transit plan to add capacity between Newark NJ and NY-Penn Station, with a pair of tunnels under the Hudson River, dead-ending at a deep cavern station below 34th Street. It would have been no help to Amtrak since the new "station" would dead end, not connecting to anything. The governor of NJ killed the project, after some work was performed.

See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Access_to_ ... n%27s_Core

It would have helped Amtrak by removing NJ Transit trains from the currently existing tunnels, thus leaving more capacity for Amtrak trains.

Well guess who supports the busway...
http://www.lymeline.com/news.php?viewStory=5415
You really cannot make this stuff up.

http://articles.courant.com/2012-05-22/ ... t-hartford

From The Hartford Courant:

"After More Than 12 Years, Work Starts In Earnest On Busway

HARTFORD — —

It took three governors, more than a dozen years, and the pledge of better than $400 million in federal aid, but construction of the New Britain-to-Hartford busway officially began Tuesday.

The controversial mass transit system — now called CTfastrak — is scheduled to begin shuttling thousands of passengers through central Connecticut in late 2014. It may carry something else, too: the political futures of government leaders who've staked out positions for or against it."

"I'm gonna sing the DOOM SONG now! Doom-doom, doom doom, doom-do-DOOM-doom, doom-doom, Doomdoom-DOOM- de-doomy-doomy-doom...." -GIR.

We'd probably have to go off-site to make a pool on when West Hartford sues, huh?

The EGE wrote:We'd probably have to go off-site to make a pool on when West Hartford sues, huh?

railroad.net assumes no responsibility for the operation of a betting pool on this site. All "pools" are for entertainment purposes only.

p.s. PM me off-line when you get the pool running LOL.

now, if someone wants to start an escort service...

Jeff Smith wrote:

The EGE wrote:We'd probably have to go off-site to make a pool on when West Hartford sues, huh?

railroad.net assumes no responsibility for the operation of a betting pool on this site. All "pools" are for entertainment purposes only.

p.s. PM me off-line when you get the pool running LOL.

now, if someone wants to start an escort service...

I guess if a betting pool is involved we'll find once and for all how many CT politicians are lurking here. They can't resist their betting pools.

This man needs to run for governor.

http://foothillsmediagroup.com/articles ... 706388.txt

First, its price tag is excessive. At a cost of $567 million, I believe the project is simply too expensive and that taxpayers deserve to have their hard-earned money go to projects that can really make a difference. Supporters say the project is a bargain because the federal government will spend $455 million, while our state will be responsible for covering the remaining $112 million. This works out to about $912 per inch! In addition, there is an estimated annual operating cost of $12 million, rising to $22 million after 10 years.

Second, the ridership may not exist to support the program. With buses operating 21 hours per day from 4:30 a.m. until 1:30 a.m., it is hard to imagine enough riders to sustain the system. While supporters have argued that people in New Britain without cars need this busway to get to work in Hartford, workers can currently take CT Transit’s Route 41 bus between the two cities. About 11,000 riders use this existing bus route today. According to the state, the busway will have 16,000 riders once it is completed. Many have noted that the service exists already, and that the ridership may not fully develop, meaning taxpayers will have to pay increased subsidies to keep the system running.

Third, property owners and residents living near the route have real concerns over noise, construction and other issues. Many will have their property taken by eminent domain, requiring sheds and porches to be moved. Promises of six foot tall sound barriers have eroded to simple chain link fences. A rail company also recently filed a lawsuit over property that will be taken.

Or this man: http://foothillsmediagroup.com/articles ... 827145.txt

As you may recall, the busway project:

Will cost you $1,000 an inch to build.

Will eventually cost you more than $20 million a year to operate once it is completed.

Was opposed by all Democrat state representatives in West Hartford, a town which will have two stops on the route.

Would take money away from other worthwhile road and bridge safety and paving projects around the state.