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Discussion relating to the operations of MTA MetroNorth Railroad including west of Hudson operations and discussion of CtDOT sponsored rail operations such as Shore Line East and the Springfield to New Haven Hartford Line

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 #1517771  by JcPinCT
 
Newington is one step closer to locating its future Hartford Line station at Cedar St.

https://www.courant.com/community/newin ... story.html

"The Newington town plan and zoning commission passed a set of zoning regulations that will guide development around the proposed Hartford Line rail stop in town. The state Department of Transportation has proposed 565 Cedar St. in Newington as a potential location for a new Hartford Line stop by 2023. To show interest in the plans, Newington’s Economic Development Director Andy Brecher drafted Transit Village Design District (TVDD) zoning regulations that would allow the town to control how future developers build on the land north and south of the CTFastrak station on Cedar Street."
 #1518369  by JcPinCT
 
A couple of more quotes on Newington station cost and timeline in this Hartford Business Journal article. https://www.hartfordbusiness.com/articl ... gton-maybe

"Actual development of the area, however, would be years away as funding for new Hartford Line train stations in Newington and other towns remains uncertain...It would cost about $55 million to build a Newington station, Brecher said."

"Department of Transportation spokesman Kevin Nursick said DOT is programming $42 million in fiscal year 2023 for the construction of a new Hartford Line station in Newington. However, the availability of those funds, along with funding for other planned enhancements to the Hartford Line, is dependent on the details and approval of a transportation bond package, which has not yet been finalized."

Here's a link to a map I marked up that shows the proposed Newington station location in relation to the surrounding area. https://1drv.ms/u/s!Apb11hlKzLenrSDXVXQnTsp91aZ7
 #1518474  by ebtmikado
 
Don't feel bad about the delay in getting a station.
On Shore Line East, which has been in business for 29 years,
Clinton and Madison still have only a half station, meaning only peak direction stops can take place.
Ground was broken recently for Clinton, but nothing happening yet in Madison.
Lee
 #1518491  by JcPinCT
 
ebtmikado wrote: Wed Aug 28, 2019 11:15 am Don't feel bad about the delay in getting a station.
On Shore Line East, which has been in business for 29 years,
Clinton and Madison still have only a half station, meaning only peak direction stops can take place.
Ground was broken recently for Clinton, but nothing happening yet in Madison.
Lee
Don't really care about the station delay for Newington. Just glad to see that they're now clearly favoring Cedar St. as the station location in lieu of the originally proposed Newington Junction location.
 #1518603  by Traingeek3629
 
ebtmikado wrote: Wed Aug 28, 2019 11:15 am Don't feel bad about the delay in getting a station.
On Shore Line East, which has been in business for 29 years,
Clinton and Madison still have only a half station, meaning only peak direction stops can take place.
Ground was broken recently for Clinton, but nothing happening yet in Madison.
Lee
This is something that irks me every day.

Construction seems to be progressing pretty well in Clinton, by the way.
 #1518693  by daybeers
 
That's craziness DOT isn't allocating money for the station until 2023. That means service won't start till 2025. Can Newington get a temporary platform in the meantime? Probably not as it would require an overpass. So, we're stuck with the broke state DOT kicking the can down the (track) a few years while it's clear people in Newington really want (and need) a station.

I live in the area and recently had to drive during the peak afternoon travel hours and it was pretty awful. I really hope the roads will be overhauled before the station is opened, but I'm not sure there's much they can do to 175.
 #1527734  by CTRailfan
 
JcPinCT wrote: Wed Aug 28, 2019 1:25 pmDon't really care about the station delay for Newington. Just glad to see that they're now clearly favoring Cedar St. as the station location in lieu of the originally proposed Newington Junction location.
Agreed. I think it's a much better location, even though my first reaction was "HUH? It was supposed to go at Newington Junction". I drive through that area a lot, and my one caveat would be that the plan needs to include widening and re-constructing Cedar Street from CT-9 to Maple Hill Ave, as it's already a hot mess, and adding more traffic without more turn lanes and better traffic control signals would be a disaster.

I'm a huge fan of TOD in general, and I'm saddened to see so many missed TOD opportunities in the Northeast, but I'm not convinced that the Hartford area is terribly conducive to TOD. That being said, given that location near CCSU and in an area that has demand for housing, I don't see any harm in doing it. It would certainly be better than whatever mess is there now.
 #1606816  by BandA
 
If it's not going to cost the town anything, they should go for it & allow it. Might want to provision for express + local service patterns with a third track that allows expresses to bypass stations.
 #1606817  by RandallW
 
There has been a lot in The Economist recently about England's inability to build just about anything, and The Economist's thesis is that, even if construction benefits a local council (improves town finances, improves transit options, meets stated goals, etc) at no cost to the council, there is negative political benefit for any council member who votes to approve any construction because if your opponent can argue you "voted to ruin the character of the town" is a sure way for an incumbent to loose an election.

Could it be that the town council knows that its needed, but that approving (or disapproving) it makes reelection unlikely, be causing them to put off any vote?