Noel Weaver wrote:It is very unfortunate that the State of Connecticut saw fit to spend a lot of money on a busway that covers New Britain - Hartford and is of very limited if any value in cutting down congestion. I guess the lobbyists get their way every time at the expense of the residents and property owners. I am not really and positively convinced that any rail projects around Hartford except for improved service on the Springfield Line are worthwhile at this point. What is really needed in Connecticut is for them to put their transportation dollars in the New Haven Line between New Haven and the New York State Line.
Noel Weaver
As a former CT resident I completely agree. That "two lane bus road" was a complete misuse of precious tax dollars. Funds that probably shouldn't have even been considered for Waterbury-Hartford rail service (though I would love to see it happen just the same), but for replacing those aging drawbridges.
However, I think one of the big reasons the busway wasn't axed was because there was $275M (?) in Federal funding at stake and if CT backed out on the project not only would the money need to be returned to the Fed. Gov't, BUT the chances of CT receiving ANY Federal transportation dollars for future projects would be greatly reduced. So by that time nobody really had a choice but to go ahead with it. And even though -from what I understand- Amtrak told CDOT that the busway ROW might be needed in the future for a 3rd track. And on top of that if the ROW is to be realigned with I-84 in a trench SW Corridor-style then that too would have to be torn down and removed. This was just too hot a potato to mess around with.
As for a Torrington extension I am one of those people who do believe that it at least has a shot down the line, in spite of the latest news of people moving out of the area. OTOH isn't the state of CT overall slowly getting smaller in population? I have a feeling quite a few folks must simply feel bored living there even though most of the state has some beautiful countryside, a scenic shoreline, a tolerable climate, etc.
Now what
might perhaps help towns like Torrington bounce back -and therefore make a case for commuter rail north of WTBY to the "Upper Naugy"- is the rising cost of real estate in lower Fairfield and lower New Haven counties. The Route 8 corridor has already been seeing it's housing market go up thanks to more reasonable housing prices/rents, etc. with convenient enough access to again Rte. 8 and the Waterbury Branch. Branch ridership has been growing at quite a good rate over the last few years so perhaps there's some correlation? I know F-line has pointed out at least once or twice that in Bristol the housing market hit the skids 15-20 years ago so there was nowhere to go but up and has held up quite well in spite of the recession. So as even already relatively pricey towns in Fairfield County become more expensive areas such as the Naugatuck Valley are only going to be more enticing to home buyers. And with the Waterbury Branch getting improvements to add more frequencies it could look even more attractive if service levels top even what the Danbury Branch now has. Yes people may be leaving CT, but those living closer to NYC looking for a quieter place to live with reasonable costs of living + rail access to the city just might be heading in the same direction in decent numbers. Just wait and see what could happen in 10-20 years. Same for areas served by Shore Line East and the Hartford Line.
