38 replies to this topic

[cloudship]

A theme park larger than the Magic Kingdom (means = biggest in country), TWO casinos, development in Downtown Nowich...

Yeah, there will be enough traffic. The airports alone could probably generate enough.

[damus]

Day editorializes the need for more mass-transit, but advocates more buses... I really think the region can easily support rapid transit considering the demographics of many of the casino workers, and the fact that in 10 years we could have 4 "one stop shop" attractions. Add in Pfizer (a rail line runs right through the middle of its groton campus) and EB across the street and there could be a lot of users for a light rail "loop" up the Thames to Norwich, down the route 2 corridor to Westerly, and back to the Thames.

A viable bus system would require the use of smaller vans to service suburban populations and feed into the major bus lines that now exist. Frequency of service would have to increase along bus routes. Any such system would have to be heavily subsidized, but what transportation service is not? The highway system may be the most heavily subsidized transportation system when the cost of construction and maintenance are factored in.

There are hopeful signs.

SEAT ridership is growing at a rate of 7-8 percent the last three years and for the first time may surpass 1 million riders this year. Its first proposed fare increase in a decade, 15 cents, has met no opposition.

Using a $2.2 million grant, SEAT is studying the use of alternative fuel and hybrid buses to reduce pollutants. Also under study is the development of “rapid transit” upgrades that would speed up service. Traffic lights would be electronically switched to green as a bus approaches, and special bus lanes installed to skirt congestion.

I'm not a fan of relying on buses at all. They carry a negative stigma, and given that they use the same roads that we drive on they end up taking longer than if you'd drive, and can get caught in the same traffic jams and such. I wish people in would start thinking big around here when it comes to transportation infrastructure...

Edited by damus, 11 June 2006 - 11:36 AM.

[damus]

Mystic Seaport to offer summertime water taxi service to downtown Mystic

Beginning June 30, visitors to Mystic will soon be able to take a water taxi from downtown to the museum and back. It will operate through Labor Day.

The museum now operates the taxis from one end of its grounds to the other, and there was always a desire to increase their capacity, museum publicist Michael O'Farrell said.

...

The taxi will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. from the dock behind S&P Oyster House to the north end of the museum. The boats can hold 44 people.

To get to Mystic Seaport from downtown will cost $2 for a one-way fare. If visitors decide to buy admission to the museum, they will get a $2 discount off the regular rate of $17.50. One way from the Seaport to downtown will also cost $2. A roundtrip boat ride will cost $5.

[PCGrad02]

That's too high, unless they give locals a discount.

[damus]

PCGrad02, on Jun 12 2006, 01:52 PM, said:

That's too high, unless they give locals a discount.

I guess they're looking to make the boatride itself an attraction. But, yeah it's expensive. A lot of people would not dream of wasting money like that.

[Cotuit]

I think a New London-Mystic-Newport ferry could work.

[damus]

Cotuit, on Jun 13 2006, 07:56 PM, said:

I think a New London-Mystic-Newport ferry could work.

With the area increasingly becoming a tourist destination, I could see ferry service along the Thames River several years from now, too. I wonder if a high speed ferry would work given the twists and turns of the River and the potential frequency of ferry stops.

Day - Transit Center Design Thrills Norwich Officials

Quote

The new design for the parking garage of 220 to 250 spaces features large, arched openings with bars that resemble window panes. The plaza in front is a compass rose design. The front entrance would lead patrons into a ticket-purchasing area, lobby and perhaps retail shops. The entrance for Southeast Area Transit buses would be at the rear, along with the entrance to the parking garage.

...

City and state officials have argued over the cost, location and features of the center over the years, settling on the site at the junction of West Main Street and Falls Avenue, across West Main Street from the marina and across Falls Avenue from Thayer's Marine & RV.

The site would allow for future ferry or rail transportation services, if the need arises.

The state legislature this spring approved adding $7.2 million

...

The site would allow for future ferry or rail transportation services, if the need arises.

Attached Thumbnails

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[damus]

Day - Environmental Concerns Could Derail Route 11 Plan

Quote

In an e-mail to a top Federal Highway Administration official, the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in New England, Michael Bartlett, states that he has seen no proposed designs for the Route 11 extension that would persuade him it should be built, “absent world class mitigation on a scale that has not been demonstrated in New England.”

Bartlett contends that the road designs would “cause or contribute to significant degradation of waters of the United States, ” and he and the top U.S. Environmental Protection Agency official call the most recent assessment of the project's environmental impact inadequate.

...

Proponents say it is needed to get traffic off heavily traveled Route 85, a two-lane, undivided road lined with commercial and private driveways. Extending Route 11 would also provide better access to Hartford and points north, supporting economic growth, say supporters.

Keazer said getting support from environmental officials for such major road projects is critical. The EPA has the authority to kill a highway project that it concludes would cause too much environmental damage. And the fish and wildlife service has the authority to raise concerns about how endangered species would be effected.

The agency has been studying whether building the road could deplete the habitat of the New England cottontail rabbit, which is being considered for endangered species status. U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, R-Connecticut, has ridiculed the study, contending the agency is more concerned with rabbits than the human lives lost because of accidents on Route 85.

Rabbits vs. Humans? These people are lunatics. Besides, how is the rabbit an endangered species? Maybe there's a different type of cottontail rabbit around here, but my yard is LOADED with them. They are a real pest and can't help but help themselves to my corn and green beans while reproducing like rabbits.

Back before all this environmentalism stuff, my grandfather used to shoot the "d*mned things" each time he saw them. And they didn't exactly die out around here.  I don't know the laws, so I don't touch the rabbits. I just use rabbit repellent spray to no avail. If (when) they become endangered they'll be untouchable.. this is rediculous. Until just recently when he passed away, one of my neighbors dogs used to have fun chasing and killing rabbits and snakes. While he was getting rid of a good animal (snake) he was also hunting the pest. Where does this activism end? Are we going to stop allowing people to kill rats and mice they catch in their houses?

Well... I've gone ranting off topic in a thread that I'm pretty much the only participant in...    

[HartfordTycoon]

The Rt. 11 completion is pretty important. Greater Hartford needs a more direct connection with Downtown New London so that people will feel like it's less of a hassle to get from here to there.

[damus]

HartfordTycoon, on Jun 26 2006, 10:07 PM, said:

The Rt. 11 completion is pretty important. Greater Hartford needs a more direct connection with Downtown New London so that people will feel like it's less of a hassle to get from here to there.

It would benefit the entire state to finish this road and redo the flawed 95/395 interchange. They should be completing routes 2 and 6, too, but when you see this 8 mile stretch getting so much EPA criticism over a bunch of rabbits, it doesn't look like the others will be built any time soon even though I feel the others are far more important...

[somad]

I took the 10 minutes to crudely illustrate what I think would be a good map for a NL county light rail system.

For the shoreline line (yellow) I included stops over by the Westerly beches (yeah i know it's at the airport), Stonington,Mystic Seaport/Aquarium, downtown Mystic, Groton Airport, Groton Center, then down to EB/Pfizer.... but that line was cut off on the bototm and I mostly just threw lines in there and tried to make it close.

Along the west bank of the Thames (brown) I started out in New London's train station, had a transfer to the green line, stopped at Coast Guard Academy, another stop along rt 32, a couple stops in Montville for growth potential such as the St Bernard's high school property, then off to Mohegan Sun/Transfer to blue line, then off to Norwich by Norwich Inn, then shipping st, then another transfer bridge to blue line, then trans. center

Along the East bank (green) it starts in Groton Center, then hits the transfer to the brown line, stops at a residential neighborhood, stops at the sub base, then follows the P&W line all the way past gales ferry over to the little commercial area where the school is, then stops at a blueline transfer/utopia stop, then stops at the other end of utopia, stops over by the thermos apartments on laurel hill, transfers to the brown line, stops at the old transportation center (downtown east), stops just north of downtown along N. main st, stops in greenville, stops at the other end of greenville, stops along a commercial corridor of rt 12 ripe for development, then stops in taftville (the map cut taftville off, too).

The blue line is made with the "leave me alone" type residents of Preston, Ledyard, and N. Stonington in mind. It starts at the Sun, crosses the river over to Utopia's southern station/green line transfer, stops in poquetonneck village in Preston, then Foxwoods, a potential commercial area in North Stonington, North Stonington Studios with a potential park & ride component, a junction with the northern terminus to rt 78, downtown Westerly, and a supposed transfer near the Westerly beaches (situated near the airport due to the map having cut off the shore)

My routes weren't well as well thought out as they would be if I was to present a serious plan, obviously, but  I think a system with these general stops would succeed if given that Utopia is as big as it seems it will be and North Stonington Studios is built. These would all ideally be light rail lines. Some of the right of way would be where pre-existing rail lines including parts of the shoreline line, most of the thames river lines. Also, rail stations could always be added, the shoreline is dense enough to handle a few stations in the gaps, but again my map was crappy. Any thoughts?

on edit: i decided to throw some more norwich stations in there along the Shetucket river on the green line .... it would be the epicenter of this supposed Utopian metropolis, after all...

Edited by somad, 12 August 2006 - 08:08 PM.

[JimSawhill]

somad, on Aug 12 2006, 09:37 PM, said:

I took the 10 minutes to crudely illustrate what I think would be a good map for a NL county light rail system.

For the shoreline line (yellow) I included stops over by the Westerly beches (yeah i know it's at the airport), Stonington,Mystic Seaport/Aquarium, downtown Mystic, Groton Airport, Groton Center, then down to EB/Pfizer.... but that line was cut off on the bototm and I mostly just threw lines in there and tried to make it close.

Along the west bank of the Thames (brown) I started out in New London's train station, had a transfer to the green line, stopped at Coast Guard Academy, another stop along rt 32, a couple stops in Montville for growth potential such as the St Bernard's high school property, then off to Mohegan Sun/Transfer to blue line, then off to Norwich by Norwich Inn, then shipping st, then another transfer bridge to blue line, then trans. center

Along the East bank (green) it starts in Groton Center, then hits the transfer to the brown line, stops at a residential neighborhood, stops at the sub base, then follows the P&W line all the way past gales ferry over to the little commercial area where the school is, then stops at a blueline transfer/utopia stop, then stops at the other end of utopia, stops over by the thermos apartments on laurel hill, transfers to the brown line, stops at the old transportation center (downtown east), stops just north of downtown along N. main st, stops in greenville, stops at the other end of greenville, stops along a commercial corridor of rt 12 ripe for development, then stops in taftville (the map cut taftville off, too).

The blue line is made with the "leave me alone" type residents of Preston, Ledyard, and N. Stonington in mind. It starts at the Sun, crosses the river over to Utopia's southern station/green line transfer, stops in poquetonneck village in Preston, then Foxwoods, a potential commercial area in North Stonington, North Stonington Studios with a potential park & ride component, a junction with the northern terminus to rt 78, downtown Westerly, and a supposed transfer near the Westerly beaches (situated near the airport due to the map having cut off the shore)

My routes weren't well as well thought out as they would be if I was to present a serious plan, obviously, but  I think a system with these general stops would succeed if given that Utopia is as big as it seems it will be and North Stonington Studios is built. These would all ideally be light rail lines. Some of the right of way would be where pre-existing rail lines including parts of the shoreline line, most of the thames river lines. Also, rail stations could always be added, the shoreline is dense enough to handle a few stations in the gaps, but again my map was crappy. Any thoughts?

on edit: i decided to throw some more norwich stations in there along the Shetucket river on the green line .... it would be the epicenter of this supposed Utopian metropolis, after all...

Somad:

     Great plans...However I'd add to your plans.  Commuter rail (IE: More SLE trains) from Old Saybrook with 2 more stops - OLD LYME and Niantic (maybe a summer stop at Rocky Neck). Also, a commuter train -- yes, the HELL with a greenway (rail-trail) from Hartford to New London (with stops in East Hartford, Burnside (where School St. crosses the tracks), BUCKLAND  (refurbish the train station), Vernon, Andover, Columbia, Willimantic, and Norwich. Just think of what could happen -- besides passengers, P&W RR could bring frieght to Hartford and NEC and CSO could interchange frieght at Willimantic, instead of using CSX.)
     Yes, it could work. the Casinos wanted to buy the Midland ROW (ex NH Hartford Willimantic railline) for passenger trains from Bradley to the casinos. With Utopia, it would be a NO-BRAINER! We could create a few 'name' passenger trains -- the Nathan Hale could even go from New London to Willimantic to Hartford to Waterbury.

    Any comments?

[runawayjim]

the map looks good, but i'm not sure on the need for 2 lines running along the river... i think one side would suffice.  i also think that the yellow line should go to waterford and then they can transfer from waterford in new london to go north.

don't more people live on the eastern side anyways (i'm thinking the sub base).

also, you could have that green line cross the river at the station on 12 (the one right over the "12") and then go north through mohegan sun and into norwich.  i would then have it go from norwich up to willimantic and then maybe to hartford.

[somad]

runawayjim, on Aug 13 2006, 10:42 PM, said:

the map looks good, but i'm not sure on the need for 2 lines running along the river... i think one side would suffice.  i also think that the yellow line should go to waterford and then they can transfer from waterford in new london to go north.

don't more people live on the eastern side anyways (i'm thinking the sub base).

also, you could have that green line cross the river at the station on 12 (the one right over the "12") and then go north through mohegan sun and into norwich.  i would then have it go from norwich up to willimantic and then maybe to hartford.

Well... I think both sides of the river are pretty similar, with more probably being on the west side. The west has New London (30K), a good portion of Waterford's 20k right along the water, montville (19k), and most of Norwich's 38k. Groton is 40K and a lot of that would be served by the shoreline line anyways, just not the sub base. Plus, the land area for that town is pretty big by CT standards so it's not really densely populated. Ledyard is only 15. If anything I would cut out the east one... A way to look for density would be to look at the coloring of the map that mapquest puts on there. The yellow tint is for the more "urban" areas and the entire western side of the river is covered with them on this map.

I was thinking about rehashing an old idea, though, for my fantasy transit network. In addition to the removal of the eastern thames river line, a streetcar system in Norwich. It would have a loop going both ways from Utopia to downtown/transit center, mohegan sun, back across the river. It would also have potential spurs for future expansion, with the most obvious ones being towards greenville, rt 82, and the East side. The area also will probably need route 2 to be finished as originally intended all the way to Westerly after all Utopia's stuff is built.

[PCGrad02]

I would extend that Brown line up into Norwichtown, you could create park and ride stations @ Route 2 & Otrobando Ave And @ I-395 & West Town St (with a bus loop to the Business Park/Stadium) with Future expansion up towards Willimantic Area/UConn.  The Green Line Should Run Up thru Taftville to the Occum Section of Norwich, that area should explode with development, it's the last untouched area of the city.  You could also plan for a Green line spur to the Jewett City area, the busline is heavily travelled in between Downtown Norwich and Downtown Jewett City.  All of the dense development in SE Conn is located along old Trolley line routes, the tracks are still buried under the streets in many locations.

[somad]

Day - Group Begins To Gather Land For 'Greenway' Along Future Rt. 11 Corridor

Peter Sielman, chairman of the GAC, said Wednesday that the state Department of Transportation, acting as agent for the GAC, has purchased the first parcel — 8.5 acres in Salem for $42,500 from Marilyn Wilkins, a resident of Lyme. Three more are in the works, he said: 55 acres in East Lyme and Waterford, 57 acres in Montville and another parcel in Waterford of unknown acreage.

...

Construction of Route 11, the expressway intended to connect Route 2 in Colchester with Interstate 395 in Waterford, abruptly ended in 1972 at Route 82 in Salem. The state Department of Transportation estimates the cost to complete Route 11 and its new interchange with I-95/I-395 would be between $462 million and $647 million.

Local and state officials are looking to complete Route 11 and to use federal dollars to conserve 2,500 acres of land along the corridor to prevent urban sprawl that they say could come with the completed highway. The greenway and the highway are inextricably tied.

Good to see this lurching forward... now they need to move onto regional light rail and to start talks about completing route 2 as intended all the way to Westerly.

[somad]

Day - Union Station Owner Threatens To Evict Tenants Amtrak, Greyhound

O'Donnell made his comments during an afternoon forum held at the historic station by the third-party political group, One New London. O'Donnell told the 35 people in attendance that if nothing changes he will give his two tenants, Amtrak and Greyhound, a 90-day notice on Labor Day that they are being evicted. The tenants are operating on a month-to-month arrangement, he said.

....

The facility has about 27,000 square feet of space, but his tenants utilize only about 4,700 of it, he said. Just maintaining the rest rooms alone has cost $40,000 a year. The co-owners shut them down two weeks ago because of continuing vandalism.

...

Once the trains and buses are gone, the building could make a “good restaurant or a flower shop. Who knows?” he said. O'Donnell said that is not what he would like to do, but might have to do.

“I have to run it like a business,” O'Donnell said.

Asked if he would sell to the state, O'Donnell would not respond directly, but said discussions with the DOT are continuing with the hope something can be worked out.

“If you want this to be a public transportation center ... you have to put forward money,” he said.


I'm wondering why the state or city doesn't own this already...

[The Voice of Reason]

Yesterday the HBJ had this article about shoreline east

http://www.hartfordb...tml?Type=search
apparently improved service is a definate!


Long-awaited expanded service to New London on the Shore Line East rail line in Southeastern Connecticut will be implemented year end, Gov. M. Jodi Rell said.

Eventually, the lone evening New London roundtrip Shore Line run will add two or three additional New London trains each weekday morning and three additional trains each weekday evening by later this year, Rell said. Additional weekend service is also anticipated.

[HartfordTycoon]

The Voice of Reason, on Jul 28 2009, 04:04 PM, said:

Yesterday the HBJ had this article about shoreline east

http://www.hartfordb...tml?Type=search
apparently improved service is a definate!


Long-awaited expanded service to New London on the Shore Line East rail line in Southeastern Connecticut will be implemented year end, Gov. M. Jodi Rell said.

Eventually, the lone evening New London roundtrip Shore Line run will add two or three additional New London trains each weekday morning and three additional trains each weekday evening by later this year, Rell said. Additional weekend service is also anticipated.

That's great now their editorialists can stop beotching about the NHHS line and how it's taking away resources from their needs.