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Volume 115, Number 151 - Tuesday, March 23, 1999


It's time for Middletown to say 'yes' to rail
by John Friedlander

I've already told you that my love affair with my car has cooled. Now I'm flushed with the romance of rail.

I've been hanging around with some interesting folks in Hartford lately, working on an issue I've touched on in this space: transportation.

All Aboard! is a Hartford region non-profit civic group working to ensure the livability of communities by promoting transit alternatives to automobiles. Currently raising local consciousness about a Connecticut Department of Transportation proposal to add lanes to Interstate 84 between Hartford and Farmington, All Aboard! promotes the fact that cars aren't the only answer to every transportation need. Walking, bikes, busses and rail are all viable and economical alternatives.

Many of the issues All Aboard! covers are relevant to Middletown.

For example, DOT isn't very interested in local concerns about the negative impacts of adding more lanes to Interstate 84. This should sound familiar to Middletown and Middlefield residents opposed to DOT's plan to widen Route 66.

The possibility of a new stadium in Hartford has smart people wondering how to move the 68,000 people who will supposedly attend events. In Middletown we are fortunate in comparison to have city management that is trying to solve downtown traffic problems before they become acute. Despite the misstep of the new concurrent crosswalk system, and the clumsy public relations bandage of stationing police officers at intersections to teach us how to cross the street, the overall goal of improving auto and pedestrian traffic flow is a good one.

Hartford has an almost invisible riverfront and the oft-spoken goal of recapturing access to the river lost when Interstate 91 was constructed on top of the dikes that keep floodwaters out of the city. Middletown has a similar, but much less intractable problem. Route 9 is not the dozen-lane concrete Everest Hartford is cursed with, and our riverside park is not as hard to get to as Hartford's.

Hartford has a major rail line through the center of town, but hasn't made good use of this incredible asset. The lack of commuter rail service to New Haven means a trip from Hartford to New York City is a more arduous journey than it ought to be. Also, the recent scuttling of the Griffin light rail line plan postponed for years what is an unstoppably great idea: rail service from Hartford to Bradley International Airport.

Middletown has a rail line too, and the two railroad companies that have direct interest in this line would both love to upgrade their services in the area.

Valley Railroad leases the tracks between Old Saybrook and Haddam, and operates its popular steam trains between Essex and Chester. Though current ambitions only go as far north as Haddam Meadows State Park, wouldn't it be a kick to take a leisurely riverside train ride from Middletown to the shore? Can you imagine a rail-borne dinner outing to the Goodspeed Opera House?

Looking the other direction, Providence & Worcester, which runs freight on the tracks they operate in Middletown and elsewhere in New England, is apparently considering improvements in their trackbed between Middletown and Hartford that could permit passenger service. Can you imagine taking a relaxed Sunday train ride to a football game instead of fighting traffic? Or how about commuting to your Hartford job by train instead of enduring the snarl of Interstate 91?

These are just a very few of the tantalizing possibilities repairs on these lines could allow.

Whenever I discuss rail service, it isn't long before somebody pontificates that it is impossible to pry Connecticut travelers out of their cars. I don't believe it. By my count, 135 of Connecticut's 169 towns have rail lines running through them or on their borders. This means that 80% of us live in places that could support rail travel. In addition, many of our wealthiest and most densely populated towns are on the heavily traveled Metro North commuter line. Gold Coast residents are well-acquainted with the benefits of commuting by rail instead of by car.

Perhaps those who say they'll never give up their cars haven't enjoyed the fun and convenience of a dinner and theater outing in New York City, or haven't considered the attraction of a speedy rail commute over the drudgery of gridlock and parking problems. Perhaps they've never realized that some of us find the expense and aggravation of car ownership an unacceptable burden.

Given all of this, why should Middletown plan for improved rail service?

One reason Middletown's fortunes are up lately is that we've got buildable land for business. Several sections of town are very attractive to companies that want industrial-strength space -- and many potential new tenants have been asking for easy access to rail transport for their raw materials and finished goods.

Another reason is that Middletown is nicely situated at the intersection of two well-traveled, but not congested major roadways -- Interstate 91 and Route 9. As an attractively uncongested metropolitan alternative to Hartford and New Haven, Middletown is ideally positioned for future growth. Full-service rail connections are the mark of "real" cities. We've got the roads, we've got the busses -- adding effective rail service would make Middletown a truly multi-modal transit mini-hub.

Cities all over the world have learned that land values increase around well-designed train stations. Where people gather, business proliferates. We're already seeing more serious interest in the available space near the movie theater now under construction in Metro Square. Can you imagine the growth that would occur if passenger rail service arrived in Middletown?

So let's put a locomotive in front of all of these carloads of "what if": where are we going to put the station? Here are the three options that make sense to me.

  • At the bend in the tracks where Rapallo Avenue and Dekoven Drive join. The most logical place from a train's point of view, this is the nearest spot to the junction of tracks from New Haven, Old Saybrook, Portland and Hartford. But the North End is tight for parking the cars of those who need to drive to or from the train. Parking is a necessity for a successful station.

  • On the site of the old Municipal Building, now vacant. You couldn't choose a more central location from a passenger's point of view. Plenty of space to build additional parking, good access by car, excellent access to both the center of Main Street, Harbor Park and the bus terminal -- another priority for a good station. Not much room between Dekoven Drive and Route 9 to access the train, though -- perhaps a narrow platform and a major improvement of the already existing tunnel access to the park?

  • On the Middletown Plate Glass site, at the intersection of Dekoven Drive and Union Street. Slightly less convenient for passengers walking to central Main Street, but it tucks the station more out of sight in the shadow of the Route 9 overpass, while leaving it centrally located, near parking, and near highway access. Middletown Plate Glass should have no trouble finding another good location.

    The vision of a bustling train station in Middletown is both romantic and realistic. Connecticut's underused network of railbeds represents a powerful engine of potential economic growth. I can almost hear the train whistles blowing. Wait a minute -- I'm not dreaming, that really is a whistle blowing: the Providence & Worcester late afternoon run from New Haven. "Station stop is Middletown! Next stop is Hartford. All Aboooooaaard!"

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