WALLINGFORD — As a machine laid railroad ties along a stretch of track Tuesday, state and Amtrak officials said construction of the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield rail line remains on schedule.
“Getting to this point has not been easy,” said Rodrigo Bitar, Amtrak’s chief engineer. “It’s no secret that this project has experienced its fair share of challenges, but I’m extremely pleased to announce today that we are on the right track now.”
Bitar joined Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, state Transportation Commissioner James Redeker and Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano to watch as a track construction machine placed concrete ties weighing more than 800 pounds each along a stretch of track that runs parallel to Route 5.
The 250-ton machine is able to place up to 500 ties an hour, covering 1,000 feet of track line, and will install roughly nine miles of new line over the next few weeks. It can place ties faster than traditional methods while allowing normal train service to continue.
The machine is scheduled to return to Connecticut next year to place ties along 10 miles from Meriden to Newington. As part of the project, a second set of tracks is being placed along the newly named CTrail Hartford Line, which will allow for additional commuter service the line opens in January 2018.
Malloy said he is routinely told about how the rail line was part of the “glory days of Connecticut,” and the new Hartford line is a crucial part of his 30-year, $100 billion transportation plan. “If we want to continue to build on that then we have to have a first-in-class transportation system, and this track is a very important part of that program,” he said.
The State Bond Commission authorized the release of $60 million last month for design and environmental work and rights-of-way for double-tracking from Windsor to the Massachusetts border, as well as the installation of stations in North Haven, Windsor and Enfield.
Malloy said he anticipates rail service will be a key factor in luring millennials to move to or stay in Connecticut. Studies show a higher percentage of people in their 20s and 30s prefer not to own a car than previous generations, he said.
The governor said he expects that will help make the line successful fairly quickly, and added “it’s really quite remarkable how many towns have adoptedtransit-oriented plans.”
Fasano said Malloy’s “got this one right,” and expects many residents in the region will embrace the train as a way to avoid congestion heading to Hartford or locations farther north.
“Being on (Interstate 91) and going through Exit 21 and through 24 is really rough, so I would look forward to trying it out and seeing what happens,” Fasano said.
The line remains on schedule for service beginning Jan. 1, 2018, and Redeker said his agency is reviewing proposals from possible operators.
Once completed, commuters can also use the train to connect to Metro-North in New Haven and other Amtrak lines from Springfield.
BERLIN — Residents in the Silver Lake area of town can expect continued construction as part of the overall upgrade of the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield rail line.
“It’s a lot of retaining wall work,” said John Bernick, assistant rail administrator for the state DOT.
Crews have been working to add a second track through the area . As part of the upgrades, the Norton Lane Crossing will soon be closed.
The crossing, Bernick said, was private and served one customer.
Drilling operations for the retaining walls initially began in the summer.
Bernick said the construction from Norton Lane to Silver Lake will conclude at the end of year. By spring, crews will begin to put track in along the stretch.
Excavation of Belcher Brook Bridge, a half mile north of Norton Lane, will begin this month. Structural work on the bridge is expected in the winter.
Bernick said the overall work in the area should not impact residents.
“The construction noise is in the daytime mainly,” he said.
Berlin’s new train station is also underway and on schedule. The station has a completion date of May 2017.
The rail line is scheduled to begin expanded service in January 2018.
Florida-based NTE Energy proposes to invest $500 million to construct a combined-cycle, natural gas power plant on Lake Road in Dayville near the town’s industrial park, a plan that has drawn sharp criticism from some residents who worry about possible environmental impacts related to such a large-scale endeavor.
Tim Eves, a senior vice president for development for the project, told the Killingly Town Council on Tuesday that his company is prepared “up front” to give the town $2 million as part of a Community Environmental Benefits Agreement.
As part of the construction process, he said NTE would make improvements to Lake Road, engage in wetlands reconstruction and made upgrades to the town’s water infrastructure.
NTE is also proposing a 22-year, $80.8 million tax agreement with the town with an annual tax payment equal to more than 10 percent of the town’s annual budget.
“This would make us one of the town’s largest taxpayers,” Eves said.
Project developers said the air-cooled plant has the potential to develop and sell enough electricity to the grid to power 550,000 homes, will require hundreds of construction workers and lead to the creation of more than two dozen permanent jobs.
The plant is being proposed on a site about a mile from the Lake Road Generating plant, on the cusp of the town’s industrial park. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
17-Car Construction Train Works Its Way North, Laying Track On Hartford Line
With just 15 months before the Hartford Line's commuter service is due to begin, a 17-car construction train is slowly laboring north through Wallingford, putting down as much as a mile of track a day.
The enormous Harsco Track Technologies equipment is the latest sign that contractors are working full speed to get the New Haven-to-Hartford section of tracks ready for riders.
Stalled work, cost overruns and a contract dispute last year left some wondering when central Connecticut communities would ever get the high-frequency commuter service they have been banking on.
But at a press conference along the tracks Tuesday, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Amtrak chief engineer Rodrigo Bitar said the job was on course for a January 2018 launch of the first phase of service. We expect to go from 300,000 riders to about 750,000 in a relatively short time," said Malloy, who predicted that reliable, frequent trains running along the I-91 corridor would expand job markets, take cars off the highway and build economic development. Malloy, Bitar and state Transportation Commissioner James Redeker watched the 250-ton Harsco machine rumble past a parking lot along North Colony Road.
A driver used a laser guide to keep the machine on precise course as it rolled over a flattened bed of crushed rock, dropping a conveyor-fed supply of 800-pound concrete ties one at a time. Simultaneously, it slowly guided two loose rails into place and clamped them to the ties.
Behind, 15 flatbed cars carried hundreds and hundreds of ties. A large crane ran forward and back on the train, shuttling supplies of ties to the conveyor.
Traditional work crews would take months to do what the Harsco equipment can do in a matter of weeks, according to Amtrak. Because Amtrak owns the line, it is overseeing the contractors, including the crews doing the track work.
The equipment has made its way from North Haven and will stop when it reaches Meriden later this month. It will be brought back to Connecticut to complete the Meriden-to-Newington segment of tracks next spring.
The Hartford Line will run 17 trains a day between New Haven and Hartford, with stops in Wallingford, Meriden and Berlin. Stations are planned for North Haven, Newington and West Hartford.
Twelve of those trains will continue on to Springfield, with stops in Windsor and Windsor Locks. An Enfield station is also planned.
The long-term plan is to fully double-track the line from Hartford to Springfield, and to increase the schedule to 25 trains a day along the entire route. At that point, the system will be carrying 1 million riders a year, Malloy projected.
"This project has experienced its fair share of challenges. We're on the right track now," said Bitar, who praised Malloy and Connecticut's congressional delegation for ensuring the work continued. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE