[Wilton2ParkAve]

This is exactly why the United States and the State of CT are in such dire financial straits. Spending $567 million on a 9.4 mile roadway for buses when there are existing roads to accomplish the same thing is beyond absurd. What's next? A busway from Farmington to Hartford? Manchester to Hartford? Newington to Hartford? The fact is we have an existing of network of roads. There is no logic to selecting this one particular route and throwing millions of dollars at it.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Not everyone in West Hartford feels that way about the busway. Only those who are not well informed and do not understand it.

West Hartford needs to accept some change. A lot of people in town say that it needs mass transit options but here you have one and they are degrading it. And the politicans who are against it should be ashamed of themselves. The project has been in the planning stages for years and was a DIRECT result of comments from the West Hartford community (they were against a streetcar option on Farmington Avenue in CRCOG's Hartford West Study). So if you want mass transit but don't want it on a major throughfare, why not put it along side another mass transit corridor to minimize impacts to your community? I realize that it is not easy to get a consensus of public opinion but the politicians that have been around for years should know why this happened and should not be second guessing past judgements. No wonder why nothing but highways get built in the Hartford region. Jay

Every last person I have spoken to, even my very liberal friends, think it's ludicrous. I feel the same way. It has nothing to do with change. It has everything to do with politics. Re "planning stages for years" - you don't think this was their plan? Spend, spend, spend on "studies" that were barely made public, then when it comes to a head, scream "money has already been spent!" Please. I see right through their sneaky agenda, as do most people in our well-informed state.

In keeping with the topic of the thread, this will NOT gentrify any of the cities or suburbs it will pass through. Mark my words.

[Stylo]

I also agree it's a waste and will not revitalize New Britain.

[jesse_f]

What's next? A busway from Farmington to Hartford? Manchester to Hartford? Newington to Hartford? The fact is we have an existing of network of roads. There is no logic to selecting this one particular route and throwing millions of dollars at it.

Nope, a high speed rail from SF to LA. Read the whole thing, and weep.

Allysia Finley: How Insider Politics Saved California's Train to Nowhere - WSJ.com

[Wilton2ParkAve]

No way the California High Speed Rail ever gets built.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Wilton2ParkAve

This is exactly why the United States and the State of CT are in such dire financial straits. Spending $567 million on a 9.4 mile roadway for buses when there are existing roads to accomplish the same thing is beyond absurd. What's next? A busway from Farmington to Hartford? Manchester to Hartford? Newington to Hartford? The fact is we have an existing of network of roads. There is no logic to selecting this one particular route and throwing millions of dollars at it.

This is a long term investment. The kind of investment that built our railroads in the 1800's and the interstate highways in the 1950's and 60's. Can you imagine what things would be like if those ideas were dismissed. Many people did back then. They could not see the long term value of the projects. I remember an article about the 25th anniversary of I-95's completion and they interviewed some people who were publicly opposed to the highway in the 50's. Some still subbornly thought the highways should never had been built but what would any of the cities along I-95 be like without any highway access other than the parkway?

As I also have noted that a sizable part of the busway project is going to eliminate a problem at-grade rail crossing at Flatbush Avenue. This grade separation was needed anyway to allow for the proposed New Haven-Hartford-Springfield project. Jay

[MikefromCT]

I apologize if bringing this up brought us off-topic a bit, but the reason I bring it up is because this, to me, is directly antithetical to what could really bring about positive change to areas that need it (downtown NB and NP Avenue). There is not one elected official in my town who supports this (Democrat, Republican, Independent, Libertarian, Whig, Tea, you name it). For years, there were rumors circulating around this, and the assumption was that they would remain as such. But now that it's becoming a reality, it seems like a gross misuse of money. The people who keep gloating about this are saying how great it's going to look. Well, naturally - it's amazing what a pretty picture you can drawn when you spend other people's money. If public dollars are going to be allocated toward something to improve an area (or, in some cases, gentrify it), there are plenty of other scenarios where it could've been spent, where it would have served a more useful purpose. I mean, is this really the best use of our money?

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

Every last person I have spoken to, even my very liberal friends, think it's ludicrous. I feel the same way. It has nothing to do with change. It has everything to do with politics. Re "planning stages for years" - you don't think this was their plan? Spend, spend, spend on "studies" that were barely made public, then when it comes to a head, scream "money has already been spent!" Please. I see right through their sneaky agenda, as do most people in our well-informed state.

In keeping with the topic of the thread, this will NOT gentrify any of the cities or suburbs it will pass through. Mark my words.

There is no "sneaky" agenda. They do these studies to allow the public to comment as the planners and engineers develop the concepts and projects. There was an extensive public comment program during the development of the Hartford West Study which is where the project came from. No one can say there were decisions made behind closed doors. There were numerous articles in the newspapers on the project and the meetings were well advertised and well attended. The controversy for the project arose when some disgruntled politicians from Bristol decided they was a rail line extended to their city and an rail operator with no experience in passenger rail service said they could provide that service for $20 million (which later proved to be untrue). Years of planning and design had been done by that point and funding was in place for the project. If it was changed, Connecticut would have had to start completely from scratch and it would have taken another 10 years or more to get something else built. People need to pay attention to what is going on in their community and get involved. Otherwise they should not complain. JMHO, Jay

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by MikefromCT

I apologize if bringing this up brought us off-topic a bit, but the reason I bring it up is because this, to me, is directly antithetical to what could really bring about positive change to areas that need it (downtown NB and NP Avenue). There is not one elected official in my town who supports this (Democrat, Republican, Independent, Libertarian, Whig, Tea, you name it). For years, there were rumors circulating around this, and the assumption was that they would remain as such. But now that it's becoming a reality, it seems like a gross misuse of money. The people who keep gloating about this are saying how great it's going to look. Well, naturally - it's amazing what a pretty picture you can drawn when you spend other people's money. If public dollars are going to be allocated toward something to improve an area (or, in some cases, gentrify it), there are plenty of other scenarios where it could've been spent, where it would have served a more useful purpose. I mean, is this really the best use of our money?

You don't think that having a direct mass transit connection to downtown and Aetna's complex will help improve Elmwood or the Flatbush Avenue areas? Suddenly hundreds of homes will be in a short walk of a modern transit system that did not exist before. I think it will make these area, as well as places like Kane Street, Parkville and Newington Junction a lot more desirable. JMHO, Jay

[Wilton2ParkAve]

Originally Posted by JayCT

There is no "sneaky" agenda. They do these studies to allow the public to comment as the planners and engineers develop the concepts and projects. There was an extensive public comment program during the development of the Hartford West Study which is where the project came from. No one can say there were decisions made behind closed doors. There were numerous articles in the newspapers on the project and the meetings were well advertised and well attended. The controversy for the project arose when some disgruntled politicians from Bristol decided they was a rail line extended to their city and an rail operator with no experience in passenger rail service said they could provide that service for $20 million (which later proved to be untrue). Years of planning and design had been done by that point and funding was in place for the project. If it was changed, Connecticut would have had to start completely from scratch and it would have taken another 10 years or more to get something else built. People need to pay attention to what is going on in their community and get involved. Otherwise they should not complain. JMHO, Jay

And at every turn public feedback was solicited, there was fierce opposition from all walks. But at the end of the day, this project went through to simply buy votes from the poor.

Please don't compare this with railroads and highways of yesterday. This is a draconian technology that will be woefully underutilized.