Monday, August 04, 2008

Linear park extension in capital budget

From the NHRs Luther Turmelle:

There's new hope that the efforts to expand the town's Linear Trail, which have been stalled for most of this decade, may be revived...

A dispute between the town and officials at Dalton Industries has for years stood in the way of an easement the town needs to expand the trail. But Milone said he has a feeling things are about to change.

"We've had a mild breakthrough," he said. "My hope is that a year from now we'll be able to break ground on extending the trail.


I wonder how the Democrats feel about this?

Tim White

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

At least the linear trail is a project that could benefit the entire community unlike the turf project. Maybe the turf money could be redirected to the trail!

Anonymous said...

Just curious, have the dems been opposed to this. If so, why? I never get the dems in this town. They're backwards.

Anonymous said...

is this absolutely necessary?

If not, let's wait until the recession is over first

Anonymous said...

recession?

Judging by all of the expensive cars, maintained pools, and designer clothes I see around town, I think there's plenty of belt-cinching left to be done here.

There's nothing wrong with that excess, but my point is that a few extra dollars per person is a drop in the bucket for this town.

Anonymous said...

how cross West Main?

Anonymous said...

Why is the council majority proceeding with the linear trail when they haven't a clue on how to solve the key problem: crossing West Main Street? Also, will there be any parking near the West Main end?

Anonymous said...

"Judging by all of the expensive cars, maintained pools, and designer clothes I see around town, I think there's plenty of belt-cinching left to be done here."

Not all of us are in this boat and those of us on limited budgets resent the stereotypes , and resent the yuppies demanding the taxpayers pay for toys they are unwilling to buy themselves

Tim White said...

have the dems been opposed to this

yes. And IMO most people in town would credit their 2005 opposition to the linear park as the single biggest reason (particularly when juxtaposed with the property tax revaluation & no spending increase in the 04/05 operating budget) for their Council victory (from 5:4 R to 5:4 D).

They gave four reasons:

1) "mile to nowhere"
2) cost = $1,000,000
3) safety concerns with an abuttment to West Main

And I think there was one other reason... but it doesn't come to mind. Sorry... it's been a few years since I actually analyzed this.

Btw, I recall the West Main to Jarvis section is 1.6 miles and the cost was $900,000. Not that it makes a difference, but thought it would be worth noting.

The sound bite used was "the million dollar mile to nowhere."

Politically... I think it's catchy, even though it's less than accurate.

As for how it shifted the election... I think there were Rs & Us who were uncomfortable with the prior year budget, but recognized the inherent difficulties of the regressive property tax. But when they saw this recreation project on the heels of the budget... that turned off many Rs & Us... on top of the Ds who already were upset.

Anonymous said...

This is a typical Democratic party tricl. Complain when the Republicans abandon fiscal conservatism, and then outdo the Republicans when it comes to spending tax money.

I'm looking forward to Obama's trillion dollar deficit in 2012. I'm also looking forward to a 10% prime rate.

Anonymous said...

Well, I love the idea of connecting up all of the trail fragments, but not for recreation alone... this thing is a dream for bicycle commuters.

I used the Cornwall to Shepard leg to help me commute to scsu and back each day. it took about an hour to make it to school. It took 30 to 35 by car and up to 2 hours by bus.

It would have been a breeze if I could have used west main to dixwell (never connected that far back in the day on the hamden side) or beyond.

Anonymous said...

I agree that there's a real benefit to the trail, particularly with the price of gasoline.

Anonymous said...

If linking the Southington and Hamden trails is a statewide initiative, wait for CT DOT to pay for it

Anonymous said...

They should of left the trains and we would all be ahead of the game.