Linear Trail grant tentatively approved
Excerpted from a recent email from Town Hall:
At the August Town Council meeting, the Council authorized a grant application for $250,000 for a National Recreational Trails Program grant for construction of the Linear Park (Cornwall to West Main Street). Staff have been notified by a representative from the Department of Environmental Protection that our application has been approved but we probably will not receive formal notification until the spring.
If the Council moves forward with this project - and I haven't spoken with anyone about this recently - then I still think as I did last August. The trail should be extended south from Southington. I spoke with Southington Town Hall a few months ago and was assured their project would move forward in 2010. I think the Council should revisit the viability of using this grant money there, rather than the headache of extending from Cornwall to West Main.
Tim White
11 comments:
My understanding is an agreement with Dalton has been made to extend the trail.
Splitting the trail is not a good idea. The police use a bike patrol. Splitting the trail would make it very hard to provide a patrol for both areas.
Also, starting the trail in Southington would open dickerman field to offroaders. That would increase a need for police and possibly ems in the area. "IF" the mall ever goes in, the trail would run right down the middle of the area. The builders should be required to complete that section. Starting in Southington would also require crossing I691. There is the potential that we would need more money to enclose the bridge as was done at Hubbard park
Finally, $250,000 will only get you so far.
The only answer is to continue the existing path north from Cornwall Avenue. This will dovetail with the West Main Streetscape project and the CONNDOT fix of the bridge/culvert. It was said that grant conditions require build out from an existing section. And, a phone assurance from Southington notwithstanding, it is NO guarantee that they will get their end done.
While the eventual crossing of West Main Street seems problematic to some, plenty of appropriate agency staff need to sign off on the plan. There are standards for crossing pedestrians in the middle of a block using a stop lights and walk/don't walk signals. So, it's not as difficult as some would think.
Problem is the state already said they will not put a traffic light in the middle of a block for that purpose. They are afraid of vehicles, specificly trucks, coming down the hill and not stopping. There were problems like that back when the rail line was very active.
Yes, I'm fully familiar with the warrants (roadway geometry, traffic counts, accident history, etc.) for traffic control devices. But, I don't recall ever hearing about a refusal for this - perhaps it was a verbal from some low-level DOT functionary? A full investigation would normally be done, to include the local Traffic Authority (Police Chief), CONNDOT and an approval would have to be granted by the State Traffic Commission. That reasoning seems faulty - how about eastbound Waterbury Road at Marion Road - there's a signal - it's a downgrade and a curve!
More important things to do.
Stop lights, walk lights, low level state functionaries - - wow. Crossing West Main Street anywhere and trying to get onto West Main from almost any side street is a serious problem. If the Linear trail does ever extend on both sides of West Main it too will suffer from what any crossing or entry to West Main suffers from now, namely too much heavy traffic.
The town needs another main route from say Hamden to Waterbury. Until that time West Main will remain the troubled, slow, dangerous place used daily by out of towners and residents alike.
Somebody please tell me the benefits of having a longer trail. Maybe we can intersect it with Rt. 1 and take it all the way to Boston. Maybe with a small addition we can connect to I80 and Caleeforneya he we come!
Come on people we have more important topics to cover here, how about all the undisclosed home invasions over the last year! How about putting more than three patrol cars on the streets of Cheshire at one time.
Seriously, I'm sorry my bad..yeah we should extend the trail, right into the new dog park, turf field, The So. Main Chunnel, the new tennis courts, parking lot, the Super Dome Pool and the new water treatment plant. What's a few tens of millions amongst neighbors.
Happy New Year Council,
mjr
God forbid you do a few laps on what is already there. I could barely get out of Pops last night after a few slices....and now you also have people parking in front of the new Dunkin DoNUTS so people pulling out of their lot can't see oncoming traffic....
Is this grant money part of any of the slush funds that have been used for other grants?
Council: Vote NO on this misuse of tax dollars at this time! Either give it back or put it in the bank for a sunnier day.
If you go forward with this wasteful untimely spending, it will be more of the same but with different faces.
You say that you are different then show it, this is not a need at this time, it's a want by few. And when you want something that you can't afford, you don't go into debt to get it.
Think about it!
mjr
"IF" the mall ever goes in, the trail would run right down the middle of the area. The builders should be required to complete that section.
The builders being W/S? If that's the case, Justin Adinolfi is their man and he should be able to answer that question.
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