PLOWING THROUGH WINTER

So, how have you been enjoying this winter so far?  We’ve already had eight inches of snow in Hartford, compounded by heavy winds, downed power lines and wind-chills in the single digits.  February is the cruelest of months.

But thanks to local and CDOT road crews, our highways get cleared and we can, though bundled up, get on with our business.

Before a storm hits local TV stations do the inevitable lame stories showing salt being loaded into trucks and road crews honing their plows.  But preparing for winter and snow removal is something that takes many months of planning. 

Take my little town of Darien, for example.

Since 2014 Ed Gentile has led a small but capable army of 22 DPW workers operating seven large trucks, seven “low boys” and five pick-ups all equipped with salt spreaders.  When conditions warrant, the town can also call in private contractors.

Gentile starts planning his snow budget more than a year before the first flakes fall. “I look back over the last five years for patterns.  But having lived my whole life in New England I know how unpredictable winter can be,” says Gentile.

He even admits to checking what the Old Farmer’s Almanac predicts, but tempers those prophesies with a private meteorological service as well as AccuWeather and Weather Underground apps.

At the first hint of snow in the forecast, Gentile choreographs his staff and equipment for maximum effect.

On weekdays his target is to clear streets by 6 am so commuters can get to the train and school buses can make their rounds.  “Go time” for his crews is usually around 3 am.

Salting of roads doesn’t happen until the first snow hits the ground.  Some steeper hills get treated with brine, a mix of salt and water, but DEEP doesn’t allow sand in this part of the state due to run-off into catch basins and Long Island Sound.

The town (population 20,000) buys 1000 to 1500 tons of salt each year, literally shipped to New Haven harbor.  Current salt prices are $78 a ton.

By 5 am the DPW Director is on the phone with the Superintendent of Schools confirming start time for classes or possible delays.  Though kids may be able to get to school, teachers and staff driving from upstate may not be as lucky.

When there’s an inch of snow on the ground, the plowing begins along eleven routes already familiar to drivers who practice in good weather with their full gear.  That helps minimize damage like ripped-up curbs, front lawns and chopped-off mailboxes.

The town is responsible for 81 miles of local streets while CDOT tends to state highways like Route 1, I-95 and the Merritt Parkway.  Gentile says the two armies work together seamlessly.

After a storm the DPW folks return to parking lots to load their plowed mountains of snow into trucks for removal to the town dump for eventual melting.  Though the town has two beaches, snow is not dumped there to avoid polluting the pristine waters of LI Sound.

February is almost done but winter can last for many more weeks, keeping road crews like Gentile’s busy across the state.  So, give them room to do their job keeping you safe.

THE GOOD, THE BAD... AND THE IMPRACTICAL

There’s so much news to cover this week on the transportation front!

THE GOOD:           Kudos to Governor Lamont’s budget team for promising to prioritize long-planned transportation construction in their proposed $55.2 billion two-year budget.  Despite President Trump’s promise to tie federal funding to states’ compliance with policies on masks, vaccines, tolls and immigration enforcement, the CDOT says their work will continue.

Planned Derby-Shelton Bus / Train Station

Congrats also to CDOT for their planned $32 million rebuild of the Derby-Shelton train and bus station on the Waterbury branch.  Ridership on that line is up significantly since more trains were added (a 47% increase) and there are several TOD (transit oriented development) projects underway in those two towns.  Ridership and development should expand even further when new locomotives and railcars arrive.  Much of the credit for these initiatives must go to local resident Jim Gildea, Chair of the CT Public Transportation Council, who has advocated tirelessly for Valley riders for more than a decade.

And remember last week’s column when I asked about possible competition for Amtrak in the northeast?  Well, AmeriStar Rail LLC has just written the White House, DOGE and the US DOT reminding them that the private group has $5 billion in private funding waiting to build new trains and “partner”, as opposed to compete, with Amtrak.  Let’s see if the new Trump-Musk team gets wind of this and can persuade Amtrak to cooperate, if not compete.  More trains should mean better service and lower fares.

THE BAD:    Our state’s lofty goals for EV adoption are crashing faster than a self-driving Tesla. The 2022 legislature’s ambitious target of 50% electric vehicles in the state’s fleet of 2400 cars and trucks by 2026 can’t possibly be met. To date the state has just 43 such vehicles. 

THE IMPRACTICAL:         Ah, the power of the purse!  Because the CDOT budget is controlled by our state lawmakers, the agency has to answer to some truly strange ideas packaged as proposed laws.

Consider State Rep Alex Bolinsky’s (R-Newtown) bill to study widening of I-84 between Waterbury and Danbury, a stretch of congested highway the lawmaker knows well from his regular drive to the Capitol. He wants to add a third lane as a solution to get traffic rolling smoother.

As I have written any number of times, the “adding one more lane should fix it” idea doesn’t work.  Adding capacity just increases demand, encouraging more traffic. 

While there is no existing rail line connecting Danbury and Hartford, a better solution for the traffic on I-84 might be to improve bus service (perhaps with a dedicated bus lane) or encourage car-pooling. Let’s not waste millions on another study or billions on construction that would soon prove obsolete.

Rep Bolinsky’s obviously no fan of other people driving on ‘his’ roads as he is also author of a bill that would stop apps like WAZE from directing people off the congested highways and on to local roads to avoid delays.  It’s a great piece of tech… until it affects your neighborhood.

Any lawmaker can submit a bill for consideration by the legislature and claim they’ve done something for their constituents.  (In all, 3329 bills have been submitted this session.)  Let’s see if the Transportation Committee is smart enough to leave these bills by the side of the road.

 

COMPETITION FOR AMTRAK?

As President upends the way things are done in DC, I thought I’d revisit an idea I wrote about two years ago that he might just consider.  Trump is big on privatizing government services (like the post office), so why not Amtrak, too?

Why does the US have only one serious passenger railroad?  And given its monopoly and high fares, wouldn’t a choice of rail carriers bring better service and lower prices?

Sure, Amtrak competes against the air shuttles (which are faster, but even more expensive), buses (much cheaper and slower) and, of course, cars (also slower).  But why does the would-be rail rider have only one choice of railroad… Amtrak?

Well, under Federal law Amtrak has the sole right to carry rail passengers interstate (not counting the commuter railroads), but that could change.  Maybe it’s time for a private company to offer an additional, alternative high-speed rail service.

Enter:  AmeriStarRail LLC.

Though they would not disclose who their financial backers are, AmeriStar claims to have $5.5 billion ready to spend on its own fleet of 160 mph high-speed trains built by the same company Amtrak is using for the next generation of Acela trainsets.

But unlike Amtrak’s Avelia Liberty trains which will have nine cars (just for business and first class seating) AmeriStar’s would have 12 cars and offer coach seating too.  That should mean lower fares and faster service than Amtrak’s 50+ year old Amfleet trains, the only coach-class trains between Boston and DC.

AmeriStar’s proposed offerings sound too good to be true: adults would be able to bring two kids under the age of 18 for free.  There’d be free Wi-Fi and compartment seating like on European trains.  Food service could be ordered and delivered to your seat.

And AmeriStar wouldn’t just run between Boston, NYC and DC.  They’d also compete on routes like Springfield MA to Harrisburg PA (via CT and NYC) and offer hourly non-stops from New Haven to Penn Station taking just 99 minutes. Between DC and NYC AmeriStar trains would run every 30 minutes at speeds up to 160 mph.

Amtrak Avelia - Still Undergoing Testing

AmeriStar plans for its trains to also run north from NYC to Albany and continue from Boston up to Bangor Maine.  South of Washington they’ll run as far as Richmond VA.  And some trains will even serve Long Island all the way to Ronkonkoma (something Amtrak is also now considering).

Is all of this possible?  Maybe. Rail experts, talking off the record, were skeptical.

They’re not sure there are enough “slots” to add more trains on the NE Corridor (which, by the way, is owned and run by Amtrak).  The commuter railroads who’d see new competition won’t be enthusiastic (or cooperative), they said.

When I asked Metro-North for their thoughts a couple of years ago they said they “declined to comment” and suggested I speak to Amtrak.  But, despite numerous attempts, Amtrak never responded.  Neither did officials at CDOT.  I wonder why.

But the pro-rider Rail Passengers Association said “AmeriStar makes a good point… high speed trains should be affordable to all Americans” and right now they’re not.

Maybe a little competition for Amtrak will be good for us all. And maybe, just maybe, this is something our new President might actually consider?