(rshsdepot) Madison, CT

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

DOT Commissioner, Scarpati Meet About RR Station
July 12, 2002

By MARIANNE SULLIVAN, Madison Source

MADISON -- In a meeting brokered by State Senator William Aniskovich, First
Selectman Tom Scarpati and Department of Transportation Commissioner James
Byrne sat down in Scarpati's office last week to talk about the possible
relocation of Madison's railroad station.

"I have the sense that he will try to make it happen," Scarpati said after
the meeting.

What Scarpati and many others want to happen is a new plan for the Shore
Line East Madison Railroad Station. Several weeks ago, DOT met with first
selectmen from Clinton, Madison, and Guilford to update the local leaders on
the latest plans for a $20 million project that will rebuild stations in
those towns.

To the surprise of Scarpati, DOT planners displayed a plan that called for
development of 400 parking places at the station-a plan that called for
taking large sections of private property along Bradley Road and turning
them into parking lots.

"This is prime property for business and commercial development, and I don't
want have this block turned into a sea of macadam," said Scarpati. He
developed an alternate plan that calls for moving the station from its
present location near the intersection of Bradley Road and Wall Street
further down the tracks. His proposal would move the station several hundred
yards west to the present site of the Laidlaw school bus lot.

Laidlaw leases the lot from a private owner. It borders the railroad tracks
and provides sufficient acreage for 400 parking places "without wiping out
existing businesses or preventing new business development along an
important section Bradley Road," Scarpati said.

In a June 24 letter to Scarpati, Harry Harris, bureau chief of DOT's Bureau
of Public Transportation, said, "A review of the Laidlaw alternative site
location including engineering, facilities design and public transportation
implications of making such a change revealed the (Shore Line East) project
is far too advanced to consider a change of this magnitude at this point in
time. The delay for environmental assessment, remediation, site engineering,
facilities design, property acquisition, and staging this in the queue of
the project funding approvals is now prohibitive."

Scarpati responded, "The letter was the answer we expected and the answer is
unacceptable for Madison."

After receiving Harris' letter, Scarpati arranged a meeting with the
property owners who would be most affected by DOT's parking plans, as well
as Aniskovich and State Representative Peter Metz.

"It was clear from that meeting that DOT's new plans were substantially
different than what had been discussed in the past," he said.

Scarpati asked for a meeting with the DOT commissioner. Aniskovich arranged
it with a telephone call.

The meeting took place in Scarpati's office July 1.

"When the commissioner walked into my office, he had already been down to
the railroad station and Bradley Road to take a look for himself. I laid out
the issues for him and discussed the alternate plan. We talked for some
time. He left saying that he was sympathetic with our issues, that he will
talk with Harris, and he agrees that our proposal has some advantages,"
Scarpati said.

He added, "I think he sees it as a better idea and doable. I have the sense
that he'll try to make it happen. I truly believe he will evaluate it. We
did not receive a perfunctory 'no.'"

One problem, Scarpati admits, is the timetable.

As Harris says in his letter, "The project is scheduled for a July 12, 2002
bid award with the construction of the Branford, Guilford, Madison, and
Clinton railroad stations to begin in August 2002. This $20 million project
for station high-level platforms and overhead pedestrian access is required
to coordinate train operations-and ensure safety-with Amtrak's new
high-speed rail service, where time is of the essence. Construction of a new
station is also an essential element in the traffic mitigation plan
developed at the request of all towns along the coast for the Pearl Harbor
Memorial Bridge Harbor Crossing construction program that will begin
shortly."


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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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