(rshsdepot) Branchville, CT

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

Branchville station staying put, for now

By Susan Tuz
THE NEWS-TIMES
2003-01-04

RIDGEFIELD - Commuters catching the train in Branchville don't need to worry
whether their station will be moved any time soon.
That was the word this week from state Department of Transportation
officials and Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi.

Commuters who use the station in the Branchville section of Ridgefield were
worried the Georgetown Land Development Co. would move the Victorian-era
station to Georgetown and Metro-North trains would stop there instead.

"There is a possibility of creating a station in Georgetown," said land
development company manager Steven Soler, "but nothing would occur until a
study by the DOT is completed. And then our development of the old Gilbert &
Bennett site has a way to go before we'd be ready to take any action."

Georgetown Land Development plans to revitalize the 50-plus-acre site that
once housed that community's leading employer, the Gilbert & Bennett wire
mill. The company wants to develop artists' lofts, condominiums and small
businesses such as a farmers' market on the site. All of these plans are in
the preliminary stages.

But Branchville residents don't want the Georgetown redevelopment to
railroad their local station. They made their worries known after a December
meeting between the Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials and the
DOT. Soler, Marconi and Redding First Selectman Natalie Ketcham were
present.

"Moving the station would negatively impact Branchville merchants and
residents. It would make our sense of community dissipate," said Gina Ancona
of Ancona's Market in Branchville. "We have a village development plan and
the train station is a large part of it. Expanding its parking area and
renovating it would bring more people in to town."

The gist of the December meeting was to discuss a DOT study that will look
into electrifying the Danbury train line and whether existing train stations
along the line should be kept open. The study begins this month and is
expected to take 18 to 24 months.

"We don't have any plans to move the Branchville station," said Larry Lapsis
of the DOT. "We'll listen to what Soler has to say, but there's no money on
our part to move a station or build a new one at a different location. If a
developer were to build a new station, we'd be willing to look at it and
consider a stop there. But there's no plans at this time to do that."

The rail line from Norwalk to Danbury has lost money for the last two years,
Lapsis said. Former U.S. Rep. James Maloney, D-5th District, secured $2
million for a study of the line and possible improvements.

"No one should be concerned that anything's going to happen in the near
future," Lapsis said, noting a proposed new station in Fairfield took three
years just to get to the planning stage.

Marconi said he came away from the December meeting believing the DOT would
carefully consider Ridgefield's desire to keep the Branchville station open.

"Ridgefield has in fact taken some very extensive steps toward the
restoration of the Branchville station," Marconi said. "And I made it clear
that we would like to build on and improve what we have there. Certainly not
see it moved."

The single-track Danbury line can accomodate just one train at a time. That
limits expansion, Marconi said. Plus, the tracks are old and the line itself
has many curves, so the DOT doesn't see it becoming a high-speed line.
Before that could happen, more tracks would have to be laid and the present
line straightened.

Ketcham said she attended the December meeting as an "interested observer."

"We certainly are supportive of mass-transit solutions to our traffic
congestion," Ketcham said. "But anything that did occur around locating a
station in Georgetown would be done by the developer. The town certainly
doesn't have any funds for such an enterprise."


Contact Susan Tuz at stuz_@_newstimes.com  or at (203) 731-3352.


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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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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #561
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=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org