METRO NORTH NEW HAVEN RAIL COMMUTER COUNCIL
(Established in 1985 under
of the Connecticut General Statutes)
MINUTES OF JANUARY 21, 2004 MEETING
The
January meeting, held at Connecticut DOT Offices at Union Station,
Members Joe McGee, Peter Myers, Rodney Chabot, Chairman, Jim Cameron, Vice Chairman, Bob Jelley, Jim Mohs, Lee Carlson and Peter Marcuse; Harry Harris, Mike Donnarumma, Jim Fox, and Mark Neri of Connecticut DOT; Keith Hall of Connecticut DOT – Facilities Design; Brian Mercure of Connecticut DOT – Dist. 3 Construction; Carmine Trotta of Connecticut DOT – Planning; John Longobardi, Gene Colonese, Joe Kanell, Joan Hogan of Metro North Railroad; Sgt. John Muller of the MTA Police; Irwin Inger and Scott Howland of Amtrak; E.C. Schroeder of SLERA; Bob Fogarty, Corinne McManemin, and Frank Gregory, residents of Guilford; Frank Grundman, their counsel; and Scott Crosby, Commuter
REVIEW OF
Brian
Mercure and Keith Hall from DOT Construction and
Design groups came to the meeting to answer questions about the design and
operation of the new
There
was some discussion about City of
Bob Jelley raised a question about the number of illuminated pedestrian fire exit signs in the new garage, and said that there appeared to be confusion between those signs and the painted automobile exit signs. Keith Hall said that the pedestrian fire exit signs had been placed by the building inspector and the fire marshal and that there was no way that they could be changed. It appears that users of the garage will simply have to become accustomed to recognizing the difference between the pedestrian fire exit signs and the automobile exit signs.
A
question was raised about the mention in the printed materials distributed to
Council members that suggested that there would be machines in the station or
upon entering the garage where people going to their cars could pay their daily
parking tickets before getting into their cars and exiting. Keith Hall
said that it has been decided not to have such machines. There was also a
question about ease of paying for monthly parking. It was not clear
whether or not there was a way to make such payment easier such as by credit
card or mail-in.
(For more information, see Attachments to January Minutes PDF file)
At 7:00 p.m., the regular meeting began.
The December minutes were approved.
STAMFORD STATION
Harry Harris said that the new arrangements for taxis at Stamford station (with a taxi starter and a taxi fee for use of the station) will go into effect on March 1, 2004. Although a $2.00 fee has been approved, there is still a question as to whether the fee will be $1.00 or $2.00. If the fee is $1.00, another means will have to be found to cover the expense of the new taxi arrangements.
SHORE LINE EAST
Frank Grundman, an attorney who represents some Guilford residents, and three Guilford residents were present at the meeting and made a presentation about additional parking at the Guilford station. They opposed parking north of the railroad tracks on the Woodruff Farm property, which was purchased by the Town of Guilford in early 2003, and suggested that additional parking should be on the south side of the tracks east of the existing parking. They have presented to the Guilford selectmen and to Harry Harris a petition signed by about 800 Guilford residents opposing parking on the Woodruff Farm property.
There was heated discussion. Lee Carlson said that he had looked at the Woodruff Farm location, thought it was closer to the station than an expanded parking lot east of the existing parking, and believed that there will eventually be Shore Line East service on the north track as well as on the south track. Bob Jelley retorted that he disagreed with Lee Carlson and believed that additional parking on the south side of the tracks was far more convenient than the parking proposed on the Woodruff Farm.
Harry Harris said that the contract has been let for the Branford, Guilford and Clinton stations and that construction will begin on March 1, assuming that Amtrak signs the agreed-upon contract with DOT providing for the DOT’s use of Amtrak’s land. The agreement also provides that Shore Line East will only be operated on the south track (track 2) during the next 40 years. He said that additional parking at Guilford will be in the second phase of construction, which also includes Madison and Westbrook stations.
He said that the Commissioner of Transportation has decided that 400 parking spaces must be available at each of the shore line stations. He needs an iron-clad commitment for the availability of the 400 spaces, even though all of them may not be built immediately. The location of parking must meet three criteria: 1) it must be close to the station; 2) it must be easy to build; and 3) it must be easy to maintain. He said that the DOT does not care where the parking is, as long as it meets the three criteria, but that the DOT will work with the Town of Guilford to do what seems best, and that the DOT favors closer parking over parking that is farther away. The DOT wants a 40-year or longer lease on whatever land is chosen for additional parking. Chairman Chabot thanked the Guilford representatives for their input and promised that the Council would follow this issue further.
E.C. Schroeder raised a question of parking at the Clinton station. He says that there are a number of cars permanently left there and taking up parking space. Mike Donnarumma said that there are procedures that must be followed before abandoned cars can be towed from the parking lot.
Lee Carlson raised the following matters: 1) he said that there were no announcements one evening at State Street that a Metro-North train that was scheduled to leave from State Street was late and would not be making the State Street stop; 2) he spoke of ice on the bridge connecting the State Street station to the street. Someone from DOT said that he had not ever heard of the problem of snow and ice on the State Street bridge.; 3) Lee Carlson said that the reduced holiday schedules for Shore Line East service on the days after Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day, as well as on Martin Luther King Day and Presidents’ Day had not been posted at the Shore Line East stations, other than State Street; and 4) he reported that the platform light at the Madison station is out.
WATERBURY BRANCH
Peter Marcuse stated that on December 31, 2003, the 2:30 bus from Waterbury to Bridgeport had such a crowd of passengers waiting to get on that everyone couldn’t get on the bus did not stop at intermediate stops, and went right to Bridgeport. He said that the bus driver had called for a back-up bus but it did not arrive for an hour. He said that the same problem had occurred on December 24. He suggested that these occurrences demonstrated that the buses were not a satisfactory substitute for midday trains. Harry Harris said that he believed that it was only on the days before Christmas and New Year’s Day that this had occurred, and that what it demonstrated was that additional buses need to be provided before major holidays. He said normally buses are not full and carry 15-30 people. Gene Calabrese raised the question of whether there were public address speakers at stations on the Waterbury line. No one knew, and it was decided to report on this at the February meeting. Gene suggested that if there were speakers, the train announcer at Grand Central Terminal could make announcements about Waterbury line bus problems.
In response to Peter Marcuse’s suggestion that midday trains be brought back, Harry Harris said that the $300,000.00 cost saving from substituting buses for midday trains was necessary to help balance the DOT’s excess of expenses over receipts. Peter Marcuse asked for detail of the cost saving and Harry Harris agreed to supply it.
DANBURY BRANCH
It was reported that the study of re-electrifying the Danbury branch had been published and was available on a website.
NEW CANAAN BRANCH
There was nothing to report.
MAIN LINE
It was reported that catenary wires were down seven times in the last month, but that these were the old catenary and not the replacement.
REPAIR BACKLOG
Gene Colonese reported that 111 New Haven line cars are out of service due to the cold weather, snow, and other problems. As a result, some trains are being consolidated or canceled until Monday, January 26. He also reported that 100 Hudson and Harlem line cars were also out of service. Metro North officials did not know if any of the out of service cars were ones that have completed their rehabilitation. Harry Harris said that this problem demonstrates the need for more maintenance facilities on the New Haven line. He said that such facilities would probably be built in New Haven but could be anywhere along the line. Jim Cameron announced that a $210 million fund appropriated by the legislature had been divvied up by the Transportation Strategy Board and that $100 million of that was earmarked for maintenance facilities. Harry Harris said that those funds would not become available until 2006.
IN-SERVICE INDICATORS
There was discussion of what information ought to be reported to the legislature each month. Peter Marcus opined that the number of cars out of service was dramatic, and suggested that one such dramatic figure be reported and discussed each month. E.C. Schroeder suggested that the Council ought to be better advocates to members of the legislature. Mike Donnarumma suggested that the Council ought to deal more directly with legislators representing districts along the railroad. It was the sense of the Council that a press release should be written about the car shortages due to Winter repairs and Jim Cameron agreed to write and review it with Chairman Chabot.
NOROTON HEIGHTS STATION
Jim Cameron reported in detail about the proposal by the DOT to build a parking structure to supply additional parking at one of the stations in either Darien or Norwalk. He described the commuter survey done in Darien about the possibility of a parking structure at Noroton Heights Station. He said that the new first selectman had been in favor of additional parking. Harry Harris, who had previously told the Town of Darien that there was over $500,000 of repair work that needed to be done at the Noroton Heights Station and that that work had to be paid for by the Town of Darien, had offered to lift that obligation from the Town in return for permission to build a parking structure at Noroton Heights. The commuter survey had shown considerable town opposition to a parking structure and as a result, the Darien Board of Selectmen, meeting on January 20, had voted 5-0 to reject the DOT’s proposal. Jim Cameron reported that because he had supported construction of a parking structure at Noroton Heights, he had received much hate e-mail. Harry Harris said that the DOT was prepared to work with the towns on the provision of additional parking. Attached to these minutes is the question and answer brochure prepared by Jim Cameron in connection with the parking survey.
NEW BUSINESS
Harry Harris reported on the subject of train whistles. He said that the federal government had established a means for towns to eliminate train whistles. In Connecticut, a town has to apply to the State for permission to eliminate whistles. The State then tells the town how much the town must spend to improve grade crossings so as to eliminate whistles. He estimates that the cost will be between $750,000 and $1,000,000 per crossing to install gates.
Jim Cameron presented an attendance chart of council members’ attendance since the summer of 2002. He noted that several members have missed three meetings in a row or 50% of the meetings in a year. It was decided to discuss this at the February meeting.
The February meeting will be on Wednesday, February 18 at 7:30 p.m. in Stamford. The March meeting will be changed to Wednesday, March 24.
The meeting adjourned at 9:40 p.m.
Bob Jelley, Interim Secretary
