In what SECoast.org accurately describes as “a flurry of news in the last 24 hours,” a host of letters and newspaper articles has been published regarding the Federal Rail Administration (FRA)’s proposed high speed rail route, which, in combination, offer some reason to be cautiously optimistic about where things are going.
Governor Dannel Malloy has written a four-page letter to the FRA asking, among many other requests, for the Old Saybrook to Kenyon bypass to be removed from consideration saying, “No specific alignments of of the the existing Connecticut NEC right of way should appear in the ROD” (NEC is the North East Corridor and the ROD is the Record of Decision, which was originally due March 1, but is now expected later in the month). Malloy continues firmly, “Connecticut elected officials and citizens have been very clear about this throughout the EIS process.” (The EIS is the Environmental Impact Statement.)
A second letter to the FRA signed by the head of every state Department of Transportation in the Northeast (Conn., Del., Maine, DC, Md., Mass., Pa., RI, Vt., and NJ), except New York, which includes the same request regarding the bypass as Malloy’s letter, has also been published .
SECoast.org has published a comprehensive summary, which includes the two letters mentioned above as well as all the remaining press activity, at this link. We urge our readers to take a look at this extremely informative article.