lordsigma12345 wrote: ↑Tue Dec 17, 2019 7:18 am
jxzz wrote: ↑Mon Dec 16, 2019 5:33 pm
In latest CT2030 plan by Lamont governor, there is no mentioning of Connecticut River Bridge. There are 18 CT bridges, many rail related bridges in the plan that needs a huge dollar bill for repair or replacement. In fact, the whole CT tolling argument is to get the money for repair/replace bridges.
I would assume if the bridge is not in CT2030, it is either not so bad, no need of repair or none of CtDOT responsibility. If the bridge is MA or Amtrak responsibility, it is unlikely that CtDOT want to voluntarily pay up for the cost. One controversial bridge in CT2030 for tolling is the one in fairfield county where the bridge is almost within New York stateline and majority of users on the bridge is expected to be from Weschester NY. Some NY congressmen protested against CT for such tolling plan ripoff.
The MRS line and bridge are owned by Amtrak. Amtrak is probably responsible to maintain the bridge in a minimal state of good repair. But as we are dealing with a line that only carries state supported Amtrak services and a state operated commuter rail line, a major capital improvement like renovating or replacing the bridge would likely have to be at least contributed to by the two states. I doubt pulling all the money from Amtrak’s federal capital grants would fly.
Couple of things.
First, the Warehouse Point bridge is *not* an iron structure built during the Civil War. It's a double-track steel plate-girder structure with a single through-truss span over the navigation channel. It was built in 1904-05 (I'm guessing by the American Bridge Company) to replace the the previous single-track wrought-iron bridge and is therefore of roughly the same vintage as the Conn River bridge at Old Saybrook and the draw spans at Devon, Saugatuck and Cos Cob. The New Haven poured a ton of money into upgrading its physical plant between 1895 and 1915, and there are virtually no mainline structures in ex-NH territory that predate that time. The only exceptions that I know of on the Springfield line are the viaduct through Hartford station (1889), and the (masonry) Farmington River bridge (1867).
Second, this is *not* just used by "state supported Amtrak services and a state operated commuter line." It's the primary freight route into Connecticut from the north, and is used daily by both CSX and Connecticut Southern freights. There is
**ZERO** chance this line is ever going to
severed at Windsor Locks-- CSX is not going to start accessing Cedar Hill Yard by running around the horn through the Bronx or interchanging with the Housatonic at Pittsfield.