Lawmakers Lobby to Electrify Danbury Rail Line and Extend Service to Brookfield + New Milford
It looks as though Connecticut's Department of Transportation will soon be the happy recipient of $5 billion from the $1 trillion federal infrastructure package signed by the President last month.
It all began In April of 2019; then-mayor of Danbury, Mark Boughton, was given the go-ahead for a $1 million feasibility study to examine the possibility of reopening an abandoned rail line from Danbury to Southeast.
18 state lawmakers, which included Rep. Bill Buckbee from New Milford and Rep. Raghib Allie-Brennan, who represents Bethel, Danbury, Redding, and Newtown, drafted a letter to the head honcho at Connecticut's DOT which read;
“By investing in rail service, we can reduce vehicular congestion off Route 7, enhance economic development, and limit our carbon footprint. These improvements have been extensively studied over the past decade and have been shown to reduce travel time and increase ridership.”
Earlier this month, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal paid a visit to Danbury according to CT Post, who told Danbury lawmakers there's an excellent chance that Danbury could benefit more than most other towns in the state, saying that "I think you are truly poised for progress." BUT, maybe there's an alternative mode of transportation we need to look at.
I remember Lou and I had a conversation with Mark Boughton back in April of 2019 when he was touting the advantages of reopening the Maybrook line. When Danbury City Councilman Joe Cavo stepped in as mayor when Mark left to become the tax commissioner, Cavo picked up where Boughton left off.
During one of his interview segments with Lou and me, he told us that this project could be more important than ever because of the large number of New Yorkers who moved to this region, he said.
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