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Transit Enhancement 2005 South Central Connecticut Opportunities South Central Regional Council of Governments 127 Washington Avenue North Haven, Connecticut August, 2005 1 The fifteen-town South Central Connecticut region is composed of Bethany, Branford, East Haven, Guilford, Hamden, Madison, Meriden, Milford, New Haven, North Branford, North Haven, Orange, Wallingford, West Haven and Woodbridge. Mayors and first selectmen guide areawide planning and programming through the South Central Regional Council of Govern- ments, 127 Washington Avenue, 4th Floor- West, North Haven, Connecticut, 06473-1715, (203) 234-7555, www.scrcog.org. Transit enhancement proposals were developed and reviewed with municipal staff through the January-April, 2005 period. SCRCOG (chief elected officials) incorporated the four project package in the region’s Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) on August 24, 2005. Municipalities are now Meriden pursuing project proposals in association with the Greater New Haven Transit District. Wallingford Bethany This report was prepared in cooperation with North Haven the U.S. Federal Highway Administration, the Hamden North Branford U.S. Federal Transit Administration, the Woodbridge Connecticut Department of Transportation and New Haven Guilford the Connecticut Office of Policy and Manage- East Haven Madison Orange Branford ment. The opinions, findings and conclusions West Haven expressed in this report are those of the South Central Regional Council of Governments and Milford do not necessarily reflect the official views of other government organizations. 2 Contents Transit Enhancement 1 Enhancement Programming 1 Branford: Railroad Station Access 7 North Haven: 17 West Haven: Bus Shelters 29 Woodbridge: Transit Connections 41 Notes 51 3 4 Transit Enhancement Current Opportunities Rounded TEA-21 (Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century) transit Cost ($) enhancement support introduced in 1998 encourages new Municipality Project Total Federal investment initiatives—building on highway-oriented enhancement Branford Railroad Station Access 166,000 132,800 1 experience gained through the 1991-1998 period. Proposed North Haven Complement Montow ese Economic 148,000 118,400 projects in four South Central Connecticut communities suggest Development Program how a $550,000 investment can build on previous enhancement West Haven Bus Shelters 140,000 112,000 programming and improve the region’s transit system (Figure 1 and Woodbridge Transit Access 94,000 75,200 548,000 438,400 Tables 1 thru 3).2 Table 1: Current Opportunities. Proposed projects suggest how a Enhancement Programming $550,000 iinvestment can improve the region’s transit system. Programming: • encourages regional priorities. Funds must spent in • reflects clear Congressional goals. Nine enumerated the urbanized area—affording the Council of Govern- activities ranging from historic preservation to better ments an opportunity to set spending priorities in transit signs guide spending (Table 4). Built in flexibility consultation adjacent regions that comprise the New allows incidental or related improvements; e.g. drainage Haven Urbanized Area (Figure 2). improvements at a rehabilitated historic railroad sta- tion.3 • provides far less support than for highway-oriented enhancement efforts. Annual transit support in the • focuses on large urbanized areas. At least one Bridgeport-Stamford, New Haven-Meriden and percent of Federal Transit Administration Section 5307 Hartford urbanized areas, the state’s only large urban- capital assistance annually allocated to areas of ized areas, now totals about $411,000 a year. 200,000 or more people must be spent on enhance- Connecticut’s Federal Highway Administration Surface ment—now about $137,000 of a $13.7 million FFY05 Transportation Program, the base for highway en- Section 5307 New Haven-Meriden Urbanized Area hancement work, supports an annual $7 to $8 million allocation.4 enhancement program.5 1 Woodbridge: Transit Access North Haven: Bus Shelters and Transit Access West Haven: Bus Shelters Branford: RR Station Access Figure 1: Current Opportunities. Four communities have identified new enhancement opportunities in response to January, 2005 SCRCOG outreach. 2 Transit Enhancement Status Municipality Project Nature Status April 2001 Programming (After Transfer) New Haven Long Wharf Bus Stop landscaping and curb cuts. complete March, 2002 Programming (Including Transfer from Long Wharf) add shelter/w aiting area at Conn Transit 'F' terminus. funds in place; no design or construction. East Haven Momauguin Bus Stop complement/avoid intrusion into tow n beach parking. District and SCRCOG establishing w hether Tow n w ishes attractive improvement per shore front area. to proceed. expand shelter at high volume location; moving from one to tw o units. new ADA compatible ramp from shelter to Kohl's. Hamden Mart/Kohl's Curbside Facilities new mid-block Skiff Street pedestrian crossing betw een complete Hamden Mart and shelters. new 160' long sidew alk connecting shelters w ith Dixw ell Avenue. supplement recent City-FHWA enhancement improvements including new structural steel track canopies; restore original w ork dropped per budget constraint. funds in place; no design or construction. Meriden Railroad Station Enhancements landscape along both State Street and Railroad Avenue. Meriden likely to proceed; now establishing municipal 20 decorative aluminum fencing to separate pedestrians percent match w ith Greater New Haven Transit District. from tracks. new stamped (decorative) sidew alk along State Street. consolidate adjacent high volume eastbound A,D,F,G,Q and Z Chapel Street stops at new stop immediately w est of Orange Street. establish off-street w aiting area including landscaped arts New Haven Artspace Bus Stop display venue leased to Artspace; 21-year-old non-profit virtually complete corporation linking artists and audiences--often in non-traditional venues. establish limited fund to generate new art w ork for site via juried competition. Table 2: Previous Commitments. Five projects have been programmed through the past four years. Funds flow through the Greater New Haven Transit District—the New Haven Urbanized Area’s only FTA “designated recipient” apart from ConnDOT. 3 Transit Enhancement (FTA) Eligible Activity Activities that Improve the Transit System Commitments 1 historic preservation, rehabilitation and operation Dollars of historic mass transportation buildings and facilities 2 bus shelters Municipality Project Total Federal 3 landscaping and scenic beautification 4public art April 2001 Programming (After Transfer) 5 pedestrian access and w alkw ays New Haven Long Wharf Bus Stop 21,250 17,000 6 bicycle access, storage facilities and accommodating March, 2002 Programming (Including Transfer from Long Wharf) (1) bicycles on mass transportation vehicles East Haven Momauguin 29,000 23,200 7 transit connections to parks Hamden Mart/Kohl's Curbside Facilities 81,000 64,800 8 signage Meriden Railroad Station Enhancements 209,000 167,200 9 enhance access to mass transportation New Hav en A rtspace Bus Stop (1) 313,750 251,000 for people w ith disabilities Total 632,750 523,200 Transportation Enhancement (FHWA) Eligible Activity (1) including $63,000 federal) transferred from earlier Long Wharf (New Haven) w ork Activities that "Have a Connection to the Transportation System" per a Transportation Improvement Program amendment. Table 3: Previous Programming. Long Wharf and Hamden work is complete and Original ISTEA Activities (1991) Artspace improvements are nearly complete. East Haven and Meriden are 1 pedestrian facilities 2 bicycle facilities determining whether to proceed with programmed work. 3 scenic easements or acquisition 4 scenic or historic highw ay programs 5 landscaping and scenic beautification 6 preserve, rehabilitate and/or operate historic transportation buildings, structures or facilities 7 preserve and/or reuse abandoned railroads Table 4: Eligible Activity. Nine 8 control and remove outdoor advertising Congressionally-defined activities 9 archaeological planning and research ranging from historic preservation to 10 offset pollution due to highw ay runoff better signs guide transit enhancement New TEA21 Activities (1998) spending. A significant transit-highway 11 tourist and w elcome centers enhancement eligibility overlap exists. 12 reduce vehicle-induced w ildlife mortality (connectivity) 4 Cent. Naug. Valley Midstate South Central CT CT. River Estuary Valley Gr. Bridgeport 2000 New Haven-M eriden Urbanized Area Figure 2: New Haven Urbanized Area. A September, 2002 memorandum of understanding addresses highway and transit planning/ programming relationships among the four regions comprising the New Haven-Meriden Urbanized Area—Central Naugatuck, Mid-State, Connecticut Estuary and SCRCOG. January, 2005 SCRCOG transit enhancement outreach extended to the three adjacent regions—none identified potential work. 5 Transit Enhancement Support • makes about $413,000 (federal) available for new New Haven-M eriden Urbanized Area Haven Urbanized Area programming now (Table Federal Funds 5). TEA-21’s successor (reauthorization) is likely to One Percent continue the one percent enhancement set-aside. Federal Enhancement Total Available At Fiscal Year Set AsideAvailableCommittedYear's End (1) 1998 79,836 79,836 79,836 1999 93,962 173,798 173,798 2000 109,799 283,597 283,597 2001 115,082 398,679 80,000 318,679 2002 124,508 523,187 443,000 351 2003 132,776 655,963 133,127 2004 143,597 799,560 276,724