Here’s an excellent report by the Charlestown Citizen’s Alliance (CCA) on last Thursday’s meeting. Ruth Platner, a member of CCA, which is based in Charlestown, R.I., attended the meeting.

Blumenthal Not On-board Reed’s Train – He’s Taking A Different Track

Sen. Richard Blumenthal addresses a packed house at yesterday’s meeting in Old Lyme’s Town Hall. State Rep. Devin Carney stands to the right in the photo. Photo courtesy of Kevin Hogan, WFSB News Channel 3.

Updated Dec. 22, 2:35pm: Yesterday Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D) addressed a packed Meeting Room in Old Lyme Town Hall on the high-speed rail issue.  He was joined by State Rep. Devin Carney (R-23rd).

Many readers have been in touch with us asking what they can do regarding taking effective action to express their opinions on this plan.   The comment period currently offered by the Federal Rail Authority (FRA) to the NEC Future Preferred Alternative and contents of the Tier 1 Final EIS is open for 30 days, but to quote from that report, “This is not a formal comment period and the FRA will not respond to individual comments as was required for the Tier 1 Draft EIS.”

The email address for feedback via email is info@necfuture.com or by snail-mail  to:

NEC FUTURE
U.S. DOT Federal Railroad Administration
One Bowling Green, Suite 429
New York, NY 10004

Efforts are being made to request an extension to the 30-day comment period as previously reported on LymeLine.com.  In an e-mail to local residents this morning, Rep. Carney says, “I encourage you to comment and also spread the word to family and friends. It is imperative that we have a strong showing of unity against the current bypass proposal from Old Saybrook to Kenyon, RI and, as part of that bypass, the proposed tunnel from Old Saybrook through Old Lyme.”

Carney continues, “The Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation has also asked that when people comment, to also ask for a 60-day extension to the comment period. I support this effort because it will allow for additional planning and gathering of resources, so please ask for that as well.”

To read the NEC Future plan, click here.

Also, Old Lyme First Selectwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder announced at the Hartford press conference that she has formed an Old Lyme team to study and develop a response to the issue, but she is not able at this point to release the names of team members.

The Day published this report of the meeting today, which was written by Lee Howard, and titled, “‘This is not about one town’; residents urged to oppose rail plan.”

Other related articles are at these links:

“Shoreline Officials Want to Hit the Brakes on Federal Railroad Proposal” by Don Stacom and published in the Hartford Courant Dec. 22.

WTNH, News Channel 8, broadcast this segment by Carolyn Freundlich, WTNH Producer, and published it on their website last night: State leader opposes push for high-speed track through historic Old Lyme

We have just received the text of a letter sent by SECoast and the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) requesting an extension of the 30-day waiting period regarding the FRA’s Preferred High Speed Railroad Route Alternative to 60 days.

It reads as follows::

The Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation and SECoast, our regional partner on high-speed rail planning issues, are writing to ask for your assistance to extend the current 30-day waiting period for the NEC Future Final Environmental Impact Statement by 60 days. Given the enormous size of the planning document, its release just one week before end-of-year holidays and the extreme concern for the preferred alternative route now expressed in communities throughout Connecticut (and additionally Rhode Island) we believe there is a strong argument that such an extension is in the public interest.

The current deadline of January 31, 2016 marks the end of the Tier 1 planning process for the Northeast Corridor (NEC), an early but critical step in the overall implementation of a master plan for the corridor. Finalization of this document will commit the plan to a single corridor through Connecticut rather than from the three corridors under study in the DEIS. Finalization of this document will replace the corridor’s current master plan, dating to 1978,  for rail travel and investment along the Northeast Corridor with a new Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (P-EIS) with a 25-year horizon of 2040.

To be clear, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get this right. Both the public and the NEC Future plan deserve the benefit of a thorough final public review and opportunity to comment. We believe an extended comment period would also offer the best opportunity to avoid unnecessary legal action by providing the Federal Railroad Administration an opportunity to correct evident errors in the planning process and resulting NEC Future plan.

Such an extension is both a commonsense and commonplace. Indeed, a similar extension was granted to review much less extensive plans for the “All Aboard Florida” high speed rail planning initiative in Florida. The Federal Railroad Administration has enjoyed flexible deadlines throughout the planning process, most recently missing an intended late summer/early fall release date of the Preferred Alternative and FEIS documentation. Surely, the people of Connecticut deserve an equivalent opportunity to provide informed and meaningful comment before this critical document is finalized.

We appreciate, in advance, your continuing efforts to advocate for communities in the state of Connecticut and for our joint efforts to develop rail-travel along the Northeast Corridor in a way that recognizes and respects the unique historical, cultural and environmental attributes of Connecticut communities.

More to come.