The Berlin
Cit itiz ize en
Volume 15, Number 28
Berlin’s Only Hometown Newspaper
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Amtrak’s upgrade plan is underway this summer New services could be launched by 2016 By Olivia L. Lawrence The Berlin Citizen
Berlin’s train station and the Amtrak line through town are at the core of a $40 million high-speed intercity passenger rail grant the state received. Repairs to historical areas of the rail line will be addressed in a way that is sensitive to the past and the unique characteristics of those structures, officials said. According to the state’s Department of Transportation, to add more trains the corridor must be doubletracked by restoring nearly
40 miles of double-track removed in the 1980s. Amtrak media relations Manager Cliff Cole said the state received the “highspeed inter-city passenger rail” grant to restore the second track between Berlin and Newington. Completion of this project, known as Phase 1 of the New HavenHartford-Springfield railroad, will allow improved freight operations and will promote the development of future commuter rail service by adding track capacity in a critical section of the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield corridor. These 10 miles of additional track will create a 17-mile segment of double track which will reduce the potential for delays and im-
prove travel time and reliability for both freight and passenger service along the corridor, according to Cole. DOT states that a detailed assessement of existing conditions is scheduled for completion this summer. That work has been underway in Berlin for the past several weeks. The completed environmental assessment, for the entire 62-mile corridor, is expected to be done by the end of the year. Preliminary engineering is complete for Phase 1 and underway for Phase 2. The final design of all three phases is scheduled for completion in early 2013. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2014. Service on all
The Mattabasett River runs beneath the “seven sisters” bridge on Kensington Road. Local rail bridges See Amtrak, page 4 were recently assessed for safety by Amtrak and DOT.
GOP ready to caucus on candidates’ selection July 20 By Olivia L. Lawrence The Berlin Citizen
The Berlin Republican Town Committee will hold a caucus July 20 in order to select candidates for the upcoming Town Council election this fall. In interviews with The Citizen, incumbent councilors signalled their Drost intentions about making another run. “It will be a good caucus, a good meeting,” said David Evans who currently serves as a firstEvans term councilor. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. in council chambers at Town Hall. Any registered Republican can participate. The Democratic Town Committee will caucus the following week.
Kari Drost, a first-term councilor, is on the GOP’s nominating committee along with BRTC Chairman George Millerd and Anne Reilly. “We’re talking to and interviewing people with an interest,” said Drost, describing the candidate pool as small. The Republicans plan to hold a fundraiser cocktail party at Drost’s house July 23 at which time candidates will be formally introduced. The party is looking for “people who have an interest in the town and subscribe to the Republican ideals,” Drost said, adding that, although those ideals are conservative, the party is open to all who have an interest in local government. Evans said “I’ve learned a lot in the last couple of years.” He is currently on an informal subcommittee, along with Democrat Councilor Rachel Rochette, to work with Mayor Adam Sali-
na and Board of Education on the renovate-as-new plan for the high school. As to his plans to run again, Evans said “If folks want me to — I’d be honored
to continue.” Drost said she is “still undecided” as to whether or not to put her name forth as a candidate. She and her family are still discussing the lo-
gistics of that possibility, she said. The council consists of seven slots, with a minimum
See GOP, page 7
Good attitude
Faith Ziegler, 15, third from the left, poses with members of the teen pop group Girls Nite Out during a recent Teen Rock America event in Middleton, Mass. Faith, who has been a victim of bullying, performed a song she wrote called Walking All Over Me. Read Faith’s story page 4.