Trolleys to return to Middletown?

There's a persistent rumor about town that an innovative, though a thoroughly retro, solution to transportation and parking problems is on the table in Middletown Connecticut.

At a recent meeting of the town's Economic Development Committee, at which the need for a quick parking fix was discussed yet again, a member of the public suggested an old idea. How about a trolley line down the center of Main Street connected to plentiful parking in a lot on the outskirts?

The members of the committee grumbled, and Council member Bob Santangelo trotted out his usual feeble excuse that modern cars were not designed to drive regularly over rail lines embedded in roadways (I guess that's why people can't drive cars in San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Denver, Salt Lake City - shall I stop now, Bob?). But the idea, apparently has sunk in.

There is word that leading members of the majority party in town have begun to investigate the idea, and to develop a plan, and that actual drawings and plans are being developed in the town planner's office.

Trolleys? Streetcars? Light rail? In Middletown? Is it possible?

(drawing by C. Johnson)

Yes, and here's why?

A deadline looms for the town to submit a plan for parking and transportation development or lose $15 million in federal dollars that is currently on the table. Right now, despite a claim to the contrary by some town leaders, there is no consensus for a parking plan, or a parking study which has carefully feigned but studiously avoided public input.

What are the advantages?

- Another huge parking edifice could be placed outside the confines of the center city
- A jerry-rigged reconfiguration of the current bus station could be avoided, and it too could be placed outside of the core retail district
- The federal government would happily embrace a proposal which included innovative mass transit plans
- The political figures who produced the plan will be showered with public acclaim for being innovative and creative

But how would a return to a trolley line help Middletown?
- As a first in Connecticut, it would make downtown Middletown a destination for shoppers wanting to ride the rails
- As a first in Connecticut it would garner a huge amount of free publicity for the city
- As public transportation it would provide cheap, clean service for those who need it
- It would connect the entire run of Main Street from North to South
- It could decrease traffic congestion
- It would increase retail traffic and have a huge economic impact on Main Street
- It's an environmentally-sound solution to transit
- Middletown's broad Main Street is the perfect layout for center-line light rail
- It could be the beginning of a light rail system which could connect Middletown to Hartford and New Haven, and perhaps Middletown to the shoreline

With all the advantages, it's no wonder that some of the local leaders are beginning to see it as a winning solution to a decades-old problem.

Listen to the tracks

Though ultimately rejected, one of the unexpectedly interesting ideas, proposed by Landmark Development for downtown Middletown was an idea to bring trolleys back to Main Street. I told an expert in urban development that I thought it was a good idea, and was informed, that, "It won't work. Middletown does not have the population density to make it successful." I took the chastisement with my usual mix of resentment and resignment. I don't know much about streetcars, much less how to make them feasible in a city, but I like them.

Turns out a lot of people do.

I've ridden trolleys, streetcars and cable cars all over the country, from the famous hill climbers in San Francisco, to the short line transports in Salt Lake and Denver, the the beautiful run down St. Charles on the neutral ground in New Orleans. And I've enjoyed them all. They seem practical, a solution to transit woes, and an attraction in and of themselves.

Fact is, there was a time when, as my father told me, you could ride a trolley (actually a series of trolleys) from Portland Maine to New York City. Middletown had a successful trolley line and some of the rails are still buried beneath the streets. Most larger towns and cities featured successful lines, with companies building many amusement parks at the end of lines to beckon weekend riders. And there is some truth to the urban rumor that the car companies (and the road companies) had something to do with getting rid of the trolleys. (see the sequel to Chinatown for a fictional account). Some say they needed the iron in the rails for wartime armaments during World War II. At any rate, highways and cars spelled the end to most streetcar lines.

I once suggested that the solution to Middletown's "parking problem" would be to build a few large, safe, well-lighted, multi-level garages on the outskirts of town, and connect them to downtown with trolley lines. The idea drew a guffaw from one city leader who said, "Those tracks wreak havoc on the suspension of most cars."

Imagine a line that connected Hartford, Middletown and New Haven. A project for the 21st century inspired from an idea from the 19th.