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CTfastrak Comes To The Big H

By Andy Hart

July 18, 2013

As CTfastrak rushes to completion - it is on schedule and on budget - changes in bus services will affect downtown Hartford, especially the center of town (the Big H) in a real positive sense.

Picking up a bus anywhere along the proposed route will give the rider options - whether down the block or a quick trip to New Britain. Tied into Union Station, riders can go anywhere by bus or train!

CTfastrak buses will cross downtown along an east-west spine. They will use Asylum Street, which will be modified to include an east bound bus-only lane. The principal stop will be located on a re-opened block of State Street between Main and Market streets, to be known as State House Square.

All CTfastrak buses will be coming from the west and will turn around using a loop along Market, Kinsley, Columbus and State Street. Future CTfastrak services from the east may be through-routed with the west route, leaving downtown along Market Street to Morgan Street and I-84 and entering downtown from the Founders Bridge and State Street.

Downtown CTfastrak will be located at Union Station (on Asylum east of High Street), Trumbull Street, and at State House Square (in the re-opened portion of State Street).

CTfastrak will connect with:

• 19 Hartford express bus routes

• 37 Hartford local routes

• 12 New Britain/Bristol local routes

• 28 Waterbury local routes

• Amtrak rail service in Hartford and future New Haven-Hartford-Springfield rail service in Hartford, West Hartford, and Newington

• Waterbury Branch Line Metro-North service to Bridgeport, Stamford and New York City

Eleven landscaped transit stations along the way will enhance local communities with increased access and development opportunities. A five mile multi-use trail for pedestrians and cyclists offers more transporation choices. CTfastrak will change the options of everyone in the region: students, commuters and event attendees. It will be a viable option to traffic, high gas costs and parking fees.