Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Monday that he favors the long-stalled New Britain-to-Hartford busway that has been delayed for so long that it has lasted for multiple governors.
The busway would start in downtown New Britain in an area with a large parking lot to handle all of the commuters. The stations would be in multiple towns with stops in New Britain, Newington, West Hartford, and Hartford, including Newington Junction, Elmwood, Flatbush Avenue, New Park Avenue, Park Street, and Sigourney Street before ending at Hartford's Union Station.
The busway has been controversial as various politicians have pushed it or panned it. Before he recently became a state commissioner under Malloy, state Sen. Don DeFronzo of New Britain questioned the wisdom of the idea.
The 9.6-mile busway would start in downtown New Britain, cut through Newington, stop in the Elmwood section of West Hartford and eventually reach Hartford's Union Station in an 11-stop trip. But DeFronzo and others argued that the proposal was highly expensive.
During the 2006 gubernatorial campaign against New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, then-Gov. M. Jodi Rell held a press conference at the New Britain end of the busway and said that the project would be moving forward. That was more than four years ago.