Normally we welcome economic support from the state for local businesses believing that prosperity for local enterprises helps boost the prospects of the town as a whole. We also support efforts by the state Department of Transportation (DOT) to encourage more rail traffic thereby reducing the number of cars and trucks on the road. So you would think we would be overjoyed by an announcement this week by the state Department of Transportation that it will pay $385,000, or 70 percent, of the cost of a new rail freight terminal for handling food commodities in Hawleyville. We’re not.

The funding for the terminal will help make Hawleyville a hub for bulk freight shipments in western Connecticut. The move is part of DOT’s strategy to alleviate traffic congestion in the I-95 corridor by diverting much of the freight moving by truck in lower Fairfield County north to… you guessed it… Hawleyville. Exit 9 will become a very busy place as trucks come and go picking up loads at the terminal. How busy?

An official of the Housatonic Railroad, which will run the terminal in Hawleyville, said this week that 2,400 feet of new track will be laid in Hawleyville to form a rail siding where up to 40 rail cars can wait for unloading onto trucks. Rail track storage for an additional 100 loaded rail cars awaiting their turn at the terminal will be made available in Botsford. If you were wondering why DOT is making plans to construct additional lanes on I-84, now you know.

This is not something new for Hawleyville. At the turn of the last century, this part of town was a major rail hub. In the early 1900s, 153 trains carrying passengers, milk, freight, livestock, and mail passed through the Hawleyville station every 24 hours. As railroading declined in this part of the country, many of the old rail beds fell into decline becoming more suitable for hiking than railroading in modern times. All that is changing, however. Between the clogged rail lines and roads in and around Hawleyville in the years to come, hikers, and all the rest of us for that matter, are going to have to find someplace else to go to find the rewards of the country life.