This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
01/14/2019 11:00 PMAt a recent public workshop, community members were given recommendations on how the town can better use the Route 81 Corridor between Route 1 and Rocky Ledge Drive. The findings of the Route 81 Corridor Study were part of a public presentation held in the Morgan School cafeteria on Jan. 10.
The presentation is a follow up on a similar workshop that was held in June 2018 when opinion was sought from the community on items like travel, economic development, and quality of life. The study was conducted by Fitzgerald and Halliday, Inc., with assistance from TranSystems and Ninigret Partners.
The recommendations for the corridor called for things like improved sidewalks, signage, traffic flow, and pedestrian lighting along the corridor.
One suggestion that met with wide audience approval was improving the railroad trestle at the intersection of routes 81 and One. The study recommended improving lighting, painting part of the underpass, trimming the vegetation, and adding a “Welcome to Clinton” sign. Raising the rail bridge and widening the roadway were considered not ideal due to the cost associated with such projects.
Not every suggestion put forth by the study was met with universal approval. A suggestion that the proposed Indian River Landing project to be built at the old Morgan School site should incorporate on-street parking on Route 81 split the room. Some members of the public liked the idea, but others thought the spaces would be dangerous for people that needed to back out of a parking spot into traffic.
Senior Project Manager Francisco Gomes acknowledged that some of the ideas would need to be refined, and that the final report would note that some community members had questions about the topic.
“We’re here to be put ideas out,” Gomes said.
In making their recommendations, the study took into account things like the current traffic on Route 81, and the likely increases the corridor will see assuming the development of Indian River Landing, planned upgrades to the train station, and the development of the Unilever site.
At the meeting, Rory Fitzgerald, a community planner, said that a survey offered in 2018 to gauge community opinions on the corridor received more than 1,200 responses.
In conducting similar studies, Fitzgerald said, “That was the most I’ve seen, so kudos to Clinton.”
Gomes said that the next steps of the project are to revise and prioritize the outlined steps in the plan, before submitting the final plan in February. He cautioned that it could take a long time for the improvements to become a reality, but said the fact the town is getting the plan out now is a good start.
The corridor study was the result of more than three years’ worth of work. First Selectman Christine Goupil said that she and John Guszkowski, the town’s consultant planner, wrote the grant for the study was written in October 2015 when she was the vice chair of the Planning Committee for the Planning & Zoning Commission at the time.
“It’s an exciting opportunity for Clinton,” Goupil said.
Goupil said that after the final plan in turned into the state and the Lower Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments, the town would then pursue grants to pay for the engineering portion of the plan.