With a ceremonious ribbon cutting on Feb. 4, Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman officially opened the new 199-space parking lot at the Old Saybrook train station to train travelers.

Even though the Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT) contractor had finished most of the parking lot—paving, striping, lighting, and sidewalks were all installed by early December 2015—the new spaces were off-limits to cars. That’s because of project coordination issues between DOT, Amtrak, and the contractor that delayed construction of planned handicapped ramps connecting the lot to the train platform.

The ramps’ completion now is planned for spring, but another solution allowed the state parking lot to open anyway. Until the handicapped ramps are completed, the DOT arranged with the owner of the Saybrook Station development to lease handicapped-accessible parking spaces next to the station. With that lease in place, the new train station parking lot opened for business last Thursday.