At a March 9 public meeting, town consultant Civic Moxie presented concepts for streetscape improvements to the Mariner’s Way corridor that, if implemented, would make the one-mile long corridor more attractive to new businesses and create a public recreation destination whose users would support town businesses.

For the purposes of discussion, the firm divided the corridor into three sections: the half-mile long western segment starting at the train station; the central section of commercial and industrial properties, including the nine parcels whose residual contamination is being characterized and studied under a second brownfields assessment grant; and the third segment, extending east from the industrial properties along Ferry Road to the Connecticut River.

Susan Silverberg of Civic Moxie opened the meeting by summarizing the public comments about the corridor’s future from the first public meeting held in fall 2016.

“We are looking at opportunities to enhance the gateway by making this Route One stretch a more appealing place: [to] connect the corridor with the Town Center, natural areas; [to] expand opportunities for development and infill; and [to] enhance the [corridor’s] visual appeal,” said Silverberg.

Silverberg explained that the length of the Route One/Mariner’s Way corridor is about one mile from Ferry Point to the train station, a distance that is almost the same as the length of the town’s Main Street. With appropriate improvements, the Mariner’s Way corridor could become, like the Main Street corridor already, a corridor attractive to both bicyclists and walkers.

Silverberg also summarized the public comments offered at the first Mariner’s Way study meeting held in December 2016. At that meeting, the firm had asked those attending to share their views of the corridor’s future and their expectations of the study’s outcome.

Silverberg said the most frequent responses to the first question posed at the 2016 meeting—”I would be ecstatic if....”—fell into two camps. First was that respondents would be ecstatic if as a result of the study, Mariner’s Way could become a destination that attracts business, tourism, and recreation. The second most frequent response was that respondents would like it if the study’s results would encourage housing and new activities that would to attract millenials.

To the second Mariner’s Way study question—”I will be angry if....”—Silverberg said a common response was that folks would be angry if the town did nothing as the result of the corridor study or if in the future, the town allowed big-box store development there.

After this introduction and summary, the Civic Moxie team shifted to focus on the group’s preliminary findings and recommendations for the corridor’s best future options.

Key to all of the future concepts were recommendations for streetscape improvements that would make the area more attractive for business and recreational users and that would reduce vehicle speed along Route One East.

As a state road, the state’s Route One right-of-way is wider than those on local roads; as a result, more extensive improvements can be made without the need to acquire more property. Civic Moxie’s team offered two streetscape concepts for the public to consider.

In the Streetscape A concept, two traffic lanes, one each direction, are assumed; along the road’s southern edge, an off-road shared-use path is added for the use of both pedestrians and bicycles. In this concept, the roadbed would be separated from the shared-use path by a natural border of a double row of street trees.

Streetscape B includes more roadbed width dedicated for vehicles than does A. In B, the roadbed is wide enough for one car to bypass another car that is turning left. In this plan, rather than an off-road, shared-use path, a bicycle lane would be painted at the edge of the roadbed and sidewalk would be added along the road’s south side for pedestrian use.

Determining the Proper Mix

The Williams Group presented the results of a Mariner’s Way in-depth marketing study, noting that the area could absorb 350 more housing units with rents between $1,400 and $1,900 for one and two-bedroom units.

The corridor’s retail development potential would be limited, in the team’s view, to about 85,000 more square feet of distinctive rather than chain- or big-box retail. Food options would be among those uses.

A promising focus for the corridor would be for new businesses that target or serve visitors attracted to the area for recreation, culture, history, and nature. Other business categories might include health care, marine, and maritime uses. And finally, since many now work from home several days a week, another opportunity with promise would be to develop a flex work space business to serve those who now work out of their homes.

Silverberg stressed that all of the corridor development and improvement concepts are long-term in nature; to implement them would require collaboration with the private landowners and businesses already in the corridor.

With that caveat, she suggested that the western portion the corridor would be best for multi-family housing and limited retail to serve those residents. She acknowledged that the landowners in that area had lukewarm interest in this plan. To implement it as a long-term vision would likely require providing incentives for developers.

For the eastern end of the corridor, higher-end living, perhaps targeting seniors, would be the most promising future use.

For the central industrial parcels of the corridor, redevelopment options could include recreational developments like an indoor ice arena or a ropes course, or could include a restaurant; to add to the site’s appeal, a nature trail or path could be built through the rear area of the parcels that would connect to one the team proposed along the south edge of the Route One East roadbed.

“A nature trail loop through the rear of the parcels could enhance the property’s value,” said Silverberg.

It’s all about creating a destination to attract visitors and millenials. To attract millenials, the town would need to add businesses and attractions to serve them. A walking or bicycle path is one example of such an attraction.

Following this discussion, the meeting’s attendees were asked by Silverberg to go to different stations around the room. One station asked for them to express their visual concept preferences. Another asked for them to provide a list of preferred businesses, uses, and attractions for the area. The third asked for ideas about potentially-interested businesses, clubs, or organizations that could locate to the corridor.

The March 9 public meeting was the second one facilitated by Civic Moxie under the Brownfields Area Revitalization grant the town received from the State of Connecticut’s Office of Policy and Management.