STAMFORD – When regional leaders gathered opposite the Stamford transport hub to celebrate the grand opening of a new state garage, lawmakers were hopeful for the future.
U.S. Representative Jim Himes, D-Conn., Hinted that the new garage would help create a “progressive mall” in downtown Stamford where people could exist without cars. State Representative and city mayoral candidate Caroline Simmons, D-Stamford, called it a victory for “hard-working commuters, for public safety, for quality of life.” Cory Paris Representative D-Stamford said the $ 81.7 million investment proved that “our state’s crown jewel sets a great example of how we can invest in infrastructure.”
But in the hours since lawmakers hailed the 928-seater garage as a win for Stamford and the region, backlash began to bubble online.
“No, no, no,” Hartford town planner Autumn Florek wrote on Twitter. “Building gigantic parking garages destroys the environment and our communities. It’s not a party! “
Florek was far from alone. The consensus among urban planning practitioners and enthusiasts is that building a larger garage is terrible for residents and bad for the environment.
“This is tripling on the car-centric land use around this busy station, as many people are finally starting to realize, exactly at the wrong time to increase driving and increase pollution in urban areas and increase emissions. greenhouse gases, ”said Anthony Cherolis, Hartford-based transport advocate and engineer.
In 2008, Connecticut set out to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 to 80% or below 2001 levels, a goal the state has not always been able to meet. Transportation continues to be one of the state’s biggest producers of gas emissions, “primarily from the burning of fossil fuels in vehicles,” according to a 2021 State Department study. ‘Energy and Environmental Protection.
Cherolis argues that by building nearly 1,000 parking spaces, the city will further encourage driving for decades to come. The existing public garage for the Stamford Transportation Center, for example, was built in 1985.
Plans for the new garage on Washington Boulevard include improvements to the roads surrounding the garage – like dedicated bus, carpool, and taxi lanes – and a direct pedestrian connection to track 5 of the station where the Metro-North Railway takes. passengers to Grand Central Station.
State Transportation Commissioner Joseph Giulietti said on Monday, during the official introduction of the garage project, that the pavement improvements would be “bicycle and pedestrian friendly” to complement the 100 storage spaces. sheltered bikes that the DOT will include in the garage.
However, Cherolis rejected the idea that the garage could make the station accessible to non-drivers while increasing the number of spaces for drivers.
“I think they’re putting lipstick on a pig,” he said. “Walking or cycling past the entrance or exit of a parking lot during rush hour – it’s hard to think of that better and make it safe or convenient. “
New proposal, new reviews
While planners criticize the garage’s design, the DOT faced almost opposite criticism the last time it attempted to revitalize the area around the station.
The department presented a $ 500 million plan in 2013 to replace the dilapidated garage at 43 Station Place across from the station with “600,000 square feet of commercial office, 60,000 square feet of retail floors, 150 hotel rooms and 150 residential units ”. The plan was to bring transit-oriented development, an urban development strategy that seeks to maximize convenience close to transit, to Stamford.
As part of this plan, the suburban parking lot was about to move a quarter of a mile. Some commuters lobbied against the proposal.
“Commuters want the parking lot rebuilt, in place. DOT wants a transit-focused development project that will expand station uses and generate revenue,” said John Hartwell, then Connecticut vice president. Commuter Rail Council, in 2016.
After years of delay, the sight of a mixed-use bubble near the train station has faded on the vine. In October 2016, state officials canceled the redevelopment more than three years after the process began because the designated real estate and construction team failed their verification process.
Two years later, when the state attempted to seek public opinion on building a parking lot instead of a mixed-use complex, public reaction was still mixed. Few of the residents attended community meetings with the state, and residents wanted to see a new garage built directly where the current parking lot is.
Town representative Eric Morson, D-13, agreed then and still supports him today. The new parking garage plan does not replicate the same convenience of the old garage.
“If you need to pick up your train at the north end of the platform or if you are dropped off at the north end of the platform… this parking lot is at the south end of the platform,” said Morson, a longtime commuter, noted. “It’s a hell of a walk for some people who might not be able to do it. It’s going to take some people longer. And when you rush for your train? Maybe you miss it.”
Giulietti revealed at Monday’s ceremony that the state has more ambitious plans for the existing garage. He has to demolish a significant part of the facility due to structural problems. In the process, the DOT expects to find a new use for the property.
“This is top notch real estate,” Giulietti said of the plot. “We are looking to attract investors so that we can offset some of our costs of launching an operation by perhaps putting something in that will generate funds for the system.”
Design for the future
The very lack of convenience for motorists and worried commuters like Hartwell and Morson is what some planners think cities should aim to do.
Mary Donegan, professor of town planning at the University of Connecticut, understands that people drive places, especially in this state. But she also knows that building more garages and roads leads to more driving, a claim supported by research.
A study conducted by several UConn professors in 2016 linked the supply of parking to the number of people driving using geospatial data. As the number of parking spaces per person increased from 0.2 to 0.5, the share of people traveling by car increased with it.
“We kind of have this story in Connecticut that we need to improve service for people to use transit, and it’s true,” Donegan said. “But it’s also true that we have to make it harder to drive. If we just improve the service, people won’t change.”
For the sake of the people of Stamford, present and future, she believes it is up to the state to force this change.
Donegan also argues that there is an element of fairness in not building a garage.
“The poorest residents don’t own a car and certainly won’t be able to afford this garage,” she said. “So you are spending a lot of money on infrastructure to help the wealthiest in the city and detrimental to small business owners or residents who want to walk and cycle.”
Dice Oh, an active member of the local transport advocacy group People Friendly Stamford, understands that there must be garage parking, given the role of the Stamford Transport Center as a regional hub. Still, he’s frustrated with the design.
“The priority for the station should be much more to allow the kind of developments that would create pedestrianized neighborhoods oriented towards public transport, and not to make the car the number one priority, which is happening now,” said Oh.
The old garage was falling apart. He understands that something new had to happen, but it should have taken a more forward-looking approach.
“What we would like to see (from) the state is to have a vision of the station of the future that is not just 1,000 people going to the station every day,” he said.
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