Thomas MacMillan Photo
Carter Winstanley joined city officials at the site of Downtown Crossing Tuesday for a victory lap after Monday night’s approval.
After dozens of public meetings and months of contentious debate, a $135 million plan to remove a highway and change the face of downtown New Haven got its final needed OK with nary a dissenting vote.
The proposal in question is known as Downtown Crossing. It’s a plan to fill in the Rt. 34 corridor with mixed-use development. After $35 million in road work paid for the by the city, state, and federal governments, developer Carter Winstanley will put up a $100 million high-tech office and laboratory building for biomedical companies.
On Monday night, the Board of Aldermen voted unanimously to approve a zone change and a development agreement that will make the project possible.
The vote marks the end of a long and at times acrimonious process, in which bicycle and pedestrian advocates have blasted the city for what they say is a design that’s geared more toward cars than to bikes or people.
Supporters of the Downtown Crossing project say that the development will expand the city’s tax base and bring in hundreds of new jobs. They point to the fact that dozens of public meetings have been held, in which bike and pedestrian advocates have had a chance to register their complaints. The plans now include many suggested improvements first voiced at these meetings, according to city spokeswoman Elizabeth Benton.
Mayor John DeStefano held a celebratory press conference Tuesday morning after the vote. He was joined by U.S. Sen. Dick Blumenthal, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, State Sen. Martin Looney, Gateway Community College President Dorsey Kendrick, and Winstanley.
They gathered with about 30 supporters and city officials on the top deck of the Air Rights parking garage, overlooking the future site of Winstanley’s building (pictured).
Thanks and congratulations were offered all around, with praise for the jobs that the project will bring in. Downtown Crossing will be a “strong driver for economic growth,” Looney said.
Monday night’s aldermanic approval came in two pieces. The first was a zone change for the area designed to allow the type of biomedical and high-tech business growth expected for the area.
The second piece was the approval of a deal among the city, the parking authority, and Winstanley to allow for the construction of a new 10-story building at 100 College St. The deal clears the way for the state to turn the land over to the city, which will in turn turn it over to Winstanley.
East Rock Alderwoman Jessica Holmes (pictured), the chair of the board’s Legislation Committee, presented both items to her colleagues Monday night. She said the design includes features that will create “a real sense of place,” through retail, open space, and streetscaping.
Holmes also mentioned the 2,000 construction jobs to be created, along with 600 to 1,000 permanent jobs.
She said roadwork will begin in May of 2013. Winstanley later said he plans to have his building complete and his tenants moved in by the summer of 2015.
Holmes said there is still room for improvement in the plans, “especially in terms of sidewalk width.” East Shore Alderman Al Paolillo echoed that sentiment, while expressing support for the plan.
East Rock Alderman Justin Elicker (pictured), who led the charge last year to have more pedestrian- and bike-friendly features added to the plans, rose to support the approvals. “I believe the project should move forward,” he said, citing the jobs and taxes it is expected to create. “I believe it could be better.”
Holmes said she was referring to a “pinch point” in the plans, where structural needs have for now set the sidewalk width to just seven feet.
Winstanley said after the meeting that the building’s design plans are no more than 25 percent complete. He vowed to continue to try to incorporate wide sidewalks into the project.
“I’ve always kept my word,” he said.
“People seem to think I’m a hater of sidewalks,” he said. “That’s not the case.”
Plans have to proceed first from the structural needs of the project, he said. Sidewalks, bus stops, and planters come out of that process. Then you can work back into it if it doesn’t come out as you had hoped, he said.
Cyclists Withdraw Support
On Monday afternoon before the vote, local bike-advocacy group Elm City Cycling sent out a letter officially withdrawing its support for Downtown Crossing.
“Prior to this year, Elm City Cycling (ECC) was one of the most vocal supporters of the New Haven Downtown Crossing project. … It ought to replace a highway and two high-speed roads with a pair of urban boulevards, which would enhance, and even transform our city,” the statement reads. “As the project moved forward, Downtown Crossing strayed from this bold vision and became instead a road widening project that repeats the mistakes of the past, and does little to benefit New Haven residents.”
The letter states that ECC feels that the city ignored its input at the numerous public meetings, designing a project that will “prioritize traffic flow over human safety and human mobility.”
“We cannot in good conscience continue to support this project as it is presently designed, and hereby withdraw our support of Downtown Crossing,” the letter concludes.
City spokeswoman Benton responded that “the streets are not ‘big and fast and dangerous by design’ [as the ECC statement charges], but are in fact consistent in size and character with other arterial streets, with additional Complete Streets elements such as bike lanes, traffic islands, raised intersections, and exclusive pedestrian walk phases. The speed limit will be 25 mph.”
Winstanley said Monday night that he hadn’t yet seen the ECC statement.
“We’ve had an enormous number of meetings,” he said. He said he’s committed to continue considering feedback. “Just because we got the vote doesn’t mean I stop listening.”
“I look forward to proving people wrong,” about the bike- and pedestrian-friendliness of the project, he said.
I am excited about this and in full support. Glad this made it through. With that said as a downtown working I am interested in seeing the traffic redirection into the Chapel West area from the high way.