With work set to begin reconnecting College Street, the city just picked up another $2.2 million to do the same down the block.
The $2.2 million will go toward designing the next phases of Downtown Crossing, the step-by-step filling in of the Route 34 Connector “Highway to Nowhere” and reconnecting downtown with streets at the gateway to the Hill neighborhood.
The first phase of Downtown Crossing has already been designed and approved: The filling in of the Route 34 Connector’s last exit and the construction of an 11-story medical-oriented office building atop it. Physical work on that phase is set to begin in February.
The new $2.2 million should cover the architectural work needed to design how to reconfigure Temple Street as well as Orange Street as they, too, connect with the streets on the other side of Route 34, according to city development chief Kelly Murphy.
Temple Street, with its curving off at Route 34, and lower Orange Street, with “all those grade changes,” present a bit more of a design challenge than did the more straightforward connecting of College Street, Murphy said.
The money comes from the state Department of Transportation. It originated from a fund at the federal Department of Transportation, from money that had originally been set aside for projects in other states that ended up not being “shovel-ready,” Murphy said.
Mayor John DeStefano and U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro announced the awarding of the $2.2 million to the city last week.
“These monies will continue to set the stage for one of the largest downtown development project in city history,” DeStefano stated in a release. “For half a century, the highway divided the City and served as a reminder of the homes and businesses that were lost. No more. This February, work will begin to remove the highway and restore the street grid, employing thousands of people and propelling our local economy for decades to come. What was once a symbol of lost opportunity will again become a thriving part of our community.”
The design work on Temple Street won't hurt, but the simple truth is that the city can't grow jobs here without a better bus and transit system.
The Feds and State realized this, and had lined up to give hundreds of millions of dollars to New Haven, as they have in the past to many other mid-sized cities.
Despite near unanimous citizen testimony in favor and the fact that the City had already spent time applying for the grant, unfortunately the new Board of Aldermen/CCNE/Local 34 "Leadership" voted the money down this year because they wanted to redirect the few thousand dollars in matching funds to their "job pipeline" for CCNE union staff.
Ironically, the few thousand dollars they saved could have ended up directly creating thousands of good union jobs for local residents, whereas the "job pipeline" will have virtually zero impact.
This was done suddenly and behind closed doors, just like all the other decisions that the Board/CCNE/Local 34 are making.
The best opportunity in the history of New Haven to move forward with economic development, access for the disabled and senior citizens, lower costs for struggling families, and the inclusion of neighborhoods like Dixwell and Farnam Courts into the fabric of Downtown was lost because our "Leadership" was able to lead only for the unions, not the city as a whole.
The good news is that these things can change (if DC and Hartford are willing to forgive the Board of Aldermen, or if new leaders are elected).