Paul Bass Photo
Let’s just keep calling it North Frontage … er, MLK Blvd.
A street people thought of as “Route 34” is actually “State Road 706” — but not for long.
The city is in the process of assuming ownership of the road, a section of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard between Park Street and Ella Grasso Boulevard alongside the acres of undeveloped land which the city plans to transform in coming years.
It’s part of the Route 34 Connector, connecting drivers from I‑95 to the Boulevard, and to Route 34 going west. The signage referred to Route 34 — not to the official title of State Road 706.
Monday night the Board of Alders will begin the process of deciding whether to sign off on the city accepting the transfer of the road. The transfer appears on the alders’ Monday night regular meeting agenda as a communication item and will be assigned to a committee for a public hearing.
City Transit Chief Doug Hausladen said that over the last decade or so, the city and the state have been entering into land transfer agreements to advance the redevelopment of the Route 34 Corridor by handing over chunks of the roadway to the city. He called State Road 706 “a stub” of state road that the state can only get to by accessing city roadways.
“From a maintenance and operation perspective, it makes very little sense to have state DOT [Department of Transportation] truck drive with their plow up Legion Avenue, which is a city road, turn left on York Street, make left on MLK Boulevard and put their plow down,” he said.
He said the state has been looking to hand the road over to the city for some time, but city officials wanted the state to make some improvements first. And as of October, the state has made such improvements, including replacing catch basins and agreeing to perform joint and crack sealing. The city has received a $1.7 million Congestion Mitigation Air Quality grant that will help with update of traffic signals including two on State Road 706 and two on Legion Avenue
Though it means one more road for the city’s Department of Public Works to maintain, Hausladen said the biggest improvement will be the process around what can be done with the street. Instead of having to consider state process, the city can use its own Complete Streets guidelines, which could open up opportunities for bike lanes, on street parking and other improvements to fight congestion and calm traffic.
“Now it will be a city process, not a state process,” Hausladen said. “A city process should be a simpler process.”
perfect place for a bus transfer station