‘Complete Streets’ poised to expand
City hopes to spread benefits seen downtown to other neighborhoods
Based on public popularity and private developers’ investments, New Britain is looking to expand its downtown Complete Streets initiative to reach more neighborhoods ranging from Barrio Latino to Belvedere and North Oak.
Rebuilt sidewalks, safer street crossings, bike lanes, benches, fresh landscaping and new bike racks are some of the features proposed for more than a halfdozen neighborhoods over the next decade, the city announced.
“We’re going to heavily invest in the livability, physical appearance and walkability of neighborhoods around the city to help inspire revitalization similar to what we did downtown,” Public Works Directory Mark Moriarty said this week.
The goal is to spread the downtown business buzz and investor focus into outlying neighborhoods of one of Connecticut’s poorest cities.
When the downtown revitalization was first planned about 15 years ago, there were plenty of skeptics who argued against trying to refresh a post-industrial city with pedestrian amenities and fewer street lanes. But city business leaders have become major advocates, partly because of the refreshed appearance of many streets but largely because of the construction bonanza it has set off.
Hundreds of new market-rate apartments are going up along core downtown streets that had been dilapidated and languishing for decades, while developers are buying up older, worn-down buildings and refurbishing them.
For Charter Oak State College, for instance, that makes the prospect of relocating to downtown appealing. After more than a decade of discussions and nego
tiations, the state is moving Charter Oak’s operations to the ITBD building on Main Street next spring.
“When we were first imagining that, I was against it,” President Ed Klonoski said Wednesday. “Then the new police station went up, and the area around downtown was cleaned up. Now old buildings are being taken over by new developers.
“The (Ctfastrak) bus station came in almost right next to the building. That’s a very convenient, low-cost option for staff and for students who want to visit. There’s an increase in restaurants. New Britain has done a great job cleaning up its downtown,” Klonoski said. “And I’m pleased they’re not done yet. This isn’t something you can do in two or four years.”
The new Beehive Bridge is the most eye-catching part of the Complete Streets project, but across downtown are new bike lanes, shared bike-car lanes, refreshed parks, pedestrian benches, modernized crosswalks and more.
Combined with the more than $567 million Ctfastrak busway linking the city to Hartford, West Hartford and Newington, the effort has sparked a substantial development wave.
Just a few years ago, the landmark Courtland Arms building on Court Street reopened as apartments after being abandoned for 25 years; the nonprofit Chrysalis Center did $8 million in renovations.
Developers like Avner Krohn, Douglas Bromfield and Amit Lakhotia have been undertaking multimillion-dollar projects across downtown, and Mayor Erin Stewart estimates new private investment has reached $100 million.
“A tree-lined street with lighting, multiple safe crosswalks and slower-moving cars is much more appealing to a pedestrian than a boulevard with speeding cars and no such amenities,” Mayor Erin Stewart said in the city’s new 114-page proposal for Complete Streets expansion.
Stewart and Moriarty said New Britain wants to bring the spirit of renewal, along with fresh development, into its outlying neighborhoods.
While cost would normally be prohibitive, the current federal infrastructure funding is a “once-ina-lifetime” opportunity to begin work from sidewalk repairs, road realignment and more, she said.
“People invest in communities that invest in themselves.”
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