Whiting Street project to head to state

WINSTED — Public works and town leaders — and an architectural firm — have pledged to continue to work with residents to see that their concerns are addressed as the state-funded Whiting Street improvement project begins.

The project’s goals include calming traffic, improving pavement, drainage and water quality, pedestrian safety and infrastructure. Primarily, the funding will pay for repaving the roadway; installing new drainage systems, including catch basins and pipes; and installing raised crosswalks to slow traffic and assure pedestrian safety.

A public public information meeting on the project was held this week; it followed a public hearing the Planning & Zoning Commission held in July to consider an 8-24 application from the state. The commission granted its approval for the application, but asked for the public information meeting for interested residents, including Whiting Mills owners and tenants, the American Mural Project, owners of an apartment building and residential homeowners.

Representatives from Weston and Sampson Engineers, including project manager Lisa Slonus, joined Public Works Director Jim Rollins at the meeting. The proposal includes making the road 22 feet wide, curb-to-curb, installing sidewalks from the end of Whiting Mills to South Main Street (Route 44), improving the drainage, paving and an improved bridge. Residents can view drawings and other details of the proposal at https://rb.gy/nojqec.

Slonus reviewed the project in more detail, saying the work is funded by a $500,000 Responsible Growth and Transit Oriented Development Grant, and is focused on “uses and reuses of areas where private and public investments have already been made.”

“The town is in charge of the project’s design, and it is administered by the Office of Policy and Management and

the state Department of Transportation,” she said.

Many who attended the July hearing were disappointed to learn that making Whiting Street one-way was not part of this plan. Rollins and Winsted Fire Chief Jame Lagassie explained why.

“The town has reached out to people living on Strong Terrace and Whiting Street, emergency services, and there’s a much broader picture to keep in mind,” Rollins said. “We looked at how (a change would) impact the downtown ... So we revisited this discussion, and the consensus is still to do a two-directional roadway.”

“Our firehouse is at the intersection of Whiting Street and Holabird Avenue, and having a two-way street for response calls is important,” Lagassie said. “When we have accidents on Main Street at Dunkin’ Donuts and McDonald’s (near the Whiting Street intersection) there are benefits to keeping it a two-way street.”

P&Z Chairman George Closson asked if the department and other emergency service providers, such as the ambulance association, could drive up a one-way street in the wrong direction in an emergency.

“We don’t do that,” Lagassie said. “It opens up our

liability. Even if there’s an accident on Route 8, we get off and come back on. We don’t have the ability to close a road.”

Winchester Police Chief William Fitzgerald Jr. agreed. “It’s a liability issue for the fire department,” he said.

Whiting Street is home to Whiting Mills, owned by Eva and Jean Paul Blachere, who purchased the industrial buildings in 2004. The Blacheres were most vocal last month about making the street one-way , and Eva Blachere reiterated her disappointment Thursday. The couple are also upset that they are not getting sidewalks on their side of Whiting Street on the northern end.

A crosswalk and “bump outs” are proposed a bit further along the roadway, but not by the mill building.

“We were supposed to get sidewalks on our side of the street, and that hasn’t even come up for discussion,” she said. “There’s going to be a lot of improvements down the road and across the road, but not Whiting Mills, which has brought new tenants to town. It seems like we have no say in this whole project ... I want on the record that we feel we haven’t been contacted at all, until very recently.”

Another stakeholder in the project is Paula Capaldo, who, with her husband,

owns the Mill at Still River apartments. Her complaint concerned drainage and flooding, which she says is impacting her tenants.

“We’ve had some severe drainage issues over a 10year period,” she said. “When the American Mural Project was completed, they put in a couple of catch basins, but they’re ineffective. Our tenants are using boots to get into their cars because there’s so much water in the parking area when it rains.

“We’ve lost our pavement,” she said. “It’s been eaten away. That water just sits there. The water flows over the parking lot and into the river, missing the catch basins completely.”

Slonus assured Capaldo that the aging drainage system and catch basins would be dealt with by replacing the basins, flattening the road and properly designing a drainage system to handle rainwater. “It will properly get the water into the river,” she said.

Capaldo also asked if her sidewalks would be replaced. Slonus said there wasn’t enough money in the grant to install sidewalks everywhere, but Rollins said he would meet with Capaldo to discuss it.

“Public works would be happy to meet with you and get a picture of what your problems are,” he said.

“That would be great,”

Capaldo said. “I try to provide quality living for the people who live here.”

Rollins said he would continue to meet with “all the stakeholders in the area.”

American Mural Project Executive Director Amy Wynn said she was pleased with the outreach from the town regarding the project.

“We love the fact that you’re doing traffic calming, and aiming to make the street more welcoming,” she said. “But we don’t want to see our valued neighbors lose parking spaces.”

She was referring to J&G Machinery at 100 Whiting St., a company that receives deliveries in large trucks. “It’s very important that we have good truck and bus clearance for Whiting Mills and AMP,” she said.

Rollins also said the town’s capital improvement plan could address some of the concerns raised at the meeting.

Wynn said, “I encourage people to be responsive and involved in this project and keep the momentum going. Let’s remain accessible as we can.”

The next step for the project is to for Slonus’ team to complete the final designs, which will then be sent to OPM and the DOT for review over the fall and winter.

“We could go out to bid by spring 2021,” she said.