New garage design gets thumbs up
Concerns remain
STAMFORD — Members of the team behind the new parking garage at the Stamford Transportation Center were at the station on Wednesday to present their latest design of the garage, but few visitors seemed interested in discussing visuals.
“Nobody is talking about the aesthetic,” said Jeff Parker, senior project manager with CHA Consulting. “Which is good, because if they didn’t like the aesthetic, we would certainly hear about it.”
And they did hear about it in previous meetings, in which residents and officials described the former design as “cold,” “unwelcoming” and “boxy.”
The latest renderings, shown during an open house on the ground level of the Stamford Train Station on Wednesday, introduce a wavy perforated-steel
exterior for the garage, as well as a colorful light display along the facade at night.
James H. Hemmerly, senior architect for STV, a New York-based architectural and engineering firm that specializes in transportation systems and redesigned the Cortlandt Street subway station in New York, said the previous design was trying to match the corporate aesthetic of the buildings around the area, but that didn’t go over well.
“The reaction from the people in the mayor’s office and the design commission in Stamford was that they wanted something that would be more of a signature building,” he said, on Wednesday.
The latest design, he said, was a hit with Mayor David Martin and got good reviews from other officials during meetings in February and March.
Nonetheless, residents and officials who visited the meeting room inside the station on Wednesday had a number of questions and concerns, most of which had nothing to do with the design.
Some common worries were the length of the proposed walkway to the station, as well as traffic implications around the area.
The planned 960-space garage would be built on state-owned land on South State Street. The eight-story structure will be in a spot surrounded by the station, railroad tracks, catenary wires, Washington Boulevard, Interstate 95 and Mill River.
To be connected to the station, a 350-foot walkway will be built across Washington Boulevard for commuters to walk to and from the garage.
The roughly $100 million project will also require the re-alignment of South State Street so that it will run under the garage. Currently, there is one planned exit for the garage onto South State Street.
Stamford Rep. Bob Lion, D-19, showed up to the open house. His main concern is traffic, and he thinks the singular exit will cause problems for drivers.
He’s worried the garage will add to a giant bottleneck around the station, which is where Washington Boulevard converges with traffic from Exit 7 off I-95, as well as development in Harbor Point.
“There will be more cars because you’ll have only one exit onto South State Street, which then will have impact on cars exiting on Exit 7 onto South State as well,” he said. “I’m concerned about the volume of traffic and how it’s going to impact the area.”
Dianne Walker, cofounder of Strawberry Hill Neighborhood Association, stopped by at the open house to see the progress.
She uses the station frequently, not as a commuter, but to go into New York.
“I feel like this is long overdue,” she said.
Walker said she likes the design of the proposed building.
“I think the design is amazing,” she said. “Much better than I expected.”
She said the current parking situation is untenable.
“There’s not enough (parking) and it’s dangerous given that the cement is falling from the ceiling and there are cracks and it’s old and it’s dark,” she said.
She’s also concerned about the city’s capacity to accommodate increased traffic.
“The city is growing so fast,” Walker said. “I really feel that we’ve outgrown ourselves and the infrastructure just can’t keep up with the development. All of these new apartment buildings going in are
bringing more and more people and yet the roadways aren’t being widened. Therefore, you’ve got a lot more congestion.”
The next step for the garage project is to go out for a request for proposals. Once a contractor and designer are chosen, they will present plans to the public in the form of meetings.
As far as the price tag for the project with the renewed design, those figures are still being hammered out.
“It may creep up a little,” Hemmerly said
Parker said the price remains unknown and would not say whether it would likely go up or down.
“We’re working through that,” he said.
Work could start as early as this year. Parker said the plan is for the garage to be completed by 2022.
Mike Young, a Cove resident, agreed that the new garage is needed.
He said his biggest concern is getting in and out and wondered if there is a way to create direct access onto the highway from the garage for Amtrak passengers “so they’re not clogging our streets.”
When looking at the new design, Young said he liked the “Welcome to Stamford” sign that goes across the proposed walkway since it blends with the color and font of Metro-North Railroad.
“It’s a long walkway though,” he said.
Before leaving the meeting room, Young turned to a Connecticut Department of Transportation engineer and asked, “You’re not validating parking are you?”
The answer was no.