The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Whiting Street project draws mixed reviews
P&Z OKs work with stipulation
WINSTED — Whiting Street has many facets.
Some areas have repurposed factory buildings, while others have apartments or single-family homes. The street feeds onto Holabird Avenue and Route 44, and is often busy with traffic, making it difficult to cross. The roadway’s width also varies, from nearly 30 feet to 20 feet. Sidewalks are inconsistent.
A proposal to improve the street, to be funded by state dollars, drew a mixed response from residents and town officials this week.
The Planning & Zoning Commission this week gave its approval for the 8-24, or municipal improvement, application, with a stipulation: That another meeting be held with all interested residents, including the Whiting Mills building owners and tenants, as well as emergency services, public works and the architects present.
Members of the Winchester Public Works
Department presented designs for the project to the PZC. 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 a new bridge. Residents can see the drawings and other details of the proposal at https://rb.gy/nojqec.
The public works department is seeking “a positive referral” from the commission, using the state’s 8-24 application, which requires towns and cities to present plans to the public and the planning commission. Representatives from Weston and Sampson Engineers, including project manager Lisa Slonus, architect Ryan Chimeliewski and engineer Nick Palermo joined Public Works Director Jim Rollins for the presentation. The entire meeting was held on Zoom.
The project is supported by a grant of $500,000, administered by the state Office of Policy and Management and the state Department of Transportation, Slonus said. “The project is from the Responsible Growth and Transit Oriented Development Grant,” she said. “The funding focuses on the use and reuses of places where private
and public investments have been made, to protect landscapes and landmarks and a better quality of life.”
According to Slonus, a study to develop the project began in 2019. The objectives of the improvements, she said, are to calm traffic, provide better road drainage systems and “better connectivity” for residents living in the area.”
Slonus also noted that the grant funding won’t be available forever. “There’s a limited amount of time to do the work, or the town will lose the money,” she said. The grant expires at the end of 2021.
Public input
Whiting Street may be best known for Whiting Mills, owned by Eva and Jean Paul Blachere, who purchased the Whiting Mills complex of historic buildings in 2004. Since then, the couple has gained approximately 60 tenants including artists, retailers and offices in the space. The American Mural Project, an ongoing public art installation founded by artist Ellen Griesedieck and overseen by Executive Director Amy Wynn, is also is housed in a brick factory building on Whiting Street.
A small number of residents, including those representing Whiting Mills, were disappointed to learn the street will be accessible to two-way traffic. A one-way
traffic plan was preferred, especially by the owners of Whiting Mills, who say safety will be compromised, and that it prevents them from having more sidewalk areas and bringing in more tenants such as restaurants. The American Mural Project was also worried about the impact of traffic street if it remains two-way.
“We were very excited to see the project but we were surprised that Whiting Mills didn’t even get a mention,” Jean Paul Blachere said. “We thought we were important to the town.
“In previous meetings we were told we’d have a sidewalk on our side, and there’s no allowance for a sidewalk for people to come out of our building,” he said. “They’re being put in danger. What have we done to deserve that?”
“We’re excited to see something happen, but we’ve been waiting 16 years since we took over the building, and we need a sidewalk, all the way alongside our building to Holabird Avenue,” Eva Blachere said. “That was the understanding of this project.”
The road
Making the street 22 feet wide from one end to the other, Slonus said, is intended to calm traffic. “By constraining the roadway, or providing other elements along the road, (it will) force and encourage
drivers to slow down,” she said.
Raised crosswalks, which almost resemble a low speed bump, are also part of the design. Slonus said these crosswalks are safer for pedestrians and also slow traffic. Some areas of curb would also have “bumpouts” which are intended to narrow the road and slow drivers.
The final design, Slonus said, will be completed this fall, then be sent to OPM and the DOT for administrative review. Bidding and construction will be done in 2021, with the project wrapping up in the fall of that year.
Planning & Zoning Commission Chairman George Closson brought up the issue of one-way traffic after the presentation. “We decided to go forward with two-way traffic,” Slonus said.
Commission member Willard Platt asked how large trucks would access parking lots with a narrower road, and wondered about school buses on the street, once the American Mural Project begins having large groups of school children visit the building.
“There’s going to be obstacles entering the mill; there’s going to be a lot of school bus activity,” Platt said.
“It would be good to review the flow pattern there,” Closson said. “Find out where the buses would be dropping (students off). That
should be added as a concern.”
Closson commented again about making Whiting Street one-way.
“I was surprised to see a twoway street,” he said. “Why did you retain it?”
Rollins said local fire and ambulance groups in town insisted that the street remain two-way.
The Blacheres also asked again for a sidewalk directly along their mill building. “If we were able to have a sidewalk, we could attract retail or restaurants to Whiting Mills, that would improve the building even more, and the town,” Jean Paul Blachere said.
Rollins said that a residential street off Whiting near the Route 44 intersection would be impacted if the street were one-way.
“Strong Terrace still needs a place to go,” he said. “We’d end up with a mutiny if they had to go down Whiting to Holabird to get out ... If you can rally around this idea, however, I’m happy to look at it again. I just don’t know if we’re going to get anywhere with it.”
“I want another public hearing on this,” Closson said. “It’s important to get this rolling.”
The commission’s approval of the 8-24 will be sent to the Board of Selectmen. Rollins said he will “get the players involved” for another discussion of the Whiting Street project. No specific date was set.