A new pot of money is headed this way to help transform Union Station into New Haven’s Grand Central Station.
That’s the way then-traffic czar Mike Piscitelli described the city’s vision of a re-vamped train station when he made a pitch to the state for financial assistance in 2009.
On Thursday, the state came through with some money towards realizing the vision.
Gov. Dannel Malloy announced the awarding of $5 million to “transit-oriented development” projects in the state, including $390,000 for New Haven.
New Haven’s plans, which have been in the works for several years, include a proposal for a new parking garage along with new stores, offices, and restaurants at the station. See here and here for background.
Transit-oriented development funding is intended to improve public transportation infrastructure statewide — including rail and bus service — to link communities to each other and people to jobs and housing. The money will be split between 11 towns, with the cities of Meriden, Hartford, and New Britain getting the largest shares.
The funding was approved earlier this year by the state Bond Commission. Municipalities were asked to apply for project funding. The state Department of Transportation and Office of Police Management received 23 applications totaling $13.2 million. The 11 winning applications were selected by the two agencies, along with other departments of state government.
Click here to read New Haven’s application, which was for $1 million.
New Haven’s $390,000 portion will go toward “leveraging additional investment dollars into the transit-oriented development around Union Station,” said city spokesman Adam Joseph. The plans call for “the build-out of Union Station to enhance commercial space in and around it,” putting in additional parking and improving housing at Church Street South.
“It’s all based around this idea of transit-oriented development and building up around Union Station, which fits into expanding the footprint of downtown,” Joseph said. It’s all part of a “coordinated development strategy” that includes Downtown Crossing.
Given the number of people who commute by rail, “it makes sense to grow the city around a transportation asset like Union Station,” Joseph said. “We’ve got the potential to do some really cool things over there. … It could be a pretty cool area if we do it right.”