Community Corner

City Nets $850,000 Grant For Transit District Development

Funds will help city redevelop its train station and half mile radius around it.

Meriden will receive $850,000 from the state to help the city redevelop its train station and the half-mile radius around the buildng known as the "Transit Oriented District," Gov. Dannel Malloy's office announced Thursday.

The funds for Meriden are the largest chunk of a $5 million grant that the state is awarding to 11 cities, towns and regions to spur transit-oriented development, according to a statement by the Governor's office.

“The projects that we’re supporting will help these towns and surrounding regions take tangible steps in making their communities more walkable, more accessible, and more attractive to residents and employers alike,” said Malloy in the statement.

Find out what's happening in Meridenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The grant will help fund planning and analysis for projects in Meriden that are intended to encourage the use of the New Haven to Springfield High-Speed Rail (expected to be operational in 2015), increase walking and biking in downtown and also spark economic development in the Central Business District, according to the city's grant application. Two of those projects include transforming the city's HUB site between State and Pratt Streets into a public green space and park that provides flood storage, and building a new "intermodal" transit center and parking lot in place of the current train station that was built in 1970. 

Officials say that the planning and analysis the state grant money will fund will pave the way for private investment and development in these projects and others in the city's transit district.

Find out what's happening in Meridenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“This funding provides what Meriden needs to solicit the interest of private developers in the Transit Center project,” said House Speaker Chris Donovan (D-Meriden) in a statement Thursday. “The New Haven-Springfield rail project will drive job growth and economic development all along the route, and Meriden’s station is particularly important. Station improvements and development of the area will surely revitalize Meriden’s downtown and the city’s economy.”

Meriden was one of 23 applicants for the funds. The final awards were chosen on the merit of the grant applications by the Connecticut Department of Transportation and Office of Policy and Management.

"This is another benchmark in a complex path that we have followed to create the possibility of positive, significant and sustainable change in our community," City Manager Lawrence Kendzior said in an e-mail to city officials. 

Other awards went to Hartford ($730,000), New Britain ($750,000), New Haven ($390,000), New London ($319,000), Norwalk ($486,000), Stamford ($460,000), Stratford ($250,000), Derby & Shelton ($265,000), Windsor ($250,000), and Windsor Locks ($250,000).


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