VCOG: Make Derby, Shelton Easier For Pedestrians, Bicyclists

photo:ethan fryDerby and Shelton should do more to link their downtowns and create ​“transit-oriented development” by making the area friendlier to bicyclists and pedestrians, a study by the Valley Council of Governments suggests.

The study, unveiled in October, recommends roughly $6 million in improvements in and around the cities’ downtowns, from dedicated bicycle paths on the Derby-Shelton bridge and Route 34 to the creation of new pedestrian paths between the Derby Greenway and the nearby train station.

But the work to make those plans a reality is some time off, Mark Nielsen, a planner at the Valley Council of Governments (VCOG), said while presenting the report at a public meeting in Derby City Hall last month.

“The spring,” he said when asked to estimate when construction could start. ​“I didn’t say which year.”

Nielsen went on to say that, if all goes according to plan, the planned improvements could begin in 2017 with renovations to the Derby-Shelton bridge.

The concrete bridge, built in 1918 to replace a steel bridge between the two cities, is structurally sound, Nielsen said, but it’s not winning any beauty awards.

“It really does need a lot of cosmetic improvements,” he said. ​“There’s a lot of cracking to the pavement, there’s a lot of cracks in the concrete and parapet walls. The light fixtures are … functional, I guess would be the best way of describing those lights.”

The local push to revamp the shabby bridge goes back nearly a decade, to a 2008 study commissioned by the Derby-Shelton Rotary Club by Tate & Associates, a Fairfield-based landscape architecture firm.

Click here to download the study.

In the years since that study, VCOG obtained a state grant to create a transit-oriented development (TOD) plan for the area and develop strategies for ​“implementing TOD-supportive actions.”

“Transit-oriented development” is a planning buzz term meaning, basically, mixed-use residential and commercial development designed to promote the use of nearby public transit.

In that respect, the downtown areas of Derby and Shelton offer an opportunity: there’s a train station in Derby already, hundreds of new apartments have come online in Shelton and more are likely on the way, and there are dozens of acres of yet-to-be-redeveloped space south of Route 34 in Derby as well.

The state is also in the ​“final design phase” of a project to widen Route 34 through downtown Derby.

That project will give local governments an opportunity to make the area better for bicyclists and walkers, Nielsen noted.

“Riding a bike on Main Street might be problematic at best,” he said.

And being a pedestrian isn’t much easier.

The road sees a lot of traffic, and is always congested at rush hours.

There are sidewalks, but they aren’t in great shape. Ditto crosswalks across Route 34 without proper signals or lights.

As a fix, the VCOG study recommends widening the state’s ​“right of way” through downtown even more to accommodate a dedicated bicycle path and separate ​“frontage road” from the area of the Derby-Shelton bridge to Derby’s redevelopment zone.

The study also suggests putting a dedicated walkway from the Derby Greenway to the Derby train station, as well as a bike shelter in the area, to encourage train ridership.

West of that area, the study recommends adding a bicycle lane to the Derby-Shelton bridge itself, as well as a wider sidewalk to accommodate pedestrians, benches, and planters.

Where the bicycle path would go west of the bridge is still an open question. The study recommends that local bigwigs work with developer John Guedes, who plans to renovate the Spongex building south of the bridge into apartments, to include bicycle and pedestrian paths as part of his redevelopment.

From there, the paths would connect to the Shelton Riverwalk, which runs along Canal Street.

“The recommended improvements and actions will improve the bicycle and pedestrian connections between downtown Shelton and the Derby-Shelton Multi-modal Center and serve as a catalyst for redeveloping the area south of Main Street in the City of Derby,” the VCOG study concludes. ​“These actions will significantly enhance the streetscape environment and create an area that is more attractive, inviting and livable.”

The study ballparks the costs of the work at about $5.7 million.

Nielsen said VCOG is trying to identify federal and state funding sources for the work.

“These are very preliminary numbers, and obviously as we go into design, they’ll be refined,” Nielsen said.

The VCOG report is posted below in its entirety.

VCOG Meeting Report by ValleyIndyDotOrg

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