Potential for Transit Oriented Develop in Connecticut

1. Potential for Transit Oriented Develop in Connecticut TOD is the creation of compact, walkable communities centered around high quality train systems. This makes it possible to live a higher quality life without complete dependence on a car for mobility and survival.

2. Project Outline Connecticut has plans to significantly expand rail service in the state including on the New Haven – Springfield Line and on Shoreline East. The goal of this class project is to assess some of the station areas on these lines to rate them in terms of their potential as a location for a strong TOD. Many factors go into determining how will a TOD is likely to function. One of the most important factor is the existing (and potentially, future) street network. In this project we will focus on assessing the quality of the street network. This will be done with the help of the Sustainable Street Network guide. For this class we will look at four locations: Wallingford, Meriden and Berlin on the NH-Springfield Line, and New London on Shoreline East. Your tasks will be to rate the four sites based on the six characteristics of a sustainable street network and then to rank order the four sites from best to worst based on their potential for having a street network that will support a strong TOD.

3. Designing Connected Networks www.cnu.org/sites/www.cnu.org/files/sustainable_street_network_principles_op.pdf

4. Principles or Goals of Sustainable Street Network Design • Support community and place • Attract and sustain economic activities • Maximize transportation choice • Integrate with natural systems • Respect the existing natural and built environment • Emphasis walking as the fundamental unit of design • Work with other transportation networks

5. Characteristicsof a Sustainable Street Network • Maximize Connectivity • Provide Multiple Location where Different Transportation Networks Overlap • The network should be complex – rather than flat • Major Streets should be Multimodal and Frequent • All Streets should be Walkable • Wide variety of street types

6. NEW HAVEN – HARTFORD – SPRINGFIELD RAIL Corridor

7. Wallingford

8. Meriden

9. Berlin

10. New London