Train station can be a model project

6/11/07
With the massive train station development in Fairfield clearing every regulatory hurdle, the largest project in town history is starting to take shape. It will be a boon not just to its town, but to its larger neighbor just to the east — specifically, the Black Rock neighborhood of Bridgeport.
The planned Fairfield Metro Center will likely see a groundbreaking next month. All the permits are in hand, all the approvals have been granted. What’s left now is to watch and wait for the train station/hotel/office building/retail center to rise from the shores of Ash Creek. It’s an opportunity for the neighboring communities to work together for the benefit of everyone.
The first phase, scheduled to open in early 2010, includes the rail station, hotel, a concourse building with 89,000 square feet of office space and 30,000 square feet of retail space, and the first of what will eventually be four 200,000-square-foot office buildings.
The train station is key — the state says it favors "smart growth" development, and projects based around transit and walkable communities are vital. With the promise of express trains from what will be Fairfield’s third train station down to Manhattan, the location should appeal to workaday commuters.
This is where the relationship with Black Rock comes in. The nearest populated area is right over the Bridgeport line, and housing and condominium developments are already being marketed as within walking distance of the new transit center. It’s in both community’s interest to make sure the development serves everyone’s needs, and doesn’t create unnecessary traffic, noise or congestion.
The train station project has been years in the making, and some initial reluctance on Bridgeport’s side appears to be in the past. With continued good planning and follow-through, the area can be a model for the less car-centric future that might rescue a state choking on its own exhaust. If this project succeeds, everyone gains.