STATEMENT FROM FIRST SELECTMAN TIMOTHY M. HERBST AND STAFF REGARDING UPDATES ON THE LONG HILL GREEN
September 12, 2016 - First Selectman Timothy M. Herbst, Director of Economic and Community Development, Rina Bakalar, Director of Public Works, John Marsilio and Police Chief Michael Lombardo issued the following joint statement on Monday:
We are extremely pleased to provide an update on our progress in Long Hill Green so far this year. As we all know, transforming community takes time, effort and investment by many people. The residents of Trumbull wanted to see additional restaurants, shops and conveniences because they realize a thriving, modern suburb needs to offer attractive spaces and options. Creating our Village Districts is a work in progress. We have some great successes to show and some additional work to do.
By early October all ten businesses in the new developments will be open. We have heard great feedback on all of our restaurants. We look forward to the independent pharmacy opening and Branded Salon Suites adding to our Town. The new Village area represents approximately 25,000 square feet of new retail/office space and six million dollars in private investment. All eight apartments have been rented and tenants seem very excited to be on the Long Hill Green.
We continue to plan for improvements to the entire area. We are dealing with the challenges of existing infrastructure on traffic, aesthetics and walkability. The Town of Trumbull has submitted a grant application to the State of Connecticut for funds to make significant improvements to the Green which will make the area more attractive and comfortable for community gathering. The grant also includes funds to add additional sidewalk connections in the area. We hope to hear back on this grant in the coming weeks. A dental practice will be expanding here in Trumbull and will improve the properties adjacent to Franco Gianni’s Restaurant. The finalization of this medical office development will make way for additional green scape improvements and potentially provide additional off hour parking to support the businesses in the Long Hill Green area.
With the closure of Broadway, an important safety measure, traffic patterns are shifting. Any change requires some time to settle in, but we assure you, the situation is being closely monitored. The Department of Public Works is commissioning an additional traffic study in the coming weeks now that businesses are open. Two traffic studies were completed previously in 2010 and 2015. Both of these studies made recommendations for road closure. These traffic studies did not project sufficient traffic to warrant the State of Connecticut installing a traffic signal in the area. We must be cognizant of the fact that Main Street (Route 111) is a state highway under the auspices and jurisdiction of the Connecticut Department of Transportation. We are examining options to improve the Whitney Avenue and Main Street intersection and reaching out to the State DOT in an effort to work collaboratively. We ask for your patience as we make changes to the infrastructure over time.
As with any transformational development, there are great successes and excitement, and there are challenges to address. Some of those challenges become more clear overtime and will be addressed. We hope everyone can agree the benefits of this transformation to our community outweighs any of the challenges we as a community will address in the area.
Please feel free to contact our offices with your suggestions, questions or for additional information at any time.