Editor's note: The story is updated to include the correct project cost.

New London — Reconstruction and reconfiguration of the municipal parking lot off Eugene O’Neill Drive is expected to start later this year thanks to approval of plans last week by the Planning and Zoning Commission.

The estimated $1.5 million plan for an area called the “gateway to the city” involves repaving, landscape improvements and also narrowing of parts of Eugene O’Neill Drive and Green Street with “bump outs,” to help slow traffic and create a more pedestrian-friendly environment.

Money for the project is already allocated as part of normal paving projects, along with a $500,000 grant obtained from the Office of Development and Planning through the Main Street Investment Fund.

The plans are expected to go out to bid next month with a recommendation on a contractor to go to the City Council for approval. Interim Public Works Director Brian Sear said construction is expected to be completed before the end of the year.

The work will be phased and coordinated, he said, to minimize disruption to parking and traffic flow.

Chad Frost, principal with Mystic-based Kent + Frost, said along with ornamental light poles there will be 42 trees planted roadside and in the parking lot. The lot now contains about 240 parking spaces but will be trimmed to 201 to accommodate new standards for space widths.

Entrances and exits will remain the same except for a change at the southern lot, off Tilley Street. Members of the Planning and Zoning Commission asked that what was to be an emergency entrance be converted back into a public entrance in part to benefit Octane Café.

Commission Chairman Barry Levine, commission members and downtown business owner Bill Cornish questioned the city’s ability to maintain the trees planned for the project.

“We do a terrible job with maintenance,” Cornish said. “Nobody’s going to maintain all of those trees. I think it’s going to be great for the city, but I think it also has to be practical.”

Frost said the project calls for trees to be planted in a system called a “Silva Cell” in which trees are planted into underground frames specifically designed for urban settings and which require less maintenance.

Levine also questioned the purpose of design features that resembled stand-alone brick walls, about 3 to 4 feet tall and 10 to 15 feet long. He said he imagined they could be used for seats or sleeping platforms for vagrants.

“I’m looking at this and I’m wondering if we are creating an attractive nuisance,” Levine said.

Frost said the trees and other structures help add visual mass to the area which in turn tends to slow traffic. He said the visual space between buildings on Eugene O’Neill Drive is wider than both sides of the Gold Star Memorial Bridge combined.

In the end the commission approved the plan with the caveat that the designers come up with alternatives to the brick features.

Public Works Director Brian Sear said he thought an important aspect of the project was “the continuation of the village feel of center city and how it ties in visually with Bank and State streets.”

He said that will in part be accomplished with the decorative light poles and hanging flowers.

Tammy Daugherty, director of the Office of Development and Planning, said the project would help to spur economic development and enliven the entire area, much of which is dominated by the rear entrances of Bank Street businesses.

A parking plan for the lot is under development by the city’s parking authority, which is also working on overall plans for street parking.

g.smith@theday.com