New London — The city has developed plans to expand the Water Street parking garage by 400 spaces, a pre-emptive move in anticipation of increased parking needs associated with the future National Coast Guard Museum.

With an estimated price tag of $13 million to $15 million, the early conceptual plans have the garage extending out toward Water Street over the existing paved parking area with room for landscaping along the roadway, according to Parking Director Carey Redd II. The new addition, with room for two rows of cars on each of the five levels, would connect to the existing garage.

The Water Street garage currently has 995 spaces with about 30 more in the surface lot outside.

Mayor Michael Passero said the plans for the garage expansion have been in development for months and that the city is focused on identifying and applying for state and federal grants for the project.

Passero said not only will the garage help accommodate the several hundred thousand visitors anticipated to visit the $100 million museum but also an increasing number of Cross Sound Ferry customers, Electric Boat employees and visitors to the train and bus stations and downtown businesses. The museum is anticipated to open in 2020.

“It’s a no-brainer. We need more parking and more alternatives,” Passero said. “We want to make sure we accommodate everybody that drives into New London and needs a place to park their car. It’s a piece of this complex puzzle we’re working on to build out New London as a transit-oriented development district. It all fits together.”

Redd said he already had investigated the possibility of adding levels to the top of the garage, but structural engineers determined it could not handle the load. That’s when he came up with the idea of using the existing space outside the garage for an expansion.

Redd said he now is working to incorporate other ideas to keep the traffic flowing in and out of the garage, such as an exit onto Atlantic Street. He also anticipates a connection from the garage to a future information center located near the proposed $20 million state-funded pedestrian bridge that will start at Parade Plaza.

Museum operators have said they anticipate 500,000 people visiting the museum in the first year, though Redd said conservative estimates put the number of visitors between 200,000 and 250,000 a year in subsequent years.

The expansion will go a long way to ease concerns, but Redd said the city plans a much broader plan that incorporates other parts into some type of “circulator system,” or shuttle system, that would allow people to park in other parts of the city but have easy access to downtown. He said the city is investigating which city-owned properties might be used for parking. He said he envisions the Hempsted Houses, Lyman Allen Museum, Garde Arts center, Ocean Beach Park, Connecticut College and marinas all being a part of that system.

He said the city also would welcome some type of partnership with William Cornish, the owner of the parking garage off Governor Winthrop Boulevard with 450 parking spaces.

The ultimate goal, Redd said, is to entice and support economic development in the city.

Passero credited Redd with providing a sound critical analysis and management of parking needs, which already have grown over the past two summers as shown by the amount of cars in the parking garage on any given day.

National Coast Guard Museum Association Chief Executive Officer Dick Grahn said the association still is awaiting results of a $105,200 traffic and parking study being conducted by consultants Milone & MacBroom.

He said the study will provide a good overall picture of the parking situation. A memorandum of agreement between the state, city, Coast Guard and museum association calls for the state to help coordinate, support and advise on ancillary work associated with the project, including traffic redesigns and parking needs assessment.

“The state is sort of orchestrating that through the city,” Grahn said. “We have and continue to be actively involved with the city in finding a solution for what at least some feel is a problem.”

Grahn called the city’s plan for a garage expansion “the kind of creative thinking that fosters a spirit of collaboration we experienced in developing the (museum) design plans."

g.smith@theday.com