Groton and Norwich are looking to transform their streets into safe and accessible paths for everyone, including drivers, walkers, cyclists, public transit riders and people using wheelchairs or scooters.

Norwich last week adopted a Complete Streets resolution and policy, and Groton is moving toward approving a similar policy.

The Federal Highway Administration describes Complete Streets as a design model that promotes a safe and convenient means for people to get around, no matter what mode of transportation they use.

“Complete Streets strive to provide the best possible blend of service, mobility, and convenience, and safety while reinforcing a positive social, economic and environmental influence on Norwich,” that city’s newly approved policy states.

The Groton Town Council took an initial vote at its Tuesday Committee of the Whole meeting to approve a policy “to improve the road rights-of-way of the Town of Groton, making them safer and more accessible for people of all ages, race, ethnicity, income, and physical ability as well as all modes of transportation, including pedestrians, people with mobility challenges, bicyclists, motorists, commercial vehicles, and emergency vehicles.” The Council is slated to take a final vote next Tuesday.

Complete Streets, for example, may address wider sidewalks, more crosswalks, bicycle lanes or bike-friendly road shoulders, bike racks, trees, better lighting, improved curb cuts for accessibility for people with disabilities, bus stops and lanes.

Both communities will use the policy to encourage the development of Complete Streets where appropriate and as road construction projects come up.

Norwich

“The policy is really to ensure the city considers all network users when doing streets, outside regular maintenance or repair,” said Norwich Assistant City Planner Dan Daniska, who wrote the Complete Streets policy for the city.

Even before the City Council enacted the policy, the city Public Works Department incorporated some of the concepts when it recently reconstructed and repaved Dunham Street, a busy connector from West Main Street (Route 82) to West Thames Street (Route 32). New sidewalks line the south side of the street. Crosswalks will be painted on the new pavement next week, along with bike-friendly shoulder lanes. Landscaping will be added in spots.

A more ambitious project, funded through a state Transportation Alternatives Program grant, is planned for the entire 4.2-mile length of New London Turnpike from the Norwichtown Green to the Montville border. Working with Montville and the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments, Daniska said the concept calls for creating a pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly corridor from the Mohegan Sun Casino off Route 32, up New London Turnpike to the Norwichtown Green.

At the northern end of New London Turnpike, the project would install sidewalks to replace well-worn paths at the sides of the road for better access to medical services buildings and the side entrance to Norwichtown Commons shopping center. Bike lanes will be added where possible — beneath the Route 2 bridge is too narrow, Daniska said — and sidewalk improvements and crosswalks will be added in the area of the John B. Stanton School.

The project was still in the design phase and no cost estimate was available, he said.

Norwich also recently obtained a Community Connectivity grant for about $600,000 to add sidewalks to the 0.6-mile commercial area of West Town Street near the I-395 Exit 14 ramps, Daniska said.

Over the next two years, Norwich officials will write a Complete Streets Plan for the city, reviewing all streets, listing plans for future construction projects and highlighting where the city should incorporate bike lanes and sidewalk improvements. A college intern recently assessed all sidewalk conditions in the city.

“We have a lot of areas where they’re not in good shape,” Daniska said of city sidewalks. He pointed to a “huge gap” on Boswell Avenue running from downtown to Greeneville and all the grid-pattern streets in the Greeneville area.

“We’ll be looking at safe routes to schools, where students can walk and ride bikes to schools,” Daniska said. “I would love to work closer with the school construction project to rebuild the sidewalks in Greeneville.”

Norwich is considering a $385 million project to build four new elementary schools, three on grounds of current schools and one on the grounds of the former Greeneville School. The project goes to referendum in November.

Daniska said Complete Streets would not work for all streets in Norwich, which has a range of urban districts, suburban neighborhoods and rural areas.

“It’s not going to apply for rural roads in the hinterlands,” Daniska said. “But anywhere there is density and walkability. It’s really a quality-of-life issue to make Norwich a better place to live, work and recreate.”

Town of Groton

The Town of Groton also is moving toward a policy that would encourage Complete Streets projects where appropriate, but not require them.

The policy’s goals include that new construction and reconstruction projects should “incorporate whenever possible and warranted,” the needs of all road users, with a focus on roads and districts “with existing demand and/or future potential for increased biking and walking.” Another goal is to incorporate Complete Street improvements in routine repairs and maintenance on “an as-needed basis.”

Groton Town Manager John Burt said there are a lot of options for Complete Streets, and they don’t all make sense in every location. “As projects come up, we’ll analyze what can be done at the location as well as the costs,” he said.

Thomas Road is an example where Complete Streets principles were incorporated in the recent past. The town also will use the principles as it continues planning for the Groton Long Point Road Bridge project.

The town’s Parks and Recreation Department is slated to put together a Community Connectivity Plan that calls for developing recommendations to existing facilities, making a list of priorities and a “10-Year Capital Plan and implementation schedule,” according to a project description. It also will identify costs of projects.

Town Councilor Aundré Bumgardner, who served as the chair of the town’s Complete Streets Working Group, said at Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole meeting that the policy speaks to “changing the way we think about our roads and plan our roads in a way where we’re designing for all road users, not just motor vehicles.”

Brian Kent, a landscape architect with Mystic-based Kent + Frost Landscape Architecture and president of Bike Groton, a bike and pedestrian advocacy organization, who was the “driving force” in crafting language for the policy, said Complete Streets are much more comprehensive and inclusive of the community at large than traditional streets.

He said the increase in speeding and accidents in recent years has been far worse for people who are walking and biking along the roadways.

“They are disproportionately affected by crash encounters with vehicles and they’re more likely to die or be seriously injured in these encounters, and vehicle speed is one of the principle problems,” he explained.

The goals of Complete Streets are to reduce speeds and make streets safer and also increase equity across the community, Kent said.

He pointed out that a Complete Streets policy enhances the town’s standing in receiving grant funding for these types of projects and will attract economic development to the town.

The policy only applies to town-owned streets and rights of way. “Owners of privately owned streets such as (in) Groton Long Point and Mumford Cove shall also be encouraged to adhere to the policy,” the draft document states. The policy does not apply to the city, but coordination with the city is encouraged.

The policy also says the town should coordinate with the school district “when opportunities arise for Complete Street improvements to provide safe routes to schools.”

k.drelich@theday.com

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