Master Plan for Downtown Parking and Pedestrian Areas: 

Open House Charrette on September 29 & Online Survey Now Available on Website

Westport, CT – First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker has announced that the recently awarded project to develop and design a master plan for key Downtown parking and pedestrian areas, called Reconnecting the Riverfront, is moving into its initial public engagement phase.

Design and engineering firm, Langan Engineering and Environmental Services, Inc.(Langan), has partnered with Connect the Dots to develop and manage the public engagement scope of this project. This will include both virtual and physical opportunities to engage, including public meetings, a visioning charrette, location-specific pop-up displays, and a survey. 

The Downtown Plan Implementation Committee (DPIC) is coordinating the project along with Langan. Chaired by Randy Herbertson, DPIC includes Town department heads and resident constituents. DPIC holds a public monthly meeting on the 2nd Thursday of each month at 8:30 AM. Meeting notices can be found on the Town calendar on the Town website, westportct.gov.

The public survey is now open and can be found on the DPIC website, downtownwestportct.com  All are invited to provide feedback, both on the survey and on an ongoing basis in the comments section.

On Thursday, September 29, from 7-9 pm, there will be a visioning charrette and Open House in Brooks Place at the Westport Library (20 Jesup Road). Residents and stakeholders are encouraged to attend. Throughout the fall, there will also be pop-up displays in various Downtown locations.

First Selectwoman Tooker stated, “This is an important step in the development of specific plans, which will include design concepts and cost estimates for the Jesup and Imperial Lot areas and design and construction documents for Parker Harding. The Parker Harding project would be the first of these projects to be advanced through the appropriate Town planning and funding bodies.”

She continued, “Continuing to revitalize and energize Westport’s central business district is a key focus of my administration. It is very important to invite and consider public opinion in these efforts, and I appreciate the hard-working team that is managing this project. I encourage everyone to take an interest, participate in the survey, and attend the Open House Charette on September 29.”

By Stephen Krauchick

DoingItLocal is run by Steve Krauchick. Steve has always had interest with breaking news even as an early teen, opting to listen to the Watergate hearings instead of top 40 on the radio. His interest in news spread to become the communities breaking news leader in Connecticut’s Fairfield County. He strongly believes that the public has right to know what is happening in their backyard and that government needs to be transparent. Steve also likes promoting local businesses.

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