Mayor views transportation as key to economic development

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Naugatuck Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess discusses the proposed Port of Naugatuck project during the Naugatuck Chamber of Commerce’s Breakfast with the Mayor event Nov. 12. –ELIO GUGLIOTTI

NAUGATUCK — For Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess, improving transportation is of paramount importance to economic development.

For Naugatuck, specifically a proposed transit-oriented development downtown, that means improvements to the Waterbury branch of the Metro-North Railroad.

“Improving transportation is what works and what brings economic development,” Hess said.

As Hess addressed members of the borough’s business community during the Naugatuck Chamber of Commerce’s Breakfast with the Mayor event Nov. 12 at the Naugatuck Event Center, he looked out the windows in the Gem Room and over the vacant lot that is the site for the planned transit-oriented development project.

The project focuses on developing the former General DataComm building — now the Naugatuck Event Center — at 6 Rubber Ave. and the adjacent parking lot into a mixed-use development with commercial and residential components. Officials have said the project relies on improvements to the Waterbury branch to offer more frequent and reliable train service.

Plans are already in place to move the train platform from Water Street to the vacant lot. The state Department of Transportation is also working on a $70 million signalization project that includes installing passing sidings on the railroad, which would allow trains to run in both directions at the same time.

Gov. Ned Lamont is proposing a $6.2 billion investment across all the state’s rail lines. The proposal includes new signaling systems, new rail cars, and new dual-power locomotives on the Waterbury and Danbury lines.

The investment is part of Lamont’s 10-year, $21.3 billion CT2030 transportation plan that also includes 14 proposed tolling locations on the state’s highways. Tolls are a hot button and divisive issue in Hartford.

Hess argued the legislature has become paralyzed because lawmakers are focused on one issue — tolls. He said legislators need to see the big picture.

“The most important thing we need is for our legislators, our senators to work together to find a solution to fund transportation,” Hess said.

Transportation is also at the center of another large development project in the works — a proposed intermodal transportation hub dubbed “the Port of Naugatuck” on the former Uniroyal site off Elm Street.

The site sits along the Pan Am Railways line that stretches from southern Connecticut to Canada and connects with Portland, Maine. The plan is companies will send goods via freight train to Naugatuck, where they can be stored in warehouses and loaded on trucks and distributed throughout the tri-state area. Also, Hess envisions the hub as a facility that can handle international goods that come into ports in New York and Newark, N.J. The goods would be transported to Naugatuck via truck, go through customs, then be shipped north via freight train.

The borough is seeking millions of dollars from the state and federal governments to help with the project, including a $25 million federal grant to build a rail spur.

Hess said the project would generate tax revenue for Naugatuck and the region. He said it would be the first intermodal hub in the state that will connect Connecticut with the region and world.

“Once you have a connection you can go anywhere with intermodal transportation,” he said.