The Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) and the city of Hartford are working with WSP to develop the Capital Gateway Concept Plan. This project will be for areas that will be impacted by the Interstate 84 (I-84) Hartford Project.
The I-84 Hartford project is an infrastructure initiative intended to tackle ageing and outdated bridge structures along I-84 between Downtown Hartford and Parkville. This new segment of I-84 will change local street grids, the locations of rail line and stations serving Amtrak, CTrail Hartford Line, and freight trains, and adjust the alignments of CTfastrak and CTtransit bus routes.
As the prime consultant, WSP has been working with its partners on a peer review of the I-84 Hartford Project. WSP has now provided a comprehensive concept plan that will help the City of Hartford achieve its development goals on the complex I-84 Hartford Project.
“The I-84 Hartford Project is more than the reconstruction of a segment of the highway,” said Sandra Fry, senior project manager for the City of Hartford, Department of Development Services. “This project will improve access to all aspects of travel to and from the city. The impacted area known as the Capital Gateway is envisioned to become a vibrant and thriving destination.”
“The WSP project team navigated the conflicting priorities of multiple parties during the peer review and represented the city’s interest in the state DOT-led engineering design process,” added John Loughran, leader of the urban design and placemaking practice, WSP project manager. “The concept plan will improve mobility and access, create a district that strengthens a sense of place for the community, and sets the stage for economic development connected to transit.”
The concept plan develops urban design strategies and identifies preferred infrastructure design elements that are essential for implementing the city’s transit-oriented development vision.
“The proposed concept master plan is transformative; it stitches together Downtown Hartford and its surrounding neighbourhoods, which have been divided physically and visually by the original I-84” said William Kenworthey, regional leader of urban design based in New York.
