The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded New London $17 million for planned transit-related infrastructure improvements downtown, the largest portion going toward expansion of the city’s Water Street parking garage, U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd, announced on Thursday. The city has for years sought federal funds for the garage expansion and improvements that would alleviate pedestrian safety and congestion concerns in the area, especially in anticipation of the completion of the National Coast Guard Museum on the city’s waterfront. Initial plans for the garage expansion would add 400 spaces ― it currently has 910 ― to the top three floors of the five-floor garage and expand the garage over the existing surface lot adjacent to Water Street. The $150 million museum project, now under construction and expected to be completed in 2025, is expected to draw an estimated 300,000 people a year to the city in an area that is already home to the parking garage, train station, busing hub and waterfront ferry service. A portion of the grant is also earmarked for support of the $20 million state-funded pedestrian bridge that links the museum and the parking garage and will carry visitors over Water Street and the railroad tracks.
https://www.theday.com/local-news/20230623/new-london-to-get-17-million-for-transit-hub-improvements/