The Town of Branford will hold a public forum on the 2009 Town Green Study currently under way. The meeting will take place at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 24, 2009 at the Canoe Brook Senior Center, 11 Cherry Hill Road, Branford.

 Issues addressed by the study include traffic safety, parking and coordination of the overall design of site improvements on the Green.  Emphasizing the importance of improving the Green, First Selectman Anthony J. DaRos noted that  “We need to work out a coordinated design so that we can preserve and protect the attractive features of the Green, undo some of the damage that’s been caused by haphazard changes over the years and address critical traffic hazard and parking issues.”

Building on concepts developed by the Yale Urban Design Workshop study in 2007 and the Main Street Gateway Study in 2008, the 2009 Town Green Study incorporates features such as a traffic “round-about” at the western tip of the Green and elimination of a large expanse of pavement at the intersection of Town Hall Drive and Main Street.

The 2009 Town Green Study addresses the last phase of the Town Center Revitalization Plan initiated in 1983 and includes the area bounded by Main, South Main, and Montowese Streets as well as the municipal parking lot at the corner of South Main and Montowese Streets. Earlier phases of the Revitalization Plan, which included a municipal parking lot, brick sidewalks, benches, and decorative outdoor lighting, were completed in the early 1990s.

Otty Norwood, Chairman of the Town Center Revitalization Review Board, which oversees the construction of Town Center revitalization projects, remarked that  “Towns all over Connecticut look to Branford as an example of how a well-designed revitalization project can contribute to the economic welfare and community use of an historic town center.  

However, we still have long unresolved problems in the Center relating specifically to the Green, a focal point for community, Town Hall and church activities. Residents are well aware of these problems: church and visitor parking, pedestrian safety, access by fire equipment and inadequate drainage, which has inhibited activities and events.  We need a plan to address these challenges, just as the Town had in the 1980s.  The Town Green Study is a critical step in again confronting these issues.  It needs our support.”

For more information on the study, visit the Town of Branford web site at www.branford-ct.gov.  There you will find a copy of the latest concept plan, drafted by consultants to the Town, Clough Harbour and Associates, as well as the study design goals, design principles, facts and figures, and a summary of findings from the 2007 Town Green Study.