Stina Sternberg Snow lives on Hillandale Road, not far from the Sherwood Island Connector.
Which means: not far from the clear-cutting done by the state Department of Transportation, as part of construction of a new building at their maintenance facility behind Walgreens.
Stina and her husband Matt have been in touch with the DOT. Here’s their report after a conversation with project engineer Matt Easdon.
One view of the clear-cutting at the state DOT maintenance facility (Sherwood Island Connector is on the left) …
Stina reports: “It’s clear from the way Easdon (and Scott Adkins, the District 3 engineer to whom the baton will now be passed as the project moves to the construction phase) have responded to us that they’re open to input.”
“Just the e-mails and calls they’ve received over the last 3 days have resulted in orders for new design changes to be added to the plans. It’s clear they hadn’t thought of repopulating trees before.”
Stina says she and her neighbors have learned that the construction phase of the new DOT maintenance facility — “essentially a garage for the state’s snow plows and maintenance trucks — the same function this property has held for 60+ years” — will start this summer, and last until the spring of 2027.
The number of trucks housed there now will not increase, but the new main building will be 3 times larger than the current one. It will include offices, and sit closer to the Sherwood Island Connector.
Stina also says that DOT has been told by the town that the east side of the lot (near West Parish Road) is “hands off for now,” because of the possibility of building affordable housing there.
Stina also says that the DOT originally looked for other parts of Westport for new facility — to not disrupt a residential area — but no land was available.
… and another, from Hillandale Lane. (Photos/Matt Snow)
Easdon told Stina that all the trees and brush along the connector and Hillandale Road were removed now — though construction is months away — and done quickly to avoid disrupting wildlife nesting season. That was recommended by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which has been consulted on the project.
Stina adds, “They claim to be very open to collaborating with town residents to help make the new facility as undisruptive as possible, and to listen our input when it comes to the tree situation.
“It’s obviously too late for the latter, but because we’ve reached out with our complaints over the last few days, Easdon’s team has already asked the agronomy side of their planning team to work on adding new trees (probably arbor vitae) along the Hillandale Road and Sherwood Island Connector sides to the plans.
An “official” pre-construction meeting, with everyone involved in the project, is set for New Haven next Wednesday (April 16).
The meeting is not open to the public, but Easdon told Stina “they will add a discussion about the community pushback and planting new trees. He will hopefully have drawings to share with us of what the whole project will look like” a few days later.
Stina passes along these emails —
- matthew.easdon@ct.gov
- Scott.Adkins@ct.gov
and a link to a petition to restore the trees.
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