Stamford rail center to include direct access parking

After months of public outrage that commuter parking at the Stamford Transportation Center could be moved farther away to make room for a mixed-use development project, Stamford rail commuters may now rest easier.

Development plans for the Stamford Transportation Center will officially include 300 additional parking spots within three  garages with direct access to train platforms.

“(It) will be no farther than it is today and it could be shorter,” Department of Transportation Commissioner James P. Redeker told commuters at a July 11 press conference.

The station is the second busiest along the Metro-North train line to Grand Central Station in Manhattan, and is expected to help contribute to Stamford’s profile as an emerging world-class city.

Stamford Manhattan Development Ventures L.L.C. (SMDV) has been chosen to develop the project, which will eventually replace the oldest parking garage at the station with a mix of commercial, residential and retail spaces, as well as a hotel.

There will be no temporary parking spaces and there will be no overlapping parking between spaces for commuters and retail visitors.

Construction will begin in spring 2014 and is expected to last three years. Redeker said the old parking, built in the 1980s, would be demolished only once the replacement parking spaces were complete.

The state of Connecticut will contribute $35 million in bonds for the parking garages and the rest of the estimated $500 million project will be paid for by private investors.