Main Street Streetscape Program 'Will Move Forward Cautiously'

Some angry, some confused, business owners along Main Street in Berlin stood up before the Berlin Economic Development Commission earlier this week and expressed frustrations about potentially losing business due to one-way roads.

Not to worry, your concerns are being heard.

“We want to assure people this is still very early in the process and that’s why we host these public information sessions,” said Economic Development Directors Jim Mahoney. “We will proceed slowly and cautiously with any change proposed. Nothing right now is cast in stone.”


The streetscape improvements, part of a $259,000 grant from the state designed to enhance the downtown area and make the section more pedestrian friendly, should be used to help the existing businesses and attract new businesses to the area, Mahoney said. No change will be made if it doesn’t do so.

The issue expressed by several business owners, however, is that turning the section of Main Street extending from Farmington Avenue to Kensington Road a one-way street would reduce traffic and stifle business.

“Customers come from every direction," said Enzo D'Gasperas, owner of Star Barber Shop.

The streetscape is part of an effort to work alongside the changes coming to the train depot, which will soon serve as a destination point along a high-speed rail from New Haven to Springfield, Mahoney said, and all changes to come will be considered carefully.

“We are still very much in an exploratory stage,” he said.  “We will be considering all feedback and working with residents and business owners to make sure it benefits everyone involved.”

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