WEST HAVEN, Conn. — After more than a year of construction, and a much longer planning process, Beach Street in West Haven is officially back open!
“It’s been a long road, no pun intended. But, I think the end result is something we could all be really proud of,” said West Haven Mayor Dorinda Borer.
Borer has been involved in the project from the start, after securing part of its funding as a state representative. Now, as mayor, she walked alongside more than 100 residents on Friday as they celebrated the completion of the project.
“Not only was it coastal resiliency and risk reduction for our residents and our homes, but we also knew it was going to spur development,” Borer said.
The street is now 11 feet above sea level, after Tropical Storm Irene and Superstorm Sandy destroyed dozens of homes along the shoreline and eroded everything around them.
“This road was five feet under water, so 54 homes were impacted, 28 had to be demolished. We couldn’t access the water pollution control authority. They had to actually access it by a boat; the fire department had to rescue a lot of residents from their home,” Borer said. “So, FEMA came in and said, ‘You’re one superstorm away from a catastrophe.'”
Along the way, a few bumps in the road slowed down the process, including with funding, engineering, and simply consulting with the public to decide on what was best for the community.
“And then as mayor, to be able to cut the ribbon and have the community walk down the street together to celebrate something really positive for West Haven… That’s what I’m really proud of,” Borer said.
The street also now has some new safety features — like speed humps, bigger bike lanes, and the road is narrower.
“The speed humps are doing their job because I’ll say, from firsthand experience, usually this is a drag strip. We’ll have people going 50, 60, 70 miles an hour. Now, they go along at 25 miles an hour like they’re supposed to,” said Councilwoman-At-Large Meli Garthwait.
Garthwait not only represents the area within the project lines but she also lives right on the edge of what was the construction site.
“It was about maybe 10 months of shaking. It was difficult to live through,” Garthwait said.
However, despite also enduring some damage to her and her neighbor’s homes, Garthwait said the result is worth it.
“I think it’s a great, big payoff for all of us. You know, it was a little bit of a sacrifice for us neighbors to have to go through. But overall, I think it’s for the greater good,” Garthwait said.
It’s something Gary Donovan, West Haven’s 4th District councilman, said he recognizes and sympathizes with.
“The day we had the opening, a lot of residents came up to the mayor and said, ‘Mayor, I was wrong. This came out beautiful, I was worried for nothing.’ But understandably so, and as a councilperson, you understand people’s concerns,” Donovan said. “Any time you do change, it’s natural for people to be nervous and worry. But once they see the change, they’re like ‘Wow, this is really beautiful.’”
Donovan is excited about the future of the area. He feels there are several opportunities for development, especially given that there had been some growth on the street already. Brand new condominiums now sit near where the old Chick’s Drive In was, and a new restaurant and a coffee shop are likely coming to the same spot soon.
“We’re going to see progress. There’s more people wanting to move to West Haven and more businesses that want to come to West Haven than I’ve ever experienced,” Donovan said.
At the end of the day, the project ended up costing more than $10 million — with almost all of it covered by the federal government in many different forms.
But the changes in the area aren’t stopping with the street. Borer said they’ve secured more funding to revamp the pumping station near East Avenue and add public bathrooms and showers.
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Julia LeBlanc is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jleblanc@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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