The City of Bridgeport and the Greater Bridgeport Regional Council are partners in the New York-Connecticut Sustainable Communities Consortium, a stakeholder group comprised of city, county, and regional representatives that received a 2010 HUD Regional Planning Grant through the Regional Plan Association (RPA).
As part of the grant, the Consortium hired a consultant team lead by VHB to study the feasibility of opening Barnum Station, a proposed commuter rail station in East Bridgeport. The VHB team was charged with determining whether construction and operation of a second commuter rail station is physically and operationally possible and compatible with existing Metro-North Railroad and Amtrak service and assessing the redevelopment opportunities on adjacent parcels.
VHB conducted land use, environmental, market, preliminary design, and rail ridership and operations analysis that determined that it is feasible to construct and operate a new Barnum Station. Further, the Study shows that the station has the potential to be a catalyst for redevelopment and revitalization in East Bridgeport, including creating jobs and providing a range of additional housing options close to transit.
The Barnum Station Feasibility Study was formally adopted by the New York-Connecticut Sustainable Communities Consortium on June 26. It is the first of 16 projects completed by the Consortium and was recognized by the RPA as being a "model for final deliverables of other projects." The Study was featured by EPA in their recently released "Partnership for Sustainable Communities" brochure and is highlighted on the White House's webpage at www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/06/18/partnership-sustainable-communities-marks-4th-anniversary-web-streaming-twitter-town.