Busway calls for Flower Street closure

NEWINGTON, Conn. (WTNH) -- Residents in one Hartford neighborhood say sacrificing a street to the Hartford-New Britain Busway is going too far.

"I think it's a waste of money, in my opinion," said Eric Barreira, a Dunkin' Donuts shop owner. "I'm not going to take the bus, and I'm pretty sure 95 percent of the people that are here are not going to take that bus."

On Thursday, some of the people concerned about the project, specifically about the planned closure of Flower Street in Hartford to make way for the busway connecting the Capital City to New Britain, spoke out at a public hearing.

"I would probably lose about 30-to-50 percent of my business," said Don Mancini, the owner of the Red Rock Tavern.

The City of Hartford, along with business owners and neighborhood representatives, were among those who attended the public hearing at D.O.T. headquarters in Newington.

"Closing Flower Street and reconstructing Broad Street at the same time is just going to be a disaster," said Jennifer Cassidy, from the Asylum Hill Neighborhood Association.

"Probably 30 percent of our business is coming through Flower Street," Barreira said. "If it happens to close down we'll probably have to sell the business."

One sore point is that the traffic studies supporting the project were done back in 2008. Those concerned say a lot has passed under the bridge since then.

"Aetna's moved in to the neighborhood, Dunkin' Donuts, which a lot of people go to," Mancini said.

Though it's not clear what the ultimate resolution will be, even if the project proceeds as planned, Flower Street would remain open at least until November first.

"I'm hoping that they're going to put some type of access, some bridge over it, or put the buses in a tunnel underneath," Mancini said. "If they want to be a big city, that's what big cities do."