Sen. Murphy Visits Site of Proposed Enfield Transit Center

Sen. Chris Murphy visited Enfield Friday afternoon to examine the area of Thompsonville that local officials are hoping will be developed into a transit center and riverfront park.

The proposed site is on North River Street, alongside the Connecticut River, on land containing an old power plant from the Connecticut Light & Power Company. The property includes a circa-1893 building which formerly housed the Westfield Casket Hardware Co.

Peter Bryanton, director of community development for the town of Enfield, briefed the senator on the history of the transit station proposal, which dates to 2005.

"What we hope to do with this project is acquire the land, remediate the presumed contamination through brownfields money and create a transit center and what we call a river access park," Bryanton said. "We see it as a linchpin to economic development and community development in Thompsonville."

Plans call for the center to be a stop along the Springfield-to-New Haven rail line.

"I want to make sure people understand how committed I am and how high a priority it is for me to get the rest of the federal funding necessary to make this project work," Murphy said. "Frankly, we need the connection to Springfield. Hartford to New Haven is important in its own right, but the holy grail here is the full connection from the south central Massachusetts market feeding into New York."

Murphy said he "loves the idea of opening up access" to the Connecticut River, praising the plans for the transit center and the river access park as "hitting the sweet spot."

Following the briefing at Town Hall, a number of town officials joined Murphy for an on-site look at the proposed site.

"We appreciate Sen. Murphy coming up and seeing what our plans our," Mayor Scott Kaupin said. "I'm sure he's committed to the project, and he'll go back to Washington and do what he can to move the process along."