Editor’s note: In the latest in a series of stories about longstading traffic and parking problems in downtown Mystic, we begin to explore possible solutions in Stonington. In the next installment, we will explore possible solutions in Groton.

Mystic — Suzanne Moore, a realtor at SRM Realty in Mystic, developed a concept in the 1990s for transportation centers throughout the region, including Mystic, that would connect different sites across southeastern Connecticut with multiple modes of transportation.

Moore believed an intermodal system would benefit businesses, make it easier for tourists to get around and help alleviate traffic problems that were emerging even then.

As part of her research, she drove an electric bus in Chattanooga, Tenn., and visited a visitor center and parking garages in Charleston, S.C., that had won architectural awards. In Mystic, she envisioned a transportation center near Interstate 95 with a parking garage and visitor center, where people could connect to a water ferry on the Mystic River or a shuttle down Route 27.

Moore said the idea would have required many pieces to come together, but it eventually faded as some people questioned whether it was needed and the proposal faced other obstacles. She had envisioned the former Ramada Inn property and a vacant parcel behind it with riverfront access as a potential site, but learned the vacant property was then zoned as a restrictive Greenbelt 130 residential zone.

Today, she said Mystic still needs to address its parking and traffic issues, but any solution should be a well-thought-out concept that connects to other destinations and involves more than parking. It should provide a place where people can safely leave their cars and take a water taxi or trolley to their destination and back in a timely fashion.

“So, I think it could work but it’s going to take an awful lot of coordination and a lot of cooperation between different entities to make it happen, but it will alleviate much of the issues of traffic that backs up,” she said.

Is a transportation center a solution?

Proponents say a transportation center could ease parking problems and traffic congestion, but questions remain about logistics and funding. Others have raised concerns about the cost and whether such a facility would just draw even more people and congestion to the area.

State Sen. Heather Somers, R- 18th District, said there have been multiple bills aimed at addressing parking issues in Mystic, including requests for bonding to alleviate parking problems and a study of the feasibility of an intermodal transportation center. She said the concept has been examined “probably ad nauseum” through task forces, including one that has been meeting recently.

“The issue that I think that we have is the administration’s willingness to invest in eastern Connecticut,” said Somers, who also submits bills each session to increase Shore Line East rail service on weekends between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Somers said the idea for an intermodal transportation center grew from the possibility of using a property near Interstate 95 where visitors could park and then travel to tourist destinations in Mystic and throughout the region by water taxi, bus or other forms of transportation. Potential destinations could include Avery Point, the Submarine Force Museum, the casinos and Essex.

Somers said it is too early to disclose any specific sites. She said zoning restrictions would have to be discussed with the towns and that the facility would not necessarily have to be a parking garage; it could instead be a large parking area.

She said parking garages are very expensive at about $30,000 per space to build. She said the governor’s office is concerned about investing in an expensive parking garage unless it can be adapted to accommodate how people are likely to travel in the future.

“My response is that sounds great for long-term planning, but in the short term, we need to find a solution, so that’s something that we will continue to work on,” she said.

Cathryn Vaulman, director of communications for the Office of Gov. Ned Lamont, said in a statement:

“The traffic and parking issues in Mystic reflect its growth as a desirable tourist destination and bustling business district,” she said. “However, with this growth comes important infrastructure considerations.”

Vaulman said the governor’s office has not yet had the opportunity to review a specific proposal but “the Governor’s goal is to balance tourism in Mystic with maintaining the charm of the community.”

State Rep. Aundré Bumgardner, D- Groton, said that if the market were driving the need for a parking lot, he thinks the area would have seen one by now.

“But I haven’t seen any individual or any developer propose a parking garage as a serious proposal,” he said.

Bumgardner said the historic village of Mystic was not designed for cars. While people now live in a world with cars, he doesn’t want to see Mystic become car-centric. He said the resurgence and growth of Mystic have been largely driven by people walking around, visiting stores and enjoying restaurants.

“That walkability is really central to the success of the village,” he said, “and so, I think if anything else, we need to prioritize really targeted investments in bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.”

Bumgardner said he thinks state subsidies for a parking garage, which would also have ongoing maintenance costs, would be a waste of taxpayer dollars given the need to support other critical projects, schools and child care.

“There’s a finite amount of resources at the state to support a lot of important projects here,” he said. He thinks time is much better spent identifying more realistic and cost-effective solutions and noted a recent $141,791 grant for wayfinding signage for a greenway running from Old Mystic across Groton and north to the Naval Submarine Base.

Bumgardner said the state also provided funding for design and engineering work for a potential boat launch for a water taxi on the south side of I-95, which he said could be a great collaboration between the state and the Town of Stonington.

Privately owned sites discussed

Bruce Flax, president and CEO of the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce, said the Mystic River Hotel & Suites at 9 Whitehall Ave., which is still operating, has been discussed as a potential location for a transportation center because of its proximity to Interstate 95.

According to town of Stonington and state records, PMSM SAMP LLC of North Stonington, under principals Yogesh and Renuka Y. Patel, owns the 5.3-acre parcel, which includes a two-story brick hotel structure built in 1973. The property was once the Best Western Sovereign Hotel and the Ramada Inn mentioned by Moore.

The owner was not available when a reporter stopped by the hotel and did not respond to a request for comment by email.

The property is next to 6.5 acres of vacant land owned by Timothy S. Owens of Avon, who could not be reached for comment. The vacant parcel borders the Mystic River.

Both properties are in the Tourist Commercial (TC-80) zone.

Flax said a modern transportation center with a visitor center, parking and access to a water taxi and tram or trolley could be a solution, but he does not think it would be needed year-round. He said it likely would be needed only during the summer, some spring and fall weekends, and major events such as the Lighted Boat Parade.

“I think that a transportation center would be great there, but I still stand on the fact that there’s not as big of a parking problem, as people want to talk about it,” Flax said.

He said officials could potentially obtain state or federal money to help build the facility, but it would need a revenue generator to remain financially viable. A Mystic historical museum or another attraction, he said, could help sustain it year-round.

He said the logistics, including whether the facility would be publicly or privately operated, would also have to be worked out.

Rich Freitas, a lifelong Mystic resident and musician, said he finds the worst traffic congestion to be on Route 27, so he likes the idea of concentrating parking at a transportation center on the hotel property without creating a visual impact for nearby residents and businesses.

Freitas wrote a Letter to the Editor of The Day about his idea to convert part of the building, including restaurant space and a pool, into a parking garage while leaving some hotel rooms to generate revenue for the property.

He said people could leave their cars there for their entire stay in Mystic, making the village’s walkability and the experience of a potential water taxi — which he envisions running from the center to Noank — part of their vacation.

Mystic Seaport Museum garage?

Shannon McKenzie, vice president for watercraft operations and preservation at Mystic Seaport Museum, said a potential parking garage at one of the seaport’s parking lots is “in the exploratory phase right now.”

“We recognize that we have our own parking challenges as does the town of Mystic,” she said. “And if we can be part of the solution for that, while also alleviating our own parking challenges between our own visitors as well as the (Delamar) hotel and the use of the boathouse park, we are definitely exploring that option.”

If the idea moves forward, the museum would look for a partner that could potentially lease the land and fund and operate the parking garage through a partnership, McKenzie said.

She said the Seaport is also interested in a water taxi, but that concept is in its early stages and would require a public-private partnership.

“I think it needs to be a both private and public partnership throughout the community to identify locations that could be utilized as well as different operators for shuttles,” she said, whether they’re water shuttles or bus shuttles, and potential funding sources for them.

McKenzie said the Seaport has been working with Stonington and, to a lesser extent, Groton over the past few years on the broader issues of transportation and parking, as well as shuttle services.

She pointed out that the Seaport has a number of boats as well as the operational expertise for water shuttles. The museum leases a dock downtown and has docks on its own property, and it is working with other private landowners on potential dock locations closer to I-95.

A LAZ bus shuttle that previously ran from the Seaport’s parking lot was discontinued because revenue from paid parking in the lot was not enough to offset the cost, according to the seaport.

“More broadly, one of the biggest challenges in solving Mystic’s parking and traffic issues seems to be funding,” the Seaport said in a statement. “Public transportation, whether a land-based shuttle or water taxi, from an off-site parking location to downtown could certainly be part of the solution, but someone — potentially the state or another public entity — would need to underwrite the service. Visitors generally aren’t willing to pay an additional fee for a shuttle, which makes it difficult for the service to be self-sustaining.”

Ideas on the table

Groton Town Manager John Burt said that if an appropriate location outside of downtown could be found, a parking garage could work with shuttles. He said people are unlikely to wait very long for a shuttle, so parking would have to be relatively close or there would need to be multiple shuttles.

He said potential advantages of a parking garage include adding parking spaces, reducing the time drivers spend looking for parking and therefore reducing congestion, and allowing future development in a walkable village style without requiring parking at individual sites.

Potential drawbacks, he said, include attracting more drivers because of the availability of additional parking, the high cost per parking space and the lack of incentive to use a garage when free on-street parking is available or parking restrictions on side streets are limited to residents only in certain areas.

Stonington First Selectman Bill Middleton said he thinks it is a great idea to get people out of their cars and then move them around the area, but the key questions are where a potential transportation center would be located and who would operate it. He said a shuttle down Route 27 and a water taxi would both require staffing, including someone with a captain’s license to operate the water taxi.

© 2026 The Day (New London, Conn.). Visit www.theday.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.