Seymour Road Project Could Clear Way for 200-Acre, Quarry Walk-Like Development

June 27, 2023 - by Donald Eng, Staff Writer - CT Post - SEYMOUR - A plan to develop more than 200 acres got closer to realty with the recent announcement of $3 million in federal community project funding.

But U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said the money to build an access road connecting two Valley towns is about so much more than pavement. It's about access to a better life.

"Every day there's an article in the paper about the housing crisis affecting families," DeLauro, who represents the 3rd District, said at a press conference inside Seymour Town Hall Tuesday. 

The planned two-mile road connecting Route 67 in Seymour and Route 42 in Beacon Falls, DeLauro said, would open up access to a future development similar to the nearby Quarry Walk in Oxford, which was built on the site of the former Haynes Stone Quarry, and includes a mix of retail, light industrial and residential use.

Tom Haynes, whose company Haynes Construction built Quarry Walk, called the planned 220-acre development on the Seymour, Beacon Falls line a blank canvas where the company could apply the lessons learned at Quarry Walk.

"That project was 30 acres," Haynes said. Construction involved creating a separate company with 300 employees, he said. Since completion, the site now includes retail, restaurants, housing, offices and a 30,000-square-foot medical building.

"That project now has over 2,000 jobs, the majority of which didn't exist before," he said.

The 220-acre site would also have the additional advantages of a location along the Naugatuck River with access to the Waterbury rail line.

Construction along the rail line makes economic sense, said Rick Dunne, executive director of the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments.

"The least expensive, most efficient way to move people is by rail," he said. "We need to build affordability around transportation."

Haynes said he envisioned a mix of market-rate housing and other more affordable options, dubbed "workforce" housing.

"We intend to have a lot of housing that anyone would want to live in, and mixed in with an entire community," he said.

In addition to affordable housing, David Morgan, CEO of  Valley-based TEAM Inc., said transportation options, such as a rail line, within walking distance would be an added boost by reducing commuting cost. Workers could either live near their workplace or use the train to commute.

The bottom line though, is an increase in housing options, he said.

"All roads lead to housing," he said. "We need to address housing if we're truly going to have an economic boom."

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