Mariner's Way

The Mariner's Way Plan

Recognizing the significant economic development potential of the eastern section of Route 1 from Old Saybrook Town Center to Ferry Point, the Town of Old Saybrook began a series of steps to revitalize the area and put vacant and underutilized properties back into productive use.  In 2012, the Board of Selectmen tasked the Mariner's Way Committee with studying this area and developing a revitalization plan.  The Mariner's Way Plan to create a gateway to Connecticut River Recreation was presented to the Planning Commission in 2014 and accepted as a section of the Town Plan of Conservation and Development.  View the Plan.


Click on the image to watch the video and see the potential.

Mariner's Way TIF District Master Plan

The Mariner’s Way TIF District was approved at a Town Meeting January 22, 1019 as a means to encourage the development goals and action items contained in the Mariner’s Way Plan, adopted by the Town in 2014, and the Discovery + Action Plan, funded through a State of Connecticut Browfields Area-wide Revitalization grant, completed in December 2017. The TIF District.  View the Plan.

Mariner's Way Brownfields Assessment

Nine former industrial properties centrally located along Mariner's Way, all vacant and deteriorating, overwhelmed the Mariner's Way corridor with their lack of vitality and blighted appearance. The properties had documented environmental contamination or suspected contamination due to their use for machining and other industrial purposes. Commercial and residential neighbors of the 18 acre site, as well as the Old Saybrook community at large, had long voiced concerns about the unknown and possibly harmful effect on their own welfare. These properties dragged down the value and interest in other Mariner's Way properties with spill-over effects for adjoining neighborhoods at either end of the corridor. To set rumors to rest and spur redevelopment of these properties, the Town applied for, and received, a Brownfields Assessment grant for $155,000 from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) to investigate the existence and extent of contamination on these sites.  The project began in June 2015 and concluded in November 2017 resulting in Phase I, II, III and Hazardous Building Materials Assessments along with an Opinion of Probable Cost for the environmental clean up.  View the Reports.

Discovery + Action Plan

Old Saybrook received a $200,000 Brownfields Area Redevelopment (BAR) Grant grant from DECD to further study and refine the concepts of the 2014 Mariner's Way Plan. Extensive outreach to residents, property owners, businesses, and the community at large was integral to the process as was a market feasibility study to ensure the plan proposed redevelopment concepts that fit with economic and demographic realities. The final result reveals several redevelopment concepts for the corridor and streetscape with potential to be realized. The project began in September 2016 and concluded in December 2017.  View the Study.