As baby boomers age, they consider their housing options.
But many have a more pressing problem -- helping their parents find safe, convenient homes where they can feel comfortable as they perhaps face the challenges of aging.
Developers are building assisted-living complexes and related facilities throughout Fairfield County to meet these needs. Among them is Maplewood Senior Living, a Westport-based developer of senior independent living facilities which has constructed sites in Danbury, Darien, East Norwalk, Newtown and Orange, and is now building Maplewood at Stony Hill in Bethel. "Bethel is a purpose-built, memory-care community," said Gregory Smith, chairman and CEO of Maplewood Senior Living. "It will have a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day a week licensed CNA (certified nursing assistant)." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
DOT officials sign bulk of CTFastrak contracts
NEW BRITAIN — According to state Department of Transportation officials, most of the New Britain-to-Hartford busway contracts have been signed, with less than a year left before the project’s expected completion. A majority of contractors, subcontractors and workers on the CTfastrak project are Connecticut-based.
Ken Fargoli, senior construction engineer for CTfastrak, said only two contracts have yet to be awarded — for the ticket vending machines at CTfastrak stations and for development of a new fare collection system. In addition, the Flower Street project and a potential wrap-up project are in the developmental stage and, as such, have not made it to our projects in design and have not made it onto our construction schedule,” said John Dunham, assistant district engineer. One of the first projects completed was the Broad Street Bridge in New Britain. Manafort Brothers of Plainville was the general contractor. The original contract value was $9.6 million. The contract for the New Britain station went to Manafort for $26.7 million. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
City's final riverfront redevelopment report to be given tonight
MIDDLETOWN >> The Riverfront Redevelopment Commission is poised to recommend immediate refurbishment of Harbor Park, as well as a land purchase, a partnership with the Canoe Club, the construction of a new boathouse and the creation of a Riverfront Improvement Authority and Friends of the River group. The commission will review its final report at its regular meeting Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Common Council Chamber at City Hall. Based largely on recommendations from private consultants Projects for Public Spaces and a public survey of city residents, the commission has compiled a three-year action plan comprising 20 specific recommendations. Based on the final report, “The pedestrian tunnel will remain a major gateway and access point to the riverfront for the foreseeable future,” but Harbor Park would also expand into an influx for boat drivers headed for downtown. In the short term the commission recommended lightweight additions – Adirondack chairs, picnic tables – and the city would keep what works and discard what does not. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Chesire plans to replace bridge
CHESHIRE — The town intends to replace the East Johnson Avenue bridge in 2016, following planned replacements of the bridges on Blacks and Creamery roads this summer and in 2015.
The 94 feet long bridge, which was built in 1969, crosses over the Quinnipiac River slightly west of Cheshire Street. David P. Artz, senior project manager for Cardinal Engineering Associates, the project’s lead engineer, said the bridge is “susceptible to instability failure.” He also cited other problems associated with it, including leaking, guard rails that aren’t up to standard and bridge supports that are “quite a problem.” “At some point it becomes a safety issue,” said Town Engineer Walter Gancarz. The new bridge will cost $2.2 million, 80 percent of which will be funded by a grant from the federal Local Bridge Program. Cheshire would cover the remainder of the cost for the project, which voters will have to approve in a 2015 referendum. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
A pair of new site proposals for a future Norwich police headquarters were reviewed Wednesday by a City Council subcommittee. After hearing the presentations to build a police station either on North Thames Street next to the city’s fire headquarters or on Main Street in the vacant YMCA building, the Public Safety Subcommittee voted to ask the council to have an existing Police Station Committee study the two proposals more closely. The committee already has recommended building the police station on the city-owned site of the former Buckingham School on Cedar Street.
That project calls for a 51,000-square-foot facility with 190 parking spaces at a cost of about $19.2 million. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
That project calls for a 51,000-square-foot facility with 190 parking spaces at a cost of about $19.2 million. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
WATERBURY — Noise barriers will be installed to muffle the sound of construction along Interstate 84 for the upcoming widening project, Department of Transportation officials said Wednesday during a public information meeting at Crosby High School.
The change is due to new Federal Highway Administration regulations that require noise barriers for projects where the construction sound level exceeds 67 decibels.
The DOT is notifying the owners of billboards if their signs will likely be obstructed. Because the city has banned the installation of billboards, existing billboards are considered a nonconforming use under the city's zoning regulations.
Billboards that are modified to maintain their visibility will require a special exception from the Zoning Board of Appeals and, in some cases, a height variance.
The I-84 project is expected to begin in spring 2015 and will be finished in five years. The DOT will receive bids from contractors this summer. Construction is expected to cost between $400 million and $450 million.The highway will be widened to three continuous lanes in both directions, from Washington Street(west of Exit 23) to Pierpont Road (west of Exit 25A).
The project is meant to reduce traffic congestion, straighten an S-curve near Harpers Ferry Road and eliminate a weave section, where traffic enters the highway too close to an exit.
"There is chronic congestion and at long last it's going to get fixed," said Joseph Sweeney, an attorney in Hartford who drives on I-84 to get to courts in Waterbury and Danbury. "It's not a glamorous project, but it's got to get done."To remove the weave section, Plank Road, which is currently an on-ramp to I-84 westbound, will connect to Plank Road East. The on-ramp will be eliminated. Also, the westbound off-ramp to Harpers Ferry Road will be removed.
On the north side of I-84, a new road, called Plank Road East, will be constructed between Scott Road and Harpers Ferry Road. Also, about a third of a mile of Reidville Drive will be moved south of its current location to accommodate the S-curve realignment.No businesses on Plank Road or Reidville Drive will be displaced.There will be three detours at different points of construction, DOT officials said. At times, the highway may need to be shut down for 10 to 15 minute periods
The DOT and its contractors will work to minimize the disruption to traffic."If it's something that's really going to have an impact on traffic, we're going to have them working 24 hours a day until the project is complete," said Jim Hunt, a consulting engineer for the DOT who works for Amman and Whitney.State Rep. Selim Noujaim, R-74th District, asked about the left turn from Scott Road to Reidville Drive and whether it would be improved. The answer was yes, but congestion might not be completely eliminated.Alderman Lawrence V. De Pillo asked if the off-ramp at Exit 25 eastbound, which will be reconfigured, could have two lanes instead of the proposed one lane. A DOT engineer told him that any change to the design would delay the project another two years.
The change is due to new Federal Highway Administration regulations that require noise barriers for projects where the construction sound level exceeds 67 decibels.
The DOT is notifying the owners of billboards if their signs will likely be obstructed. Because the city has banned the installation of billboards, existing billboards are considered a nonconforming use under the city's zoning regulations.
Billboards that are modified to maintain their visibility will require a special exception from the Zoning Board of Appeals and, in some cases, a height variance.
The I-84 project is expected to begin in spring 2015 and will be finished in five years. The DOT will receive bids from contractors this summer. Construction is expected to cost between $400 million and $450 million.The highway will be widened to three continuous lanes in both directions, from Washington Street(west of Exit 23) to Pierpont Road (west of Exit 25A).
The project is meant to reduce traffic congestion, straighten an S-curve near Harpers Ferry Road and eliminate a weave section, where traffic enters the highway too close to an exit.
"There is chronic congestion and at long last it's going to get fixed," said Joseph Sweeney, an attorney in Hartford who drives on I-84 to get to courts in Waterbury and Danbury. "It's not a glamorous project, but it's got to get done."To remove the weave section, Plank Road, which is currently an on-ramp to I-84 westbound, will connect to Plank Road East. The on-ramp will be eliminated. Also, the westbound off-ramp to Harpers Ferry Road will be removed.
On the north side of I-84, a new road, called Plank Road East, will be constructed between Scott Road and Harpers Ferry Road. Also, about a third of a mile of Reidville Drive will be moved south of its current location to accommodate the S-curve realignment.No businesses on Plank Road or Reidville Drive will be displaced.There will be three detours at different points of construction, DOT officials said. At times, the highway may need to be shut down for 10 to 15 minute periods
The DOT and its contractors will work to minimize the disruption to traffic."If it's something that's really going to have an impact on traffic, we're going to have them working 24 hours a day until the project is complete," said Jim Hunt, a consulting engineer for the DOT who works for Amman and Whitney.State Rep. Selim Noujaim, R-74th District, asked about the left turn from Scott Road to Reidville Drive and whether it would be improved. The answer was yes, but congestion might not be completely eliminated.Alderman Lawrence V. De Pillo asked if the off-ramp at Exit 25 eastbound, which will be reconfigured, could have two lanes instead of the proposed one lane. A DOT engineer told him that any change to the design would delay the project another two years.
WATERBURY — The high cost of dealing with the unstable soils at Municipal Stadium has forced the city to put its grandstand renovations on hold until at least September. The escalating costs and the dramatic change in scope of work prompted the city to put the remaining construction at its century-old athletic facility on Watertown Avenue back out to bid. Mayor Neil M. O'Leary isn't saying exactly how far over the initial $4 million budget this final phase of the renovations has gone. He is wary of influencing the city's second bid attempt, he said. But in March, the city development arm, Waterbury Development Corp., was ready to move ahead with the project when it thought that the soil problems would mean a $2 million overrun. When it first embarked on its final phase of the estimated seven-year, $6.7 million renovation, the city expected all the work done and the stadium ready for public use again by this July 4. But Independence Day will come and go, as will Labor Day, too, before the city can award the remaining work to a general contractor for completion, O'Leary said during a stadium tour Tuesday. The WDC had been waiting to hear from the project's contractor, Banton Construction Co., about how much it estimated it would cost to tackle the extra work brought on by the poor soil conditions. Silty soil shifting under the foundation had caused cracks in both the facade and the interior walls, forcing the city to yank the concrete slab flooring, cart off the unstable soil and raze the interior walls. Banton had been negotiating with its subcontractors to come up with a new price. But the city's purchasing director said the increase in cost and scope of work required new bids, O'Leary said.
That means Banton will have to fight if it wants to keep the job.
That means Banton will have to fight if it wants to keep the job.