Plymouth gets $500K for streetscape
PLYMOUTH — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy will present local officials with a $500,000 grant for the second phase of the Route 6 streetscape project. Malloy will speak at 11:40 a.m. at Town Hall in Terryville. The funds will support the ongoing street redevelopment project that started in 2009.
The project calls for adding granite curbing, brick pavers, new sidewalks, parking, trash receptacles, ornamental lighting, benches, landscaping, drainage and new traffic lights to beautify Route 6 from Main Street to Benedict Street, then east to Allen Street. The town undertook the first phase of the project with a $350,000 state grant. Improvements were made to sidewalk areas on the south side of Main Street, from Baldwin Park Lane to the bridge over the Pequabuck River, along with a small segment on the north side of Route 6 at the Maple Avenue intersection. Improvements to the north side of Route 6 is being done in the second phase of the project. The work will extend from Benedict Street to Maple Street and will be funded with the $500,000 grant. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Wallingford hotel project to commence in coming weeks
WALLINGFORD — With the construction of a 139-room Hilton Garden Inn on Route 68 still not underway, some councilors have questioned the status of the project. Town Councilor Bob Parisi said residents have asked him about the half-built hotel that has been an eyesore for years. Robert Winston, owner of the Raleigh, N.C.-based Winston Hospitality Inc., took ownership of the unfinished hotel at 1181 Barnes Road in early 2013. Winston represented that the project could quickly start once the town approved a special tax agreement.
In April, the council reached a compromise with Winston, who agreed to pay $818,000 in the seven years after the hotel is completed. The hotel must be certified for occupation by Oct. 1, 2016, or the agreement will be terminated. Parisi asked for an update on the project at Tuesday’s council meeting. Jay Davies, managing director of Winston Hospitality, sent an email to councilors assuring them that construction should begin in the coming weeks and months. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Old Lyme officials outline plans, costs to connect beach communities to sewers
Old Lyme - The Sound View Beach neighborhood one day likely will feature a bike lane, picnic area, permanent restrooms and an accompanying sewage connection. Town officials said Wednesday they are aiming to coordinate the Sound View revitalization project with a plan to connect certain beach communities to a regional sewage system. They spoke at a Lyme-Old Lyme Chamber of Commerce business breakfast at the Shoreline Community Center that was attended by more than 20 business owners, political candidates and town and beach association representatives.
The Sound View improvement project calls for a bike path to run from Hartford Avenue, along Route 156, up to the Raymond E. Baldwin Bridge. A picnic area with permanent restrooms and parking spaces would replace the town-owned parking lot near the beach. First Selectwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder likened Sound View, an area developed in 1892 with a public beach, to the town's "South Main Street." She said the revitalization project would attract more walkers and bicyclists to the neighborhood, which is known for having limited parking, thereby freeing up parking spaces while boosting foot traffic to local businesses. "We also want people to be aware of the gem that we have at the end of the road - our beach - which is really just lovely, and we want our residents to use it as much as day-trippers and people from other communities," Reemsnyder added. A federal transportation grant that the town has secured will fund 80 percent of the project's total cost. This spring, residents approved spending up to $148,500 for the design phase; costs for the construction phase will be presented to residents in the future for separate approval. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Pedestrian-friendly project will temporarily close busy New Haven intersection
NEW HAVEN >> The pedestrian-friendly changes coming to the intersection of Whitney Avenue and Audubon Street are being welcomed, even if they come with a bit of chaos during construction next week. The normally busy intersection will be closed from 7 a.m. Monday to 4 p.m. Friday as crews begin about $320,000 worth of construction to revitalize the intersection. “I’ve been here for a long time and I am so surprised we have not had a serious accident at that intersection,” said Susan Smith, executive director of the Creative Arts Workshop at 90 Audubon St. Smith said cars often come “roaring” down Audubon Street, home to the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, the Educational Center for the Arts and other schools that serve numerous young people. While Smith is excited about the upcoming changes, she is one of several business owners in the area who will be inconvenienced by next week’s construction. The Creative Arts Workshop, which runs year-long programming, serves children as young as 4 years old. “A lot of parents, especially with the little kids, like to walk their kid in,” she said. City Transportation, Traffic and Parking Department Director Doug Hausladen visited several shops and organizations along Audubon Street Thursday to gauge the needs of local businesses for next week. With the Neighborhood Music School, the New Haven Ballet and the Creative Arts Workshop all running summer programs, crossing guards surfaced as a must. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Traffic smooth and steady after exit closure
NEW HAVEN >> Traffic Thursday morning was “smooth and steady” after the permanent closure of Exit 2 on Route 34, which had brought vehicles up College Street. Doug Hausladen, the city’s director of transportation, said he measured how far the backups were happening and it was nowhere near the congestion he saw Wednesday morning. “At Church Street, the entire time that I watched from 7 to 9 a.m. [Thursday], it only took one light cycle to get every car through in the queue,” he said. “This is a huge improvement from yesterday when the backups were going all the way to the train tracks.” The closing forces all cars and trucks leaving Interstate 95 for Route 34 onto city streets almost immediately. All traffic will now get off at Exit 1 and either go straight on Martin Luther King Boulevard toward Church Street or turn right onto Orange Street. There will be no highway after Orange Street to separate motor traffic from foot traffic. If people aren’t going straight on Martin Luther King Boulevard, they can no longer take the 180-degree turn, or hairpin turn. They can do only a 90-degree right. The “hairpin turn” — what people used to use to go to Union Avenue, heading toward the train station, the Police Department or the city school offices — has also been closed. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Highway bill dashes hope for long term unemployed
Washington – The overwhelming approval this week of a House bill that would temporarily replenish a federal road-building fund has faded hopes Congress will come to the aid of the long-term unemployed in Connecticut, and elsewhere across the nation. That’s because the nearly $11 billion bill, which would fund the Highway Trust Fund until May, would tap money from accounts liberal Democrats had eyed to pay for an extension of unemployment benefits for those who had exhausted their state benefits, usually provided for about 26 weeks. To replenish the fund that pays for a lion’s share of road construction in Connecticut and other states, the House voted to raise $6.4 billion from pension "smoothing," which temporarily reduces pension contribution requirements and increases a company’s taxable income to raise revenue for the government. Another $3.5 billion would come from extending customs fees and the bill would transfer $1 billion from a Department of Transportation account that pays for underground storage tank cleanup. About two weeks ago, Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., introduced a bill that would use “pension smoothing” and an extension of custom fees until 2024 to pay for six months of federal unemployment benefits for those who exhaust state benefits. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE