Paving delays frustrates residents of Tankwood Road in Wallingford
WALLINGFORD — Finishing the reconstruction of Tankwood Road in Wallingford will have to wait until spring due to frost and the seasonal closing of an asphalt supplier — much to the dismay of residents unhappy with the road’s condition. The road is littered with potholes, ridges and rough patches. The sides of the street are lined with loose processed stone, which some residents worry will end up on lawns and driveways. Public Works Director Henry McCully said the project consisted of stripping the road, replacing drainage systems and repaving. The road has already been stripped and the drains replaced, but repaving will be delayed. McCully said the project took longer than expected because of unanticipated work discovered only when crews began digging. “We had some unexpected repairs to do,” McCully said. “The sort of thing you run into once you start the project.”
Tankwood Road is located north of Route 68, off North Farms Road. Ken Cooley’s house is directly in front of a rough ridge in the street. He says he often hears drivers bottom out when they hit the ridge. “I wish they would finish it,” Cooley said. “It would make it a lot easier driving down this road.” Cooley said he is worried plows could strike the raised edges of recently installed storm drains. “They should have put in curbing,” he said. “It’s going to be an interesting winter.”
Down the street Gaetano Russo said he was in disbelief when he received a letter from the town informing him paving would be delayed. “I am incredibly unhappy that they’re not going to finish this road,” Russo said. “This is ridiculous.” He said a town worker told him the road had been on the repair list for over 15 years. Roadwork has been going on in front of his house since the summer.
“Now we’re expected to wait another six months? The conditions are going to be so much worse,” Russo said. Russo says he takes pride in his lawn and worries the processed stone lining the road will be pushed onto his driveway and lawn once it snows and plows roll through. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
MERIDEN — The new wing at Maloney High School is expected to be open by early next week, according to school officials. Project manager Marcus Brennan, of the Glastonbury-based Gilbane Building Co., told members of the School Building Committee this week that the targeted move-in date for the three-story wing is Nov. 18. Brennan cautioned the plan is contingent upon the wing passing numerous inspections and various systems being put on-line. The crescent-shaped wing on the north side of the high school contains 93,000 square feet of classroom space. The wing is connected to the original school by temporary walkways which won’t be finalized until close to the end of the four-year project. Brennan said some of the inspections had already taken place, including testing of the emergency lighting and fire alarms. Both went off “without any major issues,” he said.
The classrooms in the new wing are also largely complete, with only final waxing and cleaning to do before they’re move-in ready, Brennan said. The major sticking point, however, is getting intercom, internet, and phone systems up and running throughout the building, said Glen Lamontagne, a consultant for the committee. “Just like at Platt (High School), we’re going to push, and I think by the end of the month, it’s possible,” he said. Work on the second phase of the $107.5 million renovation project at the high school is contingent upon students and faculty moving out of a portion of the existing building, and into the new wing. The next phase of the project, set to start in December, will involve the renovation of another three-story section of the school. It includes demolishing existing science classrooms and the school’s courtyard to make room for a freshman academy and a renovated pool and locker area. A two-story bridge will connect the freshman academy to the new wing of the school, and the rough entryways for that bridge can already be seen in the new building.
While the pool is under construction, both Maloney and Platt students will use the newly renovated pool at Platt. Community swim hours, typically held at Maloney, will open in the near future at Platt. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
New Haven residents find plans for Rt. 34 development wanting
NEW HAVEN >> New Haven is full of involved citizens. Count among them Elaine Quinn, 80, of the Dwight Central Management Team. She and her friends, Olivia Martson, Lena Largie, Donna Greene and Helen Martin-Dawson, all long time residents, have an intense interest in knitting back the Dwight and Hill neighborhoods, split apart a half century ago by a proposed highway to West Haven that never materialized. They have all read the city reports that have been developed over the years on the need for interconnectivity, the right scale, the use of pedestrian paths and bikeways with a mix of retail and residential uses as part of developments. Since January of this year, there is also a separate set of design guidelines for developers. It’s no secret that Quinn and her friends found the approved development of the Route 34 block bound by Dwight and Orchard streets wanting, given the lack of any residential use, the presence of a 763-car garage and the lack of connecting streets through the 5.39-acre site. No one takes issue with the main function of the development — construction of an adminisrative building for the highly respected Continuum of Care headquarters, but this element constitutes only 9 percent of the site that has remained fallow for decades serving most recently as a large surface parking lot for workers at the nearby Yale-New Haven Hospital and the Yale University Medical School. The other elements that have gotten site plan approval already include a Rite Aid pharmacy, a potential medical office building or hotel and a restaurant. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE