Rail line revamp transforming Berlin
BERLIN — The $365 million revamp of the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield, Mass., commuter rail line is underway. And as the project progresses, both state and local officials stand firm that it will indeed be money well spent.
The new service will increase the number of round trips along the 62-mile rail corridor to 17 each day by 2016 — at least 12 of which will provide continuing service to Springfield, Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker said. Ultimately, service will expand to 25 trains daily with 30 minute peak and 60 minute off peak service. That, state officials, including Gov. Dannel Malloy, say will not only benefit those commuting to and from work, but communities that fall along the line as well. “The NHHS rail program will not only offer more frequent, convenient and faster passenger rail service, but it will also cultivate significant benefits to communities along the rail line, including local and transit-oriented development at and around these stations,” Malloy said.
At the center of the line is Berlin. With that, a new station is being constructed in town, with the current station also being revamped as part of the project. In anticipation of additional use by not only Berlin residents but those in New Britain and other surrounding towns, parking at the station will expand to approximately 215 total spaces. The $22.25 million station will be funded through the Federal Rail Administration and state matching funds. The bulk of the entire NHHS rail project will be paid for with federal and state monies. The area around the Berlin train station is also undergoing several transformations, most notably the completion of Depot Crossing, which falls under the umbrella of a mixed-use, transit-oriented development. It consists of 16 apartments on the second and third floors and 9,000 square feet of commercial space on the first. Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman, at Depot Crossing’s grand opening celebration earlier this year, called the finished product “the kind of housing we need, and the type of retail we need in the state.” Berlin Mayor Rachel Rochette, Economic Development Director Jim Mahoney and previous administrations have touted the train station and the subsequent development of its surrounding area as a certain boost to the town and its economic development. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Demolition begins on Copper and Brass
ANSONIA -- The gigantic teeth of the red and gray monster chomped down on the rusted metallic structure and tore away a piece of the city's economic past.
Sitting at the control of the Link-Belt crane was Mayor David Cassetti, who still carries his heavy equipment operator's license. Nearby, the operator of a yellow crane waited for his crack at the dilapidated building. "For 15 years I've been looking out from my business (Birm1 Construction) and watching that place just crumble," said the mayor, who while controlling the crane tore off the first I-beam. "It felt great to be part of bringing Ansonia a new beginning for the Copper and Brass site."
The structures being torn apart are just some of those on the 37-acre complex, which throughout the 1970s employed thousands of Valley residents working three shifts, six days a week, manufacturing copper, brass and steel items. Back then it was known as Anaconda American Brass, and later ARCO. But international trade agreements and cheaper imports from China, India, Japan and Mexico heavily cut into contracts and slowly reduced the workforce to nothing this spring.
Now Cassetti and Sheila O'Malley, Ansonia's economic development director, are hopeful that a clean, flat site will bring new businesses, expand the tax rolls and reduce the burden on homeowners.
"Every action sends a message to developers," said John P. Marini, the city's corporation counsel, who authored a series of blight laws that require property owners to maintain their structures or face fines and city-ordered cleanup costs. For the next week or so, workers from Denovo Constructors in New Jersey will be tearing away the rest of the warehouse where lumber and packaging was stored. Another nearby structure, as well as the former headquarters and office building, also will fall. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Malloy tours busaway, says developers eager to build nearby
Cruising from one end of the CTfastrak busway to the other aboard bus 4401 Tuesday, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy predicted that central Connecticut commuters will embrace the new transit system after it opens March 28.
Malloy, who has a fair amount of his reputation riding on the busway's success, said everything he saw on an hourlong tour confirmed his original belief that the high-frequency buses on the route will ease traffic jams on I-84, generate economic development and make commuters' lives better.
The governor took political heat when he OK'd the project just months after he first took office, but said Tuesday there's no reason to regret the decision.
"Here we are, just four years later, and it's ready to open," Malloy told reporters after stepping off the bus outside the state Capitol. "This would have been an easy thing for me to kill. As I got to understand it, I became firmly convinced that this would be a winner." The busway idea arose when John Rowland was governor, and his successor, fellow Republican M. Jodi Rell, advanced it for several years. But it was Malloy who gave the crucial go-ahead in early 2011, choosing to build the state's first bus rapid transit system in the New Britain to Hartford corridor rather than a commuter rail line. Since then, teams of contractors have turned 9.4 miles of long-unused freight rail line into a two-lane highway exclusively for buses. Once service starts, shuttle buses will link stations in New Britain, Newington and West Hartford with downtown Hartford. Hartford express coaches will use the busway for part of their trips to Southington, Cheshire, Waterbury and Bristol, and feeder routes will serve the UConn Health Center, Westfarms mall and other high-traffic locations. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Rocky Hill officials discuss plans for road improvements
ROCKY HILL – A new bridge over Goff Brook on Old Main Street and total re-pavement of heavily traveled Brook Street highlighted the first year of the town's five-year plan to upgrade local roads and streets. About $3 million of the proceeds from a $10 million referendum approved in 2013 for infrastructure improvements was spent this year. That figure included $1.65 million for street repaving and drainage work, and $1.33 million to replace the Old Main Street bridge. The bridge was replaced over the fall and the project is now 95 percent completed, with loaming, reseeding and staining the new rock wall scheduled for the spring, Director of Community Services Jim Sollmi said.
The town anticipates receiving $508,000 in state reimbursement for the project, which will used to replenish the referendum dollars. Sollmi and Town Engineer Stephen Sopelak outlined for town council members Monday night projects that were completed, or postponed until 2015 because of more pressing projects or scheduled gas line work. For example, the major connectors in Corporate Ridge – Capital Boulevard, Henkel Way and Enterprise Drive, all originally scheduled for 2017 – were re-milled and repaved in September because of the badly deteriorated condition of the pavement. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Once a talk-show punchline, busway ready to roll
It was a topic to avoid on the campaign trail, a $567 million punch line for much of his first term — “the busway to nowhere.” But now that he is re-elected and it’s nearing completion, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is embracing the rebranded “CT fastrak.” On a tour by bus Tuesday over the 9.4-mile off-road “guideway” from Hartford to New Britain, a relaxed Malloy said he thinks he and others associated with bringing bus rapid transit to Connecticut will have the last laugh.
“This would have been an easy thing for me to kill,” Malloy said of the long-gestating project, which he green-lighted five months after taking office. “But as I understood the project, I became firmly convinced that this was the way to go and the project to build – and that on a long-term basis, this would be a winner.” Planning for the project originated under Gov. John G. Rowland, who as a radio talk-show host would ridicule it as “the magic bus,” a $60-million-a-mile ribbon of asphalt and concrete. Now, Rowland is off the air and facing a certain return to prison next month after a political corruption conviction. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE