As Bridgeport and Shelton look to inject life into once-moribund downtowns, and Derby and Ansonia try to take advantage of existing, walkable infrastructure, Oxford is trying a different tack -- building a town center from the ground up.
Work began in recent weeks on knocking down a rock wall separating Route 67 from a quarry that will soon be home to Oxford Towne Center/Quarry Walk, a high-density development in a mostly rural town that will include homes, businesses, a town green, a new library and, much to local residents' relief, a supermarket.
Haynes Development, part of Seymour-based Haynes Group, is turning the 32-acre site at 278 Oxford Road into something that demonstrates a shift away from developments based on driving.
"What we will have here is a community within a community," said Herman Schuler, former economic development director for the town who is now working for Haynes. "This is a place where you can go, do all the things you need to do and never need to get back in your car."
The $70 million-plus development will include more than 200,000 square feet of retail space, highlighted by a full-service grocery store under the name Market 32, the rebranded Price Chopper. About 150 market-rate residential units -- non-age-restricted, which is rare in town -- have been approved, along with ample public meeting space, business incubators, a walk-in medical clinic and other services. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Old Saybrook station upgrades investment in states future
OLD SAYBROOK >> Gov. Dannel P. Malloy joined state and local officials at the train station in town Wednesday to highlight transit-oriented development initiatives in the surrounding area.
The projects represent the state’s continued commitment to provide Connecticut and its local communities with a best-in-class transportation system, delivering economic development, job growth, and improved quality of life, according to a press release.
Upgrades in the area surrounding the Old Saybrook station include increased parking, a new bus shelter, improved connections to the station platform, four electric vehicle charging stations, bicycle facilities, and new residential housing units.
The Old Saybrook station serves the Shore Line East commuter rail line and Amtrak train service through Connecticut and the Old Saybrook Junction Marketplace. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Main Street road work frustrates some Middletown business owners
MIDDLETOWN >> Road paving early this week downtown has some North End business owners feeling vexed that the road work will cost them customers — and revenue — during their peak hours of service. The owners of a vegan eatery and package store on Main Street say officials either didn’t notify them about upcoming cold planing and resurfacing or failed to do so enough in advance, while a tavern owner maintains fixing torn-up roads now will mean happier customers down the line.
The Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce emailed affected businesses Thursday, detailing the hours of street work and temporary parking changes – adding that any residents who violated these restrictions would be ticketed. For three days, southbound travel lanes along Main Street, from the Arrigoni Bridge to Washington Street, will experience traffic disruptions as a result. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Downtown Hub park starts to take shape
MERIDEN — Now that the snow is gone and work is ramping up, it’s getting easier to envision the downtown Meriden Hub as a 14-acre park with a flowing Harbor Brook and soaring pedestrian bridge. “It’s really getting cool to see,” said Robert Bass, the city’s public works director.
Work was delayed because of winter weather, though Bass said he expects the downtown park to be usable by the end of the year.
“Some of the plantings might have to wait until the next planting season, but otherwise the bulk of it should be done,” he said. “I think this is going to be the draw we need downtown.”
The former commercial-industrial site between State and Pratt streets is being turned into a park as part of a larger flood control project. The $14 million cost is mostly being paid for with state funds.
Anyone passing by the Hub has likely noticed piles of stones. It’s one of the last times those stones will be so visible, as they’re set to line the bed of Harbor Brook. Some of the brook’s path is cut out already, and in two places, concrete footbridges have been built.
The footbridges are finished, except for steel reinforcement underneath that will be removed.
The brook has been covered since the late 1960s, exacerbating flooding in the area.
Along the State Street side of the Hub, a box culvert has been opened up from the top. Bass said that LaRosa Construction Co. bought a special steel cutting attachment for one of its backhoes to snip through the massive number of reinforced steel bars that line the culvert.
Running parallel to the exposed culvert is a second one, still covered, into which Clark Brook has been rerouted in order to build a tier to support a pedestrian bridge from Pratt Street to State Street.
Part of the culvert that holds Clark Brook has been opened, and a small portion of it can be seen running into Jordan Brook. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
The state agency issued the stop work orders were issued Wednesday for the project being built on the site of the former D’Addio’s Garden Center at 520 N. Washington Ave. The multistory building will have retail on the lower level and apartments on the upper levels.
Nancy Steffens, a spokeswoman for the state Labor Department, said Friday that the orders were issued against Platinum Drywall of Wallingford, Wilson Picadeneira Siding of Norwalk and N.V. Piscitelli Painting of North Haven. Steffens said both Platinum Drywall and Wilson Picadeneira Siding failed to produce payroll records. In addition, Platinum Drywall was improperly treating employees as independent contractors and provided no proof of workers’ compensation coverage while Wilson Picadeneira Siding had no paperwork to provide investigators showing that they are a Connecticut company. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
New Haven panel supports extending small-contractor program
NEW HAVEN >> The city’s small contractor businesses got a boost earlier this week when the aldermanic Legislation Committee voted to extend an ordinance aimed at leveling the playing field when it comes to bidding on construction jobs. The full Board of Alders will decide the issue.
Deputy Economic Development Director Steven Fontana and Small Contractor Development Program Manager Lil Snyder walked alders through proposed changes in the program, which began in 2001. In a letter addressed to Mayor Toni Harp, Economic Development Administrator Matthew Nemerson expressed his support of extending the life of the Small Construction Business Development Program for another five years. “Through this ordinance, the city has made a commitment to small and minority contractors to provide opportunities where previously very little exited,” Nemerson wrote, noting that before the program implementation in 2001 only 5 percent of city contracts were awarded to small or minority-owned businesses. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
AFL-CIO releases startling report
According to a report just released by the AFL-CIO, 4,585 workers were killed in the United States during 2013 due to workplace injuries. An additional estimated 50,000 died from occupational diseases, resulting in a loss of nearly 150 workers each day from preventable workplace conditions.
“America’s workers shouldn’t have to choose between earning a livelihood and risking their life, yet every day too many end up on the wrong end of that choice,” said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. “Corporations are prospering while working people suffer because of corporate negligence and insufficient government oversight. We must go beyond mourning those we’ve lost, and take bold, decisive action to ensure that a day’s work brings opportunity, not the risk of death or injury.”
The report, entitled Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect, marks the 24th year the AFL-CIO has produced its findings on safety and health protections for workers in the United States. The report shows the highest workplace fatality rates were found in North Dakota, Alaska, Wyoming, West Virginia, and New Mexico.
While workplace deaths and injuries were high in many private sector industries, such as oil and gas extraction, the injury rate for public sector workers was 58 percent higher than for private sector workers. In fact, 8 million state and local public employees lack any OSHA protections. OSHA oversight and enforcement remains weak. Federal OSHA has the resources and staff to inspect workplaces on average only once every 140 years. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE