BERLIN — The town is hoping to increase its transit-oriented development around the train station.
Economic Development Director Chris Edge said it has issued a Request for Qualifications, seeking a developer to transform a 1.2-acre piece of what used to the site of the abandoned Pioneer Precision factory at 889 Farmington Ave. into a mixed-use space that will house both apartments and retail, similar to the Depot Crossing building across the street.
“We feel that it will be a great stepping stone to more development around the train station,” Edge said, adding that it’s a “great project for the right developer.”
The town will use the remainder of the 1.65-acre property to construct a boulevard that will connect the train station to Farmington Avenue. The boulevard would also run next to the proposed site of the new police station.
The town acquired 889 Farmington Ave. through foreclosure, and has since razed the buildings.
There is a push for transit-oriented development along the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield rail line. Federal and state governments plan to spend $900,000 to advance transit-oriented development on the corridor. About $700,000 are coming from federal funds and $200,000 from the state. The state Department of Transportation will use the funds to advance four stations (North Haven, Newington, West Hartford and Enfield) as well as two stations that are being relocated in Windsor and Windsor Locks. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Ansonia moving forward on Olson Drive police headquarters
ANSONIA-It was May 29, 2014 when Mayor David Cassetti first proposed building a state-of-the-art police headquarters in the former Olson Drive housing project.
Now 16 months later, the city is taking the first step toward that possibility by seeking bids from a combined architectural and engineering firm to conduct a feasibility study.
“This is the starting point,” Mayor David Cassetti said Sunday night. “We need to determine what the costs might be and what options we have.”
Currently the police department is headquartered in the 121-year old former Larkin Elementary School on Elm Street. Space is limited both inside and out.
“Our facilities are so outdated they represent a lawsuit waiting to happen,” Cassetti said. “We have our officers working out of closet spaces.”
That became very evident back in 2013 when State Police were called into investigate an officer accused of accessing narcotics evidence. A state police crime lab and temporary evidence trailer were set up in the back parking lot with search lights and heaters.
The investigation recently led to the arrest of retired Officer Matthew Macero on charges of altering records, second degree larceny and possession of narcotics. He is free on $5,000 bond pending an Oct. 27 New London Superior Court appearance. Macero is expected to plead not guilty to the charges.
Recently Cassetti, Police Chief Kevin Hale and city hall staffers toured the Seymour Police headquarters for ideas. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
$35M project to replace Route 8/25 bridges
BRIDGEPORT — A new stage of work begins Sunday on the $35 million rehabilitation and replacement of four heavily used Route 8/25 bridges. The bridges, with eight separate northbound and southbound spans, are over Capitol Avenue, Lindley Street and a parking lot.
About 88,000 vehicles pass over these bridges each day, according to state Department of Transportation data.
The 43-year-old bridges, about 2 miles from Interstate 95, are nearing “excessive deterioration” and need to be replaced, according to DOT. The new bridges will have prefabricated modular steel beams that will require no maintenance or paint during their estimated 75-year life. The number of spans will also be reduced from eight to three.
Lindley Street bridges
The plan is to replace the bridges’ superstructure with new beams and decks that will be constructed off site in what’s called Accelerated Bridge Construction. DOT says once new beams and decks are completed, they can brought to the highway and “be quickly installed with minimal impact to the traveling public.” The state’s using ABC because of the high volume of traffic on Route 8/25. By using ABC, the impacts to Route 8/25 traffic are reduced from two years to approximately one month during the bridges’ replacement. Last summer, two bridges on Interstate 84 in Southington were replaced using the ABC, design and build method. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Extra drinking water infrastructure funds in limbo
Hartford — It's questionable whether Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's administration will borrow $50 million to help fix aging drinking water infrastructure across Connecticut, funds some public water systems have been counting on to make needed repairs.
State and federal officials estimate Connecticut has nearly $3.6 billion worth of infrastructure improvement needs. About $2.6 billion of that amount includes repair and replacement of water mains, some of which are 100 years old. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency projects it will cost $384 billion over 20 years to maintain the nation's existing drinking water infrastructure, while replacing pipes, treatment plants and other needs to handle a growing population could cost as much as $1 trillion.
Gian-Carl Casa, spokesman for the state Office of Policy and Management, said the budgetary agency "continues to consider the policy implications" of legislation passed in 2014 requiring the state to borrow money to fund the grant program. Under the initiative, grants would be provided to certain small and large public water systems that participate in the state's Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund, which is federally funded.
"It might not make sense to take on the expense of what would be a new entitlement when we already have a very good loan program in place," Casa said in an email. "We encourage water companies to avail themselves of the revolving loan funds."
Connecticut receives about $8.5 million annually from the federal EPA to finance the existing revolving loan fund. It makes low-interest loans available to the state's 2,500 or so public water systems, which can vary greatly in size. While a review of national data by The Associated Press determined more than $1 billion from the EPA's federal aid program is sitting unspent in government accounts, Connecticut officials contend the state's record for doling out the money bests the national average. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Conn. Transit Plan Spares Stately Merritt Parkway
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) In a bid to unclog Connecticut’s notorious traffic jams, the governor has put forward a plan to rip up and widen two major highways, Interstates 84 and 95.
A third highway, the stately Merritt Parkway, would remain little changed from when it was completed in 1940, a 38-mi. roadway dubbed the “Gateway to New England” that winds through the wealthiest part of the state beneath old-growth trees and stone bridges.
“People do treasure it as it is,” said Jill Smyth, executive director of the Merritt Parkway Conservancy, an advocacy group.
The powerful conservancy has a history of pushing back against plans that would bring in bulldozers. Its chairman, investor Peter Malkin, is also chairman emeritus of a trust that counts the Empire State Building among its properties, and its honorary board includes Vincent Scully, professor of the history of art in architecture at Yale University, and Robert A.M. Stern, the dean of Yale’s architecture school.
A proposal to widen a section of the parkway was defeated in the 1970s, according to Smyth, and this time around officials said there were no serious discussions about major changes. The conservancy insists that widening the Merritt is not a possibility because its distinctive overpasses would have to be destroyed or significantly altered.
The state has proposed a new interchange with a local road and a recreation trail that would run along the parkway, but those are opposed by the conservancy.
Connecticut Transportation Commissioner James Redeker said officials often work with property owners, advocates and others with stakes in improvement projects, but the support for the Merritt is different in its passion and organization. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Work under way on state's new bus depot
WATERTOWN — Work is progressing on an $85 million bus storage and maintenance facility on Frost Bridge Road.
Workers are laying the foundation for the 276,000-square-foot bus depot between Route 262 and the Naugatuck River, according to Judd Everhart, director of communications for the state Department of Transportation.
He said work on the project began in April and should be completed in May 2017. The project is currently 6 percent complete, he said.The state is building the new facility to house about 100 paratransit and intercity buses.
It will replace the facility on Thomaston Avenue in Waterbury that was originally converted from an old foundry.The existing facility, owned and operated by North East Transportation, is in poor condition, too small and outdated, officials said. Although the state will own the new facility, North East Transportation will continue to operate the buses.
The new facility is designed to be more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly. The building will meet the Connecticut High Performance Building Standard, according to a flier from the DOT.
"Design elements such as the clerestory windows over the maintenance bays reduce the reliance on utilities and create a more efficient and enjoyable workplace. The building design is configured for internal bus circulation that not only reduces the noise to the surrounding area but reduces wear on the buses created by the exposure to environmental elements," the flier said.
By storing the buses indoors, the buses should last longer, officials said.
In addition to indoor parking, the building will include a service lane with an automatic bus wash, indoor fueling and fare box retrieval, a vehicle maintenance area with lifts and component repair areas. It will also have an administrative office and facilities for the drivers and maintainers, according to a press release.
In addition to the work on the facility itself, workers are extending the sewer and water line up Frost Bridge Road, according to Watertown Engineer Charles Berger. He said the sewer line started at the intersection of Sylvan Lake Road and now stretches almost to the end of Frost Bridge Road at Route 262. He said workers have started some of the 12-inch water line on Echo Lake Road.
A combination of federal and state funding will pay for the project.
The bus facility abuts a new construction debris recycling facility on Frost Bridge Road that is also under construction.