STAMFORD — The city’s first big-box home improvement store is slated for construction on the West Side’s Cytec Industries property.
Stamford housing complex to be replaced
STAMFORD — Julio Rosa likes living at the Czescik Homes on Greenwich Avenue. A tenant of the public housing complex for the last year and a half, he enjoys the quiet neighborhood.
“I love this place,” said Rosa, a 70-year-old Vietnam veteran. “No one bothers you. Everybody helps everybody. There are no problems.”
The buildings, on the other hand, do have problems.
Comprised of three one-story buildings with a total of 50 one-bedroom and studio apartments, the Czescik Homes have cinder block walls, small units and an outdated layout. One of the buildings is located beneath Interstate 95, while the other two are directly adjacent to the railroad tracks.
“There are a couple of factors in the way it is built that make it more difficult to maintain and less desirable to live in,” Vincent Tufo, executive director and CEO of Charter Oak Communities, said of the residential complex Charter manages.
Tufo said the proximity to the highway and railroad posed health problems for Czescik’s residents, many of whom already have respiratory illnesses. The complex is exclusively for the elderly and disabled.
The property, which backs up to the Mill River, is also within the city’s 100 year floodplain. “It’s one of the most vulnerable developed properties in all of Stamford,” Tufo said.
So Czescik, constructed in the 1950s, is scheduled to shut down in 2017. Tufo said it was likely the city could purchase the land, tear down the structures and extend the Mill River walkway, as called for in its master plan. Fourteen of Czescik’s units are now empty and no new tenants are being accepted. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Rail officials release Northeast Corridor impact study
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The environmental impacts of a large-scale transformation of the Northeast Corridor rail line would be greatly outweighed by an eventual decrease in energy usage and greenhouse gas production, as well as an increase in economic activity and mobility, a draft environmental report released Tuesday concluded.
The report by the Federal Railroad Administration analyzed three alternatives for upgrading the corridor between now and 2040 that feature improvements ranging from the mundane but utilitarian (streamlined ticketing) to what might seem wishful thinking given current economic constraints (a rail tunnel connecting Long Island and the Connecticut coastline).
The three alternatives were compared to a No Action alternative that would maintain existing service and infrastructure as ridership grows. To give an idea of the scope and expense involved, the No Action alternative would cost roughly $20 billion over the next 25 years, while the most ambitious alternative, which includes the underwater rail tunnel, would cost about $290 billion, federal rail officials said on a conference call Monday.
For context, they said that, given the fact that the Northeast Corridor region produces one-fifth of the nation's gross domestic product, an unexpected loss of the NEC for one day could cost the nation nearly $100 million in transportation-related impacts and productivity losses.
The 457-mile corridor is the busiest commuter rail line in the country and the site of regular and often lengthy delays on Amtrak and regional lines such as New Jersey Transit, due to 100-year-old infrastructure and crowded tracks. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — It may only be temporary, but falling oil prices are undermining Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's ambitious natural gas expansion plan.
With the savings shrinking between lower-cost natural gas and ever-cheaper oil, homeowners and businesses may be balking at spending the thousands of dollars required to convert their heating systems to gas from oil.
Malloy launched the initiative in 2012 as part of a broad state policy to confront the politically charged issue of high energy costs.
Three Connecticut utilities — Eversource, Connecticut Natural Gas and Southern Connecticut Gas — are expected to convert 16,500 residences and businesses this year, 27 percent less than an initial projection of 22,500, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said. The agency cited the drop in oil prices, "which dampens the potential fuel savings" for customers considering shifting from natural gas.
Oil dealers say the response by consumers to the price changes supports their argument that the state should stay out of the marketplace.
"What we're experiencing right now is an absolute 'I told you so,'" said Christian Herb, president of the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association, which represents oil dealers. "Hundreds of millions are being invested in something that does not make economic sense or environmental sense."
Eversource insists that falling oil prices are not having an impact on gas hook-ups. Natural gas conversions in the commercial and new construction sectors are up, and municipalities have shown "very strong interest," spokesman Mitch Gross said in an email. Inquiries from residential customers and interest in converting are constant, he said.
The utility also points to the still-significant gap between oil and natural gas prices. Despite the drop in the price of heating oil, consumers can expect to pay about $1,400 this winter and natural gas users in the Northeast could spend about $860, according to the U.S. Energy Department. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
About 30 people attended the presentation at Winthrop STEM Elementary Magnet School to learn more about the construction, which would begin in the fall of 2017 and be completed in the fall of 2021. Work to strengthen the underside of the bridge would be done for the first year, with no expected impact on traffic during that time.
“A lot of the bridge needs strengthening. It’s not just repair to address corroded areas of the bridge,” said Tim Fields, principal engineer with the DOT. Work to replace the deck of the bridge would begin during the second year, and noise would be monitored, he said.
Decks would be replaced by removing sections at a time, then dropping in new, prefabricated replacement decks and fastening them together, said Priti S. Bhardwaj, supervising engineer with DOT. Work would likely begin on the Groton side, she said. Handling the deck replacement by removing it in sections and replacing it with prebuilt sections would speed up the process and limit the disruption during construction, she said.
A minimum of three travel lanes would be provided at all times, with a fourth travel lane during peak hours of traffic, a summary of the project explained. The DOT does not expect ramp closures.
Michael Dion, a manager of a project analyzing traffic on the bridge, said three lanes should be manageable for off-peak hours. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Charter Oak Students, Faculty Document New Building Construction
WEST HARTFORD — Standing in the middle of a construction site, Charter Oak School Principal Juan Melian gestured to what would be the center courtyard, his favorite part of the new, state-of-the-art school building now being built.
"It represents who we are," Melian said during a walk through the site Tuesday. "The courtyard is at the very center of the building. It's a circular building that reflects our desire to make connections across disciplines."
The $42 million project entails building the new school next to the existing school, which was constructed in 1929. Groundbreaking for the 86,000-square-foot building was held in May, and Melian said the school is expected to open at the end of August. The exterior of the building will be finished by January, he said.
After completion, the old school will be demolished. Eighty percent of the cost of the project is being funded by the state, and 20 percent by the town. The building will be the first new elementary school built in town since 1950.
The new Charter Oak School will have five pre-K classrooms, which will allow for about 80 new students, Melian said. Currently, the school has only one pre-K classroom with 16 students, he said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
GLASTONBURY — A boardwalk at Riverfront Park will be the second half of a two-part solution to fix stability issues along the banks of the Connecticut River.
Town Manager Richard J. Johnson said the goal of the boardwalk is to "complement the surrounding area and minimize the weight of improvements." Over the summer, the town completed a $1.5 million project that installed riprap — small- to medium-sized boulders — along the Connecticut River to protect the town's Riverfront Park boathouse. The material was installed to prevent movement in the riverbank slope the boathouse is built near.
Johnson said in the spring a boardwalk will be installed from the western portion of the boathouse, where the brick patio once stood, north along the former sidewalk. After movement was detected in the slope, the patio, concrete and soil was removed. There is currently a 10-foot-deep trench where the patio and concrete sidewalk was located.
"The boardwalk complements the riverfront setting, integrates well with surrounding improvements and is the lightest weight option of those identified by the project team," Johnson said.
Although the riprap is expected to halt movement on the bank, the town's geotechnical experts also recommended a maximum of 300 pounds per square foot be placed on top of the bank next to the boathouse. Johnson said the boardwalk solution is approximately 100 pounds per square foot. Another option included the use of geofoam blocks instead of the bricks and concrete used originally.
CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
“This measure is a great step backward in highway safety,” Blumenthal said.
With the help of all five members of the Connecticut delegation, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill last week that would spend up to $325 billion on construction and maintenance of roads, bridges and transit systems, largely by sending federal transportation money to the states.
It is a six-year bill – if Congress can find a way to pay for its final three years – and would end the patchwork of short-term highway bills approved by Congress that have frustrated governors – including Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.
But Blumenthal, and Sen. Chris Murphy, were in the minority who voted “no” when the Senate considered its version of the highway bill on July 31.
To Blumenthal, the Senate bill had a number of shortcomings, including a provision allowing 18-year-olds to drive interstate trucks and buses, and inadequate remedies to address issues revealed by the GM ignition switch and Takata airbag recalls.
Safety advocates said other failings in the bill include the absence of a requirement that rental car companies and used car lots stop leasing and selling cars that are being recalled from customers.
“These measures are not short-term; they will set policy for six years,” Blumenthal said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE