WALLINGFORD — The state Department of Transportation will hold a public hearing at Town Hall Wednesday to provide information about improvements to the Harrison Road bridge over Interstate 91.
The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in room 315 of Town Hall, 45 S. Main St.
Project construction is slated to begin in spring 2017 and will be completed later that fall. The $4.4 million project, which is funded by the state and federal government, will be completed in two phases.
The first part will affect the northern half of the bridge, with alternating one-way traffic to the south of the bridge. The second part will impact the southern half of the bridge.
Town Engineer Rob Baltramaitis said a public hearing is needed because of the impact to traffic along Harrison Road.
Alternating one-way traffic, which will be controlled by a temporary signal, will be maintained throughout the duration of the project.
The bridge was built 50 years ago, but “certain bridge components have deteriorated over time,” according to Kevin Nursick, a Department of Transportation spokesman. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
FARMINGTON — Town officials on Tuesday praised a proposal for the redevelopment of the Farmington gateway area.
The town council heard a presentation of a study that lays out potential concepts for the redevelopment of a 40-acre area bisected by Route 4 adjacent to the Farmington Center historic district and bounded on the west by the Farmington River. The area includes seven historic structures.
The planned project stems from a state Department of Transportation initiative to improve Route 4 from Garden Street to Mountain Spring Road. The DOT project will start in 2016 after the town finishes upgrading the sewer system along Route 4.
"This is a great report," town council member Jon Landry said. "It's a great vision. It's a great future for the town of Farmington."
The study was paid for using grant money from the state Community Investment Act and was prepared by Dodson & Flinker Inc. and Mullin Associates Inc. It is the result of a series of community workshops held in March, during which close to 500 residents weighed and helped develop strategies and goals for the plan.
"The consistent theme was engagement, intense discussion and real investment by our residents who, make no mistake about it, really care about the development in our town," said Jeffrey P. Apuzzo, town council and committee member.The study suggests design guidelines for the area, as well as four potential concepts: low density, moderate density, village density and a consultant-recommended concept. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
West Hartford Sees A Way To Break Exit 43 Gridlock
WEST HARTFORD — Town engineers say they can sharply reduce some of the chronic delays at Park Road and Trout Brook Drive by redesigning the I-84 interchange there.
The $5.1 million reconstruction will simplify the complex set of three Park Road intersections at Trout Brook, the I-84 on-ramp and the I-84 off-ramp, Project Manager Greg Sommer said.
The short stretch of Park is frequently gridlocked at morning and afternoon rush hours, and fender-benders there and on the long highway ramps are frequent, according to town officials.
A redesign will move traffic through more quickly and safely by reducing the number of intersections, synchronizing nearby traffic lights and creating new turn lanes and turn signals, Sommer told about 30 residents Tuesday night at an informational meeting at town hall.Park Road has the busiest I-84 interchange in town; more than 29,000 vehicles use Exit 43's on- or off-ramps each day. Exit 43 leads to the chief route to the center of town and Blue Back Square, and it handles about 50 percent more traffic than any of the other interchanges in West Hartford.
Engineers blame part of the traffic backlog on the wide grassy field between the on- and off-ramps. They reach Park Road about 200 feet apart, creating two of the five intersections that dot Park along a 1,000-foot stretch. The dense concentration of road crossings leaves a series of spots where cars get stranded trying to make left turns. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
House Fails To Reach Magic Number of 114 On Lock Box
In a blow to the constitutional transportation lock box, the state House of Representatives failed Tuesday to reach the magic number of 114 votes.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and other proponents needed 114 votes in the House to ensure that the constitutional amendment was on the ballot for voters in November.
While the resolution passed by 100 to 40 with 11 members absent, House Speaker Brendan Sharkey announced to the chamber that the measure had failed to reach the November ballot.
Three House Democrats who broke with their party members and voted against the resolution were Deputy House Speaker Bob Godfrey of Danbury, human services committee co-chairwoman Cathy Abercrombie of Meriden, and Rep. Gregg Haddad of Storrs."What's the bum's rush?" asked Godfrey, one of the chamber's longest-serving members. "Why are we doing this now in a special session? Why can't this be happening in the regular session ... when we can have the public come in and comment on it?"
An attorney, Godfrey said the language of the resolution troubled him.
"It doesn't create a lockbox,'' he said. "It creates an account item in a budget."
"The loopholes in this....are big enough to drive a truck through,'' Godfrey added.
A passionate and longtime opponent of tolls, Godfrey said he believes the lockbox is a prelude to bringing tolls back to Connecticut.
"I can see this going before the public, getting passed because it sounds good and then the answer is, 'we have to have tolls to fill up the lock box.' '' CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Obama Signs Five-Year Infrastructure Spending Bill
WASHINGTON (AP) A 5-year, $305-billion bill to address the nation’s aging and congested transportation systems was signed into law Dec. 4 by President Barack Obama, who said it will put Americans to work and provide states with the federal help they need to commit to long-term projects.
The bill, which was overwhelmingly approved by Congress a day earlier, provides a modest increase to highway and transit spending but falls short of the $400 billion over six years administration officials said is necessary to keep traffic congestion from worsening. Nor does it resolve how to pay for transportation programs in the long term.
Obama said he’ll continue to push for greater transportation spending to meet the nation’s infrastructure needs and create jobs.
“This bill is not perfect, but it is a common-sense compromise, and an important first step in the right direction,” Obama said in a statement. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Demolition company fined $200,000 in tax case
WATERBURY — A construction company connected to a past mayoral scandal was fined $200,000 and was sentenced to probation on Friday for filing a false tax return.In addition to the tax charge, Cherry Hill Construction of North Branford also pleaded guilty in January to making a false statement in connection with a federal act that regulates retirement plans in private industry, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The pleas were made in federal court in New Haven.
Federal authorities claim the company admitted to underfunding a 401(k) retirement plan for its workers by $950,000. They also claim the company filed a corporate tax return in 2010 that inflated the contributions to the plan, which led to increased deductions for employee benefits.
The company, which offers demolition services, Dumpster rentals and landscaping, has placed bids with municipalities in the area. Towns and cities pay the company based on payroll forms it submits. Authorities say the company was awarded work, but was supposed to pay its workers the prevailing wage, plus fringe benefits, which include retirement pay. Federal authorities say the company has now fully funded its retirement plan and has paid back $193,000 in back taxes, interest and penalties.
State records list the company's president as Ivan Sachs. A member of the Sachs family, Louis Sachs, pleaded guilty in 2005 to trading bribes and favors for demolition contracts for the business.
Louis Sachs was an official of Cherry Hill when the company received contracts to demolish blighted buildings in Waterbury while former mayor Philip Giordano was in office.
Sachs admitted to delivering a load of mulch to one official of the Giordano administration and delivering a Dumpster to another official, according to Republican-American archives.
Federal authorities said at the time that Sachs also paid about $8,000 in cash to one of the officials, and made contributions to Giordano's campaigns for mayor and U.S. Senate. Giordano was later convicted and sentenced to federal prison for sexually assaulting two young girls. Sachs was given a year of probation and was fined $5,000. That past federal case led Waterbury officials to temporarily suspend Cherry Hill's ability to bid on city projects.
The company lost a bid to demolish the Prospect Street parking garage in Waterbury in late 2014 when it failed to sign a bid document. City officials called it an oversight on the company's part, but said strict city procurement rules prevented Waterbury from awarding the work to the company.
Obama said he’ll continue to push for greater transportation spending to meet the nation’s infrastructure needs and create jobs.
“This bill is not perfect, but it is a common-sense compromise, and an important first step in the right direction,” Obama said in a statement. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Demolition company fined $200,000 in tax case
WATERBURY — A construction company connected to a past mayoral scandal was fined $200,000 and was sentenced to probation on Friday for filing a false tax return.In addition to the tax charge, Cherry Hill Construction of North Branford also pleaded guilty in January to making a false statement in connection with a federal act that regulates retirement plans in private industry, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The pleas were made in federal court in New Haven.
Federal authorities claim the company admitted to underfunding a 401(k) retirement plan for its workers by $950,000. They also claim the company filed a corporate tax return in 2010 that inflated the contributions to the plan, which led to increased deductions for employee benefits.
The company, which offers demolition services, Dumpster rentals and landscaping, has placed bids with municipalities in the area. Towns and cities pay the company based on payroll forms it submits. Authorities say the company was awarded work, but was supposed to pay its workers the prevailing wage, plus fringe benefits, which include retirement pay. Federal authorities say the company has now fully funded its retirement plan and has paid back $193,000 in back taxes, interest and penalties.
State records list the company's president as Ivan Sachs. A member of the Sachs family, Louis Sachs, pleaded guilty in 2005 to trading bribes and favors for demolition contracts for the business.
Louis Sachs was an official of Cherry Hill when the company received contracts to demolish blighted buildings in Waterbury while former mayor Philip Giordano was in office.
Sachs admitted to delivering a load of mulch to one official of the Giordano administration and delivering a Dumpster to another official, according to Republican-American archives.
Federal authorities said at the time that Sachs also paid about $8,000 in cash to one of the officials, and made contributions to Giordano's campaigns for mayor and U.S. Senate. Giordano was later convicted and sentenced to federal prison for sexually assaulting two young girls. Sachs was given a year of probation and was fined $5,000. That past federal case led Waterbury officials to temporarily suspend Cherry Hill's ability to bid on city projects.
The company lost a bid to demolish the Prospect Street parking garage in Waterbury in late 2014 when it failed to sign a bid document. City officials called it an oversight on the company's part, but said strict city procurement rules prevented Waterbury from awarding the work to the company.