HARTFORD — A consumer group is calling Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s $11 billion plan to widen Interstate 95 to ease congestion a “boondoggle” that will waste taxpayer money.
The Connecticut Public Interest Research Group on Tuesday said money earmarked to widen I-95 would be better spent improving mass transportation, enhancing the Metro-North commuter railroad so it can handle more passengers and installing congestion tolling.
“Studies have shown when you widen a highway, you invite more traffic onto it,” Cutrufo said. “Connecticut could be a great place to get around via transit and better service on Metro-North.”
Newtown apartments set for spring construction
NEWTOWN — Efforts to develop the Hawleyville section of town will start in earnest this year when construction crews begin a new 180-unit apartment complex near Exit 9 that officials hope will spur additional development in the area.
While officials have hoped for years to see new development in the Hawleyville section that runs near Interstate 84, a lack of public services often hampered large-scale residential and commercial construction projects. A sewer project approved last year that could be installed as early as this spring, however, has paved the way for new projects.
Land use officials recently approved of a new apartment complex that will include workforce housing on an 18-acre parcel off Hawleyville Road. The deal will also include a diner with frontage on the roadway as well as a new building for the Grace Family Church.
“The Hawleyville area has really been primed for something to happen for the past eight years,” said Paul Scalzo, the president of Scalzo Real Estate Group, who has been working with the developer on the project. “But now things are really starting to come together.”
Crews will begin construction of the new housing this spring. The complex will include about 18 three-bedroom apartments, 54 two-bedroom apartments and more than 100 one-bedroom units. Rents for the apartments start at around $1,400 per month.
Town Planner George Benson said he’s excited about the project and its potential to attract future development dollars to the Hawleyville neighborhood. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
DOT sets hearings on Merritt Parkway projects in Westport
Plans to resurface stretches of the Merritt Parkway, as well as for safety and bridge upgrades, in Westport and Fairfield will be the topic of public hearings in both communities in coming weeks.
The state Department of Transportation is planning two projects, both anticipated to start in the spring of 2017, that will affect the highway’s Westport-Fairfield corridor.
The parkway will be resurfaced in both directions from Newtown Turnpike in Westport to approximately 130-feet south of Congress Street in Fairfield, a total length of 4.95 miles. The project, which includes work to improve safety and bridges along the route, will link to a similar project already completed on an easterly stretch of highway in Fairfield and Trumbull.
The work — designated Project 158-0211 by the DOT — is expected to cost approximately $60 million, with 80 percent funded by the federal government and 20 percent from the state.
The other project involves rehabilitation of the parkway bridge crossing the Saugatuck River in Westport. That has been designated DOT Project 158-0207 and is estimated to cost $12 million, financed entirely by the state.
The DOT’s public meetings on the projects are planned:
Jan. 27, 7 p.m., Town Hall auditorium, 110 Myrtle Ave. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Good news: Berlin High School renovation under budget, on time
BERLIN — The renovation of Berlin High School is creeping closer to completion.
Tom Smith, of the Gilbane Building Co., who is the renovation’s project manager, said the building is on track to be completed by the end the summer, with the only exception being the final touches put on the auditorium.
This, however, is just half of the good news, he said in a recent update to town officials.
“As of right now we are still tracking under budget,” Smith said, adding that there is over $1 million in contingency and $800,000 in uncommitted allowances remaining as the renovation heads into the home stretch. He doesn’t expect many changes, if any, to happen from here on out.
“We think we’ve hit most of our changes or have most of them accounted for,” Smith said. “So we’re feeling pretty good right now.”
At its completion, the renovation project is expected to cost in the neighborhood of $84 million. That includes the finished construction of a new six-classroom technology building and complete renovation of the existing school. A $69.95 million budget was approved by the town’s voters at referendum in 2011. The town was able to acquire state funds to pay for the run over.
Town Councilor Rachel Rochette, a democrat, who has a daughter who attends the high school, was pleased to hear Smith’s good news. She said there was a lot of talk from some of the council, as well as many throughout town, that the project would not be completed on budget.
“There’s been a lot of talk in town that we were not going to be able to do that,” she said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
DOT conducting transportation surveys
As part of the "Let's Go CT!" plan, the governor's 30-year transportation initiative, the state Department of Transportation has announced a series of transportation surveys to collect data for several transportation studies.
According to a DOT statement, the studies include surveys to solicit input from residents, students and business professionals about the existing transit system, potential service improvements, commuting on Interstate 84 and demographic information. Results from the surveys will be used to assist planners and engineers in improving Connecticut's existing and future transportation systems as part of the Let's Go CT! plan.
Surveys being conducted in the first quarter of 2016 include:
Comprehensive Hartford Transit Study: Jan. 19-21, 2016, www.hartfordtransitstudy.com. Surveys will be conducted onboard buses, online and at bus stops.
CT Statewide Transportation Study: March – April 2016, www.cttransportationstudy.org. Household surveys will be conducted online and by phone to update the statewide travel model
- I-84 Viaduct Reconstruction Project: March – April 2016, www.i84hartford.com Interstate 84 Stated Preference Survey: commuter surveys online and at open houses
- Hartford Transit Onboard & At Stop Survey: to be conducted on buses and at bus stops
- Hartford Transit Travel Pattern Survey: Passenger "on and off" data to be collected on selected bus routes. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
NEW HAVEN >> An anonymous donation of $50 million will go a long way toward renovating the 1930s-era Hall of Graduate Studies on York Street and enhance the teaching of humanities at Yale, the university announced Tuesday. The gift comes on the heels of a major donation from the chairwoman of PepsiCo Inc. to endow the deanship of the Yale School of Management.
“Yale has so many outstanding departments and programs in the humanities, and bringing a core group of them into one building at the heart of campus will make them even stronger,” said President Peter Salovey in a statement.
“I am so grateful that our donors had the foresight not only to support a world-class facility, but also to supply permanent funding for the innovative teaching, research and collaboration that will happen within it. The impact of their contribution will be transformative and enduring.” Professor Amy Hungerford, director of the Division of Humanities for the faculty of arts and sciences, is chairwoman of a planning committee for how best to use the graduate hall. She said the $50 million gift, in addition to renovating the building, “offers us a chance to foster collaboration between departments.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Transportation advocates say widening I-95 won’t ease congestion
A major consumer advocacy group and a key legislator on transportation financing both argued Tuesday against one of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's largest transportation initiatives: the widening of Interstate 95.
And while the Connecticut Public Interest Research Group praised Malloy for making transportation investment a priority, its director also said the widening proposal deserved its place on a national list of “highway boondoggles” compiled by U.S.PIRG, a federation of state public interest research groups.
Widening I-95, particularly in traffic-heavy Fairfield County, would not alleviate congestion in Connecticut’s southwest corner, ConnPIRG State Director Evan Preston said during a mid-morning press conference in the Legislative Office Building. But with an estimated price tag of $11.2 billion, it would draw resources from more crucial priorities, including: bridge repair, general rail improvements and expansion of mass transit.
"As we face limited resources, … we know that investing in I-95 is one of the least effective ways to benefit our transportation system,” Preston said.
Tom Maziarz, director of the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Policy and Planning, told the Connecticut Post last year that “you can’t build your way out of transportation.”
And Joseph Cutrufo, who is spokesman for the Manhattan-based Tri-State Transportation Campaign, and Preston, argued that widening I-95 might provide relief — but only in the very short term.
"Study after study after study has shown when you widen a highway, you invite more traffic onto the roadway,” Cutrufo said.
Widening I-95 also means a host of logistical problems, argued State Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport, who co-chairs the legislature’s transportation bonding subcommittee. Besides the environmental issues and the expense of publicly taking private property related to widening the highway, the road work would worsen traffic congestion that already is severe, he said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Waterbury gives 4 lots for housing project
WATERBURY — The city is handing four vacant South End properties to a nonprofit planning agency to build a five-story, 44-unit, apartment building for low- and moderate-income tenants.
Nancy MacMillan, executive director of Loyola Development Corp., told the board Tuesday that the project's location and design will target — though not be restricted to — senior residents of the South End. The four donated parcels are vacant land between West Liberty, Jewelry and South Main streets — about a block away from Home Depot. The apartments would be a mix of studio and one-bedroom units. The are no structures on the 15 West Liberty, 602 South Main, 594 South Main and 18 Jewelry St. parcels, although some of this space is currently used as a parking lot. A purchase agreement endorsed by the aldermen Tuesday night will transfer the properties for $1 apiece. The planned development would also include a 1,700-square-foot office for the Hispanic Coalition of Greater Waterbury. MacMillan said it would take up to five years to perform all necessary environmental tests, draft plans, secure funding and complete construction. Loyola estimates the project's expense at $13.8 million. MacMillan said the group intends to partner this development with an effort to secure funding to spruce up the street and storefronts in the immediate area. MacMillan highlighted her group's past success finishing a 33-unit affordable housing development at 619 South Main St. last spring. Two aldermen felt compelled to acknowledge connections to the project, but still joined other members in unanimously approving the land transfer. Aldermen Victor Lopez is president of the Hispanic Coalition. Aldermen Sandra Martinez-McCarthy said her husband is a member of Loyola. Lopez said he is "delighted, excited and happy" to be able to collaborate with Loyola, which has taken a leading role in redevelopment efforts.