Beginning next month, traveling on the Route 8/25 connector in Bridgeport will be much different.
In June, southbound traffic will be shifted to the northbound lane. In July, northbound traffic will be shifted to the southbound lanes. There will also be closures of local roads.
It’s because of the replacement of 44-year-old bridges on Route 8/25 over Lindley Street and Capitol Avenue. The work has been going on for months with the construction of four prefabricated bridge units off Exit 5 (Boston Avenue). The Exit 3 (Lindley Street) ramp and street are also being widened. And under the Lindley Street bridge, fill has been added and a retaining wall built, making it no longer a bridge.
The state is using “Accelerated Bridge Construction” techniques for the Route 8 work. On this project, the use of pre-fab will reduce the duration of the project from two years to a single summer. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
DOT crews: I-95 crash shows need for caution around work zones
No one was seriously hurt in the wreck, which happened just after noon Tuesday near northbound Exit 71. But the highway was briefly shut down as emergency crews extricated the driver from the car.
The driver, a Norwich woman, was taken to the hospital with a minor head laceration. A state Department of Transportation worker who was hit by flying debris was also taken to the hospital with suspected minor injuries.
State Police said the DOT construction truck had been parked in the right lane of the highway, about 100 feet from the Exit 71 ramp, as crews worked to fill pot holes between Exits 70 and 71. Four DOT crash trucks were evenly spaced behind the work crews with flashing arrows and signs telling drivers the right lane was closed. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Long-Vacant Hartford Building Has Its $2.5 Million Renovation
HARTFORD — A 1920s building that was once a symbol of decay in Asylum Hill is now the neighborhood's newest sign of revitalization.
A $2.5 million renovation of the three-story, blond-brick building at the corner of Garden and Ashley streets — long vacant and rundown — means the building will no longer detract from previous renovation successes in the area, just down the hill from the corporate campus of The Hartford Financial Services Group.
"This building is at the gateway to Asylum Hill and had not been the best advertisement for the neighborhood," Kenneth D. Johnson, executive director of the project's developer, Northside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance Inc., said Wednesday.
The renovations included returning the facade closer to its original design; reducing the number of apartments from nine to four; and creating office space on the top floor. The office space will be occupied by the Hartford Community Loan Fund.The alliance, better known by the acronym NINA, had its eye on the property as far back as 2003 when the nonprofit was founded. As the alliance renovated homes in the area, it worried about the perception of the building, associated for years with the noise and littering from patrons of a notorious tenant, the Ashley Café. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Newington Council Caps Town Hall Project At $25M, Calls For Fresh Start
NEWINGTON — Over strong Democratic opposition, the Republican majority on the town council fired the town hall project architect and construction manager, and also disbanded the building committee and created a new one.
"We want a fresh start," Mayor Roy Zartarian said at this week's council meeting.
The five GOP councilmen also voted to cap the project's cost at $25 million, effectively ruling out any option except renovation.
"That is based on the current and future fiscal situation of the town," Zartarian said. A recent study commissioned by the council concluded that the town hall building could be rehabilitated for $24.3 million, but said a renovation would not address inefficient use of space or insufficient parking. It suggested considering a more expensive hybrid project that combines parts of the existing building with new construction.Democratic councilmen objected to the cost ceiling.
"Never in my mind will that be enough do what we're supposed to do here," Councilman James Marocchini said. "We're going to end up with a project that none of us will be proud of."
Republican Majority Leader Beth DelBuono responded that the council could increase the cost cap in the future.
"This would be a starting point," DelBuono said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
CoCo Key ready for demolition
WATERBURY — The CoCo Key Water Resort Hotel & Convention Center on East Main Street will soon be but memories of children splashing about in total bliss. Restaurant Depot, a food, equipment and supply wholesaler which bought the property in February to build a new outlet there, plans to knock down the hotel and indoor water resort in coming months, Chief Operating Officer Larry Cohen said Wednesday. Cohen said Restaurant Depot decided to raze the local landmark after talking with hotel operators only interested in demolishing the 284-room hotel and building their own instead of running it as is. Restaurant Depot also spoke with water park operators about running the 50,000-square-foot water park, but taking down the existing hotel and building a new one would take about three years, he said.
"Running the water park without a hotel didn't make sense," he said. Cohen said razing the buildings will give the company an opportunity to consider a variety of uses for the 16-acre lot. The new outlet is expected to use six acres, he said.
Restaurant Depot, which has more than 100 locations in 33 states, has not yet decided where on the property their new building will go, or whether to lease or sell the remaining 10 acres.
"It's nice to work with a clean slate," said Cohen. The company will talk with developers about possible uses over the next 18 months. "We're open to whatever makes sense. Down the road it may be a hotel, but we want to put a lot of thought into developing it right," he said. T.J. Singh, a New York City businessman who owned CoCo Key since 2011, closed the hotel and water park May 1 due to lack of interest sought by Restaurant Depot in running the hotel. The facility, which also featured a 40,000-square-foot conference center, employed about 200 workers and as many as 300 in the summer.
Cohen said Restaurant Depot plans to hire a hotel liquidator to sell the hotel's assets over the next two to three months and then take four or five months to tear it down. The company will then build the new Restaurant Depot outlet, which is expected to cover about 60,000 square feet and employ about 50 workers. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE