HARTFORD - A first step in Gov. Dannel P. Malloy ’s ambitious plan to widen I-95 to reduce congestion in Fairfield County and beyond received a green light Tuesday from the State Bond Commission.
The commission approved borrowing $1.2 million to determine the feasibility of widening the highway between New Haven and the New York State line. Another $3 million was approved to study upgrades to Metro-North’s tracks.
“We take the first steps to look at I-95 specifically to make sure it meets the economic needs of Connecticut,” Malloy said after the commission meeting.
“Letting our infrastructure languish was not a working strategy,” Malloy said. “It’s one of the reasons Connecticut had a hard time in [economic] recovery. You need a road system that you can get from point A to B in a reasonable time.”
But not everyone is convinced widening I-95 is the solution to hours-long traffic jams.
James Cameron, founder of the Commuter Action Group, said money would be better spent improving mass transit.
“The solution to traffic on I-95 is not to widen the highway but to divert traffic onto the adjacent rail line by improving station parking and increasing frequency of trains,” Cameron said.
The money allocated Tuesday is just a small part of Malloy’s $100 billion, 30-year plan to improve the state’s rails, roads and bridges, which includes widening I-95, and I-84 in Danbury, at choke points to reduce commute times during rush hour.
Although the initial funding will allow the state Department of Transportation to look at the feasibility of the I-95 widening plan, millions more will be needed to actually widen the land locked and at times elevated highway.
“The bond commission approved a number of investments that are part of a long time revitalization strategy and investment to enhance our competitiveness in the long term,” Malloy said. “To move into the future, we must invest in critical transportation projects.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Phase 2 of Route 8/25 project starts Saturday
BRIDGEPORT — Here we go again.
Stage 2 of the project to replace bridges on Route 8/25 here kicks into high gear this weekend, with southbound traffic being switched onto northbound lanes.
The Stage 2 Crossover is scheduled to begin on Saturday and remain in effect until Saturday, July 30. Stage 2 will consist of shifting northbound traffic onto the newly reconstructed southbound portion of Route 8 in Bridgeport between Exits 3 and 5.
Work on the northbound side of the highway includes demolishing and replacing the Lindley Street and Capitol Avenue bridges.
Get more information on construction and detours here. Watch the work going on, with still cameras updated every five minutes, here.
Manafort Brothers Construction, of Plainville, and Parsons Brinckerhoff are teamed on the $35 million project, which is scheduled for completion in September.
Stage 1 was completed ahead of schedule last month. About 88,000 vehicles per day travel on Route 8/25 each day, the state Department of Transportation estimates. The two state routes merge in Trumbull and end at the I-95 interchange in Bridgeport.
N.Y. firm to replace former police station property
NEW BRITAIN — The city has chosen a New-York based developer to build a $58 million mixed-use project to be known as “Columbus Commons” on the site of the former New Britain Police Department.
“This development is the catalyst for making downtown New Britain come alive once again,” Mayor Erin Stewart said Tuesday. “This is the development we’ve been patiently waiting for.” The Common Council will vote tonight on having the mayor negotiate a sale price with the Port Chester, N.Y.-based POKO Partners, LLC, to redevelop the 2.26-acre site located at 125 Columbus Blvd.
The development components could include two five-story “L-shaped”, mixed-use buildings. The buildings will include a large gateway plaza between, retail, office space and or restaurants on the first floor and 168 apartment units in a 230,000 square-foot mixed-used building. The plan also calls for expansive use of green space and so-called “activity areas” such as a large office/health care tenant space and a large day care center featuring an outside play area that is accessible from an interior courtyard.
“The buildings feature elements of active design, encouraging residents to move around the commons: to live, work and play in this revitalized corner of downtown New Britain,” said Andrea Kretchmer, a POKO spokesperson.
Stewart said POKO — which is currently working on several projects throughout the state — was one of three final developers. “The other proposals just did not fit the bill,” the mayor said. “I was extremely detailed on what I wanted on that parcel and they were the only developer to come forward with what we were looking for.” That, Stewart said, included a mixed-use project that had a plan for apartments and retail space; walkability; and green space, among others.
If approved by the council tonight, Stewart will need to negotiate a sale price. The land is currently appraised at about $203,000 and assessed at about $142,380. The mayor said POKO will seek to secure funding from a variety of sources, including the Federal Housing Finance Agency and via federal Urban Act funds.
“This is a four to five year project,” the mayor noted. “I have no doubt, because of their history, that they will be able to secure financing.”
City and business leaders said there appeared to be no down sides to the plan. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
East Hartford Gets $12M Grant From State To Rehab Silver Lane, Rentschler Field Area
EAST HARTFORD — The town will receive a $12 million grant from the Department of Economic and Community Development to improve the Silver Lane and Rentschler Field corridor.
The grant, approved Tuesday by the State Bond Commission, will be used to redevelop the area and fund infrastructure improvements on the major town thoroughfare.
"Together, with support from the state, the town will have a solid basis for renewed economic growth in this vital area," Mayor Marcia Leclerc said. "We have a strong partnership with United Technologies and Pratt & Whitney as they construct their new world headquarters and expand the United Technologies Research Center. We welcome the new vibrant activity at the former airfield which is already home to UConn Football and Cabela's."
The Silver Lane corridor has long been identified as an area in need of a facelift. Leclerc said the area's retail base has eroded in the past 20 years, including the closure of the Showcase Cinemas plaza.
In November, Leclerc asked residents to pass during a referendum the City and Town Development Act, which would allow the town to offer developers incentives to build in the area. The referendum failed due to low voter turnout.
An outlet mall, The Shoppes At Rentschler Field, was supposed to break ground in October, but construction has been delayed as the developer Horizon Group Properties waits to hear from Connecticut Innovations about state funding.Leclerc said she and town officials are working on determining what the $12 million will specifically fund on the Silver Lane corridor.
"The general aim of the grant is to help us make the area more ripe for development. At this point we are still assessing our needs and making determinations about where the funds are best targeted," Leclerc said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Quinnipiac presents revised field plan to Hamden PZC
HAMDEN >> Quinnipiac University’s proposal to renovate two athletic fields and build stadiums around them isn’t dead, despite a denial last week from the Inland Wetlands Commission.
The university’s attorney and others representing the school were before the Planning and Zoning Commission Tuesday night with a new application, this one addressing one of the two fields near the intersection of Mount Carmel Avenue and Hogan Road.They will submit a second application for the other field, attorney Bernard Pelligrino told the commission. That field, at the south end of the property, was problematic because it didn’t conform to one of the conditions of the original approval issued in January 2015 because it infringed on the wetlands buffer.“We have revised the application and removed the field and seating area,” he said. “We are requesting that you continue to consider and hopefully approve the plan with only the north field improvements. We believe that the north field complies with the specifications of the permit.” The university is under a court order to upgrade its athletic facilities to make them equitable for both men’s and women’s sports. The fields would be used by several varsity sports, including the women’s field hockey team and the men’s and women’s lacrosse and soccer teams.
“They will be superior athletic facilities with upgraded turf and spectator seating of the quality of many of our competitors,” Pelligrino said. “The facility has been designed to meet that standard.”The plans include resurfacing the fields and the construction of stadiums around each field, one seating 500 people and the other 1,500 people. Those plans have upset residents living in the area and members of the Sleeping Giant Park Association, which maintains that refurbished fields and the addition of bleacher seating would attract more people to the fields and affect those using park and hiking the mountain.Jim Bubairs of Bubairs Traffic Associates of Wallingford said an analysis he did in April shows the area can sustain the traffic the fields would attract. The highest usage period would be on the weekends, he said, and already the fields have accommodated several hundred people without a problem. Many attending the games would be students who would walk to the fields, he said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Troubled Waterbury housing project's deadline moved
WATERBURY — The deadline for a new publicly funded affordable housing apartment on a rough stretch of Willow Street has been pushed back again. The Waterbury Housing Authority hired Pennsylvania-based Arcon Group to a contract to deliver a four-unit building at the corner of Willow and West Grove streets by May 20, according to authority staff. Last month, authority staff said the builder was promising a finished product by Friday. On Tuesday, Interim Authority Director Maureen Voghel said the agency has "every expectation" the project will be complete by Aug. 1.
The relationship with the builder has proven to be turbulent. In early March, Housing Authority Board Director James Lawlor said a $100,000 cashier's check used by Arcon as bond had bounced and Lawlor had doubts about the company's ability to deliver. Lawlor said he was concerned about losing $350,000 paid to Arcon. The board placed its executive director, Robert Cappelletti, on paid leave Feb. 28. Lawlor tied that action, at least partially, to concerns about the Arcon contract.
Arcon President Bud Miller, in March, refuted contentions of problems with delivery, and prefabricated pieces of the building began arriving on the Willow Street lot. A telephone message left with Miller was not returned Tuesday. Voghel said authority staff have confirmed that work is ongoing and are in near-daily contact with the contractor. The contract allows for late penalties for construction delays, according to Voghel. On Tuesday, she could not say if the housing authority would enforce these penalties.
"First and foremost," the agency wants to complete the project, and then determine whether fines should be imposed, Voghel said. The Housing Authority Board endorsed a separation agreement with Cappelletti on June 28 but would not disclose its details. Cappelletti has yet to sign that agreement.