The planning that will influence the renovations at Farmington High School is scheduled to start this week.
A series of three workshops begins Friday with an all-day session for students, staff and administrators. A second all-day workshop for these groups is scheduled for Sept. 16. The public planning session will be Sept. 17 from 9 a.m. to noon at the Community/Senior Center, 321 New Britain Ave., Unionville.
"We'd like to, obviously, have a variety of inputs from the people in the community," said William Wadsworth, chair of the Farmington High School Renovation Committee. "That's our focus. The visioning programs kind of set the tone of how the building will be presented for 21st century learning. "We're looking beyond [a] five-, 10-, 15-, 20-year [lifespan]," he said. "We want to make sure we have a facility that lasts quite a bit longer than that ... and in keeping with the current educational requirements."
The committee recently hired Kaestle Boos Associates of New Britain as the architect for the job. The committee is reviewing candidates for an owner's representative and a construction manager.
District Business Administrator Vincent LaFontan said about 35 people are slated to participate in the first two workshops, which will be facilitated by educational planner Frank Locker.
They will discuss 21st century teaching and learning, and the future of schooling, before delving into issues specific to Farmington and the site, LaFontan said.
While some of those topics will be reviewed at the Sept. 17 workshop, the primary focus will be on gathering community comments, LaFontan said.
"Really, it's, 'Let's hear from the community,'" LaFontan said. "We want to take all the community feedback we can in this early part of the process. That's the opportunity to talk about it and discuss from a community perspective what the facility should look like." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUENewington Gets Approval To Remove Asbestos From John Wallace Middle School
The state has granted a waiver that will allow the school district to remove asbestos and PCBs from John Wallace Middle School this month while students are in the building.
The asbestos was discovered under the school's gym floor after it was ruined by flooding caused by a heavy rain during summer vacation.
The state Department of Public Health normally bans the removal of hazardous material while students are in school, but grants waivers if strict conditions are met, according to department communications director Maura Downes. About 60 such waivers have been granted in the past year, she said.
In the case of John Wallace, conditions include having a licensed project monitor on site at all times and testing daily to ensure that asbestos does not leak out of the gym, Downes said. The DPH will review air test results every morning before allowing students back in the building and work to continue, she said.
"Our top priority is the health and safety of the students at the school," Downes said. "We are monitoring the situation very closely to make sure that the guidelines are met and everyone's health is protected." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Washington – While the federal government was spending months soliciting feedback from the public on several alternatives for overhauling the railroads in the Northeast corridor, it had already identified a preferred plan that would dramatically change rail travel in Connecticut.
The Federal Railroad Administration’s preferred route -- a hybrid of several put before the public -- would upgrade the rail system in Fairfield County and along the Connecticut coastline, with a bypass that would take the trains through Old Lyme and other shoreline towns to Rhode Island. The overhaul, which would cost more than $135 billion, would also upgrade the rail line that runs through the center of the state to Hartford and then Springfield, Mass.
The FRA’s selection of the favored hybrid route, even as the agency spent months collecting more than 3,000 public comments and other input on three other alternatives, has sparked outrage among those who had hoped the agency would abandon its plans for a controversial routing option that would run through Old Lyme on its way east. They say that bypass route would destroy the town’s historic legacy.
“This is not just a flawed process, but it demonstrates bad faith…You have to include the public and you have to follow the law,” said Gregory Stroud, executive director of SECoast, a non-profit group that has partnered with the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation to stop the Old Lyme bypass.
Route selection is part of the federal rail authority's NEC Future plan, which is meant to dramatically upgrade, and introduce high-speed rail, to the Northeast Corridor from Washington D.C. to Boston.
In November, the FRA released its three proposed new routes – and a do-nothing option -- and invited public comments to be considered before it was to settle on one plan later this year. Then a second step in the process would begin – a detailed environmental impact study of the proposed route.
The FRA said it was considering three options:
Alternative 1 would keep most of the existing routes from Washington D.C. to Boston, while adding a new line near New London, a new New London-Mystic station and other lines that would circle Baltimore and New York.
Alternative 2 calls for a corridor to run from New Haven to Hartford through Meriden, and would add a new line from Hartford to Providence, R.I., with a stop near the University of Connecticut in Storrs.
Amtrak supports Alternative 3, the most ambitious plan, that would establish new lines from New Haven to Hartford and from Hartford to Providence and add a new rail route from New York to Boston through Danbury. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
That’s because the state Department of Transportation is scheduled to close the Route 34 bridge over the Naugatuck River beginning at 10 p.m. Friday through 5 a.m. Monday for some much-needed repair and construction work. According to a press release from the DOT, the bridge will be closed, weather permitting, to replace the bridge deck.“The closure is necessary to facilitate the placement of concrete for final portions of the new bridge deck associated with the rehabilitation and widening of Bridge 00947, carrying Route 34 (Main Street) over the Naugatuck River,” according to the press release. Motorists are urged to seek alternative routes during the bridge closure. A detour will be in place utilizing Route 115 (Derby Avenue), Division Street in Ansonia to cross the Naugatuck River, Pershing Drive and Route 8. Detour signs will be posted throughout the area, and Derby and Ansonia Police will assist with traffic control. One lane will be provided for emergency vehicles and pedestrians only during the closures. The bridge improvement project was awarded to Baier Construction Co. of Bloomfield at a cost of $8 million in March 2014. DOT officials said the project is scheduled to be complete this November.
DOT officials said if the weather doesn’t cooperate this weekend, the closure period for the bridge may have to be postponed to the following weekend. The rehabilitation of the bridge, which was formerly known as the James B. Atwater Bridge, kicked off in April 2014. The project, according to the DOT, consists of rehabilitation of the full length of bridge, including replacement of the concrete deck, replacement of bridge bearings, sidewalk and lighting. New fascia girders for a new sidewalk will also be installed. Bituminous pavement will be installed after deck repairs.
CTDOT Launches New Website for Walk Bridge Program
The new website,www.walkbridgect.com, will provide the public with access to current project information, including meeting notices and construction updates. While construction of the Walk Bridge is not scheduled to begin until mid-2018, CTDOT is planning to complete three advance construction projects that are necessary before the bridge replacement project begins.The 120-year-old bridge carries four tracks of the New Haven commuter rail line over the Norwalk River. It swings open and closed to accommodate commercial and recreational marine traffic on the river below. When it fails to close properly — as has happened in recent years — it can cause major disruptions to rail service in the Northeast Corridor.
CTDOT is undertaking the replacement of the Walk Bridge to provide safe, reliable rail service, and enhance Connecticut's transportation system, now and for the future. As one of the oldest movable bridges on the New Haven Line, replacement of the Walk Bridge has long been recognized as a priority to maintain critical rail service on the nation's busiest commuter rail line.
Constructing the new Walk Bridge in the highly developed commercial and residential area of historic South Norwalk presents unique challenges, which CTDOT is now working to address in advance of construction. Construction will be completed in phases to maintain rail service and minimize impacts to stakeholders. Coordination with rail and maritime users, neighbors and other stakeholders will be a priority to minimize traffic and business disruptions.
CTDOT has been meeting with local officials and key stakeholders throughout the past year to gain their input and will continue this coordination as the project advances. CTDOT also is coordinating this project with other projects in the area scheduled for construction in a similar timeframe. In addition, a local office will be opened in conjunction with the Walk Bridge project to provide opportunities for interaction with the public. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE