Oak Street residents strongly opposed to new trail design in Wallingford
WALLINGFORD — Engineering officials presented details of a walking trail to connect the town senior center to Community Lake at an information session Thursday night.
The trail will stretch from the senior center’s parking lot, at 238 Washington St., to the area of Community Lake near Oak Street, which is located off Washington Street, Town Engineer Rob Baltramaitis said. The trail is about three-tenths of a mile and will pass near the end of Oak Street.
Baltramaitis and other project officials presented preliminary designs of the project at the meeting, which was attended by about 40 residents.
Several residents of Oak Street attended the meeting to voice strong opposition to the trail’s current design, which calls for a portion of the trail to run near the street. Preliminary designs also allows pedestrians to access the trail by foot from the end of Oak Street, which residents worry could invite walkers to park on Oak Street when visiting the trail. Oak Street is a narrow, dead end road, which exacerbates any parking issues, residents said.
“I don’t understand why you’d bring a trail into our neighborhood,” Oak Street resident Raymond Rys Jr. said about the trail.
State Rep. Mary Mushinsky, co-chair of the Quinnipiac Linear Trail Advisory Committee, suggested posting “no parking” signs on the street to curtail the issue, but residents said there are already signs posted and people still illegally park on-street. In a contentious discussion, residents asked members of the trail committee why the town went away from the trail’s original design, which did not pass near Oak Street.
The previous design called for the trail to cross a portion of property owned by White Way Cleaners, 271 Hall Ave. The town had to go back to the drawing board after the company rejected the town’s plans to run the trail through its property.
“We were dead in the water with White Way. We offered them money, a chain link fence, and lighting,” trail committee member Elaine Doherty said about the town’s effort to negotiate with the owner of White Way to run the trail through his property.
Town Councilor Jason Zandri proposed using eminent domain to purchase a narrow strip of land from the business to execute the original design. He said he would support the issue being placed on an upcoming Town Council agenda.
“I don’t want to keep seeing residents upset,” said Zandri, the only councilor to attend the meeting Rys also raised concerns about coal tar contaminants he says are embedded in the soil near Oak Street. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
I am almost as excited about the pedestrian bridge that will provide access to the proposed National Coast Guard Museum on the city’s waterfront as I am about the museum itself. As part of the museum plans, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has pledged $20 million in state aid to construct the bridge. Though the museum would be a game changer for downtown New London, if for some reason it does not come to fruition, the state should still build the bridge.
Richard Grahn, president and CEO of the National Coast Guard Museum, met with the Editorial Board last Tuesday and provided
an update on the status of the project. Grahn named the spring of 2021 as the target date for the opening of the museum. After laying the groundwork in 2016, the goal in 2017 will be substantial progress in raising funding, he said.
Led by U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Congress in 2016 amended a prohibition on federal funding for the museum, a roadblock erected as part of a crackdown on earmarks. Thanks to the amendment, the museum association can use federal funds to pay for exhibits and the spaces to display them. The museum association anticipates Congress, over several years, will authorize grants equaling about 30 percent of the estimated $100 million museum cost.
Also in 2016, the museum association and its Boston-based architectural firm, Payette, worked through the difficult challenges of designing a museum on a small waterfront footprint. It has to be capable of surviving the rising water that a mega storm would produce, an event statistically expected once every 500 years. The museum plan still must undergo the review required by the National Environmental Policy Act.
Many are grousing about the contemporary design of the proposed museum, with its glass waterside façade contrasting with the brick architecture of the nearby Union Train Station. I think the contrast in styles is invigorating and eye catching. It would depict a city that has roots in its past, but is not stuck in the past. New London should want people to notice the museum. Blending its architecture with a pseudo-19th century design mimicking the train depot would not do that. Frankly, it would be boring. And it wouldn’t work given the flooding concerns.
So, about that pedestrian bridge.
The bridge is necessary to get people over the catenary lines that power Amtrak’s electric-powered trains. It would not only carry visitors to the museum, but also provide safe passage from the Water Street parking garage, which the city plans to enlarge, and the Parade Plaza area to the train station, the Cross Sound Ferry terminal, and the waterfront.
As things stand now, pedestrians have to fight traffic to cross Water Street. Finding one’s way is confusing and even dangerous. It is not a good experience. And it provides no interaction with the city.
Entering across the glass-enclosed walkway, high above Water Street, would be a different experience altogether. Visitors would have a view of Bank Street and a better appreciation of the city’s interconnectedness with its waterfront. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Preston officials want bridge expansion moved up in infrastructure plan
Colorful maps
unveiled this week by the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority depicting the potential for several hundred million dollars' worth of development at the former Norwich Hospital also showed a narrow line cutting across the Thames River just south of both the project property and Mohegan Sun.
That is the Mohegan-Pequot Bridge, a two-lane span across the river described by a state transportation official as adequate for current traffic volumes and in good physical condition.
An estimated $100 million to improve the Route 2/2A/32 corridor between Preston and Montville, including a potential second bridge span, is listed in Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s “Let’s Go CT” massive $100 billion, 30-year state transportation infrastructure plan released in February 2015.
Thomas J. Maziarz, chief of the state Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Policy and Planning, said at the time that the Route 2/2A/32 project was envisioned as a “long-term need.”
But Preston residents and town officials were quick to point out this week that the narrow span likely would not be able to support traffic for
the destination resort development envisioned by tribal planners for the former Norwich Hospital property: a 40-acre theme park, outdoor adventure park, synthetic skiing, hotels, major sports complex and retail offerings.
On Wednesday, the morning after the unveiling, First Selectman Robert Congdon asked officials at the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments to set up a meeting with DOT Commissioner James P. Redeker to discuss moving up the proposed Route 2/2A/32 improvements, designating them as a high priority for this region.
“I think it makes perfect sense to move it up in the priority list to support economic growth of the region,” Congdon said.
Council of governments Executive Director James Butler said the project already is listed among six “highest long-term priorities” for the region, including a new bridge span over the Thames River, in the council’s “Long-Range Regional Transportation Plan FY 2015-2040.”
In both cases, Maziarz and Butler said, the plans can be altered to reflect changes in projected development or other regional priorities. For example, Butler said, the council listed completion of Route 11 as its top priority,
a project since canceled by state officials.
“It wouldn't be unusual to move a project up,” Maziarz said. “Occasionally, we’re being asked to put something as a higher priority because conditions change.”
According to traffic counts listed in the council of governments’ long-range plan, average daily traffic volumes from Mohegan Sun Boulevard to Preston on Route 2A increased from 15,500 in 1992 to 23,900 in 2014, a 54 percent hike.
Maziarz said without the proposed Norwich Hospital development, the current traffic totals would not warrant the proposed widening project that calls for two lanes in each direction with a second bridge span.
A tentative schedule of development of the former hospital property calls for finalizing the Property Disposition and Development Agreement by late February, followed by one year of final environmental cleanup before the tribe takes ownership of the property.
Mohegan Tribal Council Chairman Kevin Brown said Tuesday the five-year timeframe called for the proposed agreement — not yet public — would have development substantially completed by 2023.
“It takes several years just to design a bridge,” Butler said.
Other improvements to the corridor on both sides of the river also are anticipated and might be able to be done quicker than a bridge project, Maziarz said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
State Bond Commission meeting canceled, delaying Norwich Hospital cleanup funds
Preston — The state Bond Commission has canceled its Jan. 27 agenda, causing what is expected to be a slight delay in state approval of the final $10 million in cleanup money for the former Norwich Hospital property.
Following Tuesday’s news conference at the Sky Tower Hotel at Mohegan Sun, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy anticipated that the Bond Commission might meet in early February rather than next week, and he pledged approval of the $10 million at the upcoming meeting. At the news conference, the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority
unveiled its concept plan for a $200 million to $600 million development on the 393-acre former state hospital property in Preston.
Preston Redevelopment Agency Chairman Sean Nugent said he was informed by officials at the state Department of Economic and Community Development that the Jan. 27 Bond Commission meeting would be canceled. A new date for the Bond Commission meeting was not posted Friday afternoon on the state Office of Policy and Management website.
Nugent and First Selectman Robert Congdon both said Friday that the state’s delay would not directly affect the tentative schedule to hold public informational meetings in Preston on the draft Property Disposition and Development Agreement now in the final stages of negotiations with Mohegan tribal officials.
But firming up the proposed dates of Feb. 2 and 4 for informational meetings and Feb. 9 for a town meeting, will depend on whether the draft agreement can be completed in time for those meeting dates, Nugent said.
The parties set a Feb. 19 deadline to approve the development agreement.
Congdon said if the state Bond Commission hasn’t met by the time Preston is ready to vote on the purchase and sale agreement, the town could approve the agreement on condition that the state provide the $10 million in cleanup money. The
memorandum of understanding signed by tribal and town leaders in May contained the provision of state cleanup funding as well.
Manchester touts $86.4M in construction in 2016
Manchester experienced success with business growth and economic expansion in 2016, the town's director of planning and economic development said in a report released this week.
The value of construction projects grew for the third consecutive year in 2016, Gary Anderson, directing planner, says in the economic update.
The Building Department is able to track the value of construction projects because building permit fees are based in part on total estimated construction value, Anderson said.
Since the 2013 fiscal year, the value of new construction has more than doubled, rising from $34.7 million that year to $86.4 million in 2016, he said. It's also a marked increase from 2015, when construction value stood at $59.7 million.
The department expects continued growth in 2017, though there will be little expansion from the prior year, Anderson said. He estimated new construction at approximately $90 million this year, he said.
"While Manchester has very little developable commercial land remaining, we have seen continued interest in redevelopment of under-utilized properties and re-purposing of existing spaces," he said.
"In recent months, there has been a notable uptick in both activity and interest" in several parts of town, including aerospace and medical industry expansions in the Progress Drive business park and the commercial district on Tolland Turnpike, he continued. Vacant spaces in Buckland, the downtown area, and other commercial areas have also filled up in the past year, as "the development community, business leaders, and entrepreneurs continue to see Manchester as an attractive place to be," Anderson said.
Key projects contributing to Manchester's economic success this year included a new production facility for HydroFera, a manufacturer of medical sponges. The company has invested more than $1 million into 340 Progress Drive and will employ 50 workers, some of whom will be new hires. Additional significant new business developments include the East Point Cancer Center on Tolland Turnpike, which will employ up to 50 and serve 30 patients daily, and the Homewood Suites hotel on Pavilions Drive, which will give the town more than 500 total hotel rooms. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
North Haven another step closer to redevelopment of former Pratt and Whitney plant
NORTH HAVEN >> The town has done all it can do to facilitate the redevelopment of the former Pratt and Whitney plant, town officials said. Last week the Planning and Zoning Commission held a special meeting to approve the town’s application to extend Valley Service Road 700 feet into the former plant. The plans for the road were approved back in 2008, and the money was allocated then - $2.2 million, $1.6 million of which comes from the state. Planning and Zoning Commission chairman Vern Carlson could not be reached for comment. First Selectman Michael Freda said the road is the final stage of the project that needs town involvement. After that, it’s up to the property owner, Rabina Properties, to sign a deal with the end user, which hasn’t been publicly identified.
It’s a project Freda has been working on for months. In September, both the Inland Wetlands and Planning and Zoning commissions approved applications for the project, a 1.5 million-square-foot warehouse to be built on the 165-acre site at 415 Washington Ave. The plans also call for 245 tractor trailer parking spaces, approximately 47 loading docks, parking for approximately 2,500 cars and an overflow parking for 500 more spaces, making it one of the most significant projects in the town’s recent history. The project, if it comes to fruition, is expected to bring at least 1,000 jobs to North Haven. But deals like this can fall apart at any time, so Freda has declined to name to end user, but he said it is looking good that it will be finalized soon and an announcement could be made in the next two months. Rabina Properties acquired the former Pratt and Whitney site in 2001 and dubbed it Northeast Gateway Industrial Park, billing it as “the largest shovel-ready industrial commercial site available in the region.” Its location, between New York City and Boston, makes it “one of the most accessible industrial-commercial sites in the northeast,” according to its marketing materials. A representative from Rabina Properties couldn’t be reached for comment. The town has been involved in the steps necessary to bring the interested end user’s plans to a successful conclusion, Freda said, including his meetings with the State Traffic Commission earlier this month that he describes as “smooth.” The approvals to extend Valley Service Road was the last piece the town needed to contribute to make the project possible, Freda said.
“The road to be extended was actually approved back in 2008. There’s a total of $2.2 million allocated for this that was approved at a town meeting back in 2008. $1.6 of that is state funding,” he said. “So as we are trying to finalize this project with Rabina Properties, one of the procedural things we had to do was finalize this extension of the road from the end of Valley Service Road into the property itself. The town is working with the engineers to have that road extended to utilize the funding that has been in place for eight years.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
NCCC building on schedule
WINSTED – The building under construction for Northwestern Connecticut Community College’s veterinarian technology and allied health programs is on schedule and within its $28.7 million budget.
The project began in December 2015 and is scheduled for completion in July.
“We’re looking to be in the building for the fall semester,” NCCC’s Dean of Administration Steven Frazier said last week.
Frazier said there was one three-week delay when the contractor, Lawrence Brunoli Inc. of Farmington, realized he needed 318 steel beams instead of 294.
“So it took them a little longer to put in the extra ones and figure out where they had to go,” he said. “But they’ve made up most of that time.”
Frazier said workers will begin installing the windows soon “and buttoning up the rest of the building.” Eversource was there on Thursday to begin hooking the 24,000-square-foot building up with electricity.
Frazier said he has also ordered $1.5 million worth of equipment that should be delivered in the summer.
“That gives us 2 and a half months to get everything squared away,” he said. “We’re on top of it.”
But the existing allied health and vet tech building, the Joyner Learning Center, has to be demolished once the new building is complete. Frazier estimated demolition to take four to six weeks. The fall semester is slated to begin in early September.
“That doesn’t give us a lot of time,” he said.
But he said 60 percent of the equipment and furniture has already been removed from the Joyner Center, even though there are still a half dozen classes being held there.
“There are surgical labs we can’t copy anywhere else,” he said.
The Joyner Center on South Main Street, adjacent to the Route 8 southbound exit, was built in 1957 and was originally a supermarket. The new building is going up where Joyner’s parking lot was and once the Joyner Center is knocked down, a new parking lot will go there. Frazier said this will cause NCCC to lose 10 spaces, from 125 to 115, but that should not make it difficult for students and staff to find a parking space.
Grantley S. Adams, NCCC’s director of marketing and public relations, said enrollment figures for the vet tech and allied health programs were 119 and 226, respectively, in the fall of 2016.
The state bond commission approved $24.6 million for the project. Another $2 million in equipment and telecommunications previously bonded makes up roughly half the $4.1 million difference. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
