More than 50 Interstate bridges in Connecticut remain structurally deficient, according to a new study, of nearly 340 statewide crossed by vehicles 4.7 million times daily.
Connecticut was among the states to reduce the percentage of structurally deficient bridges in 2016, down 5 percent from the year before according to an American Road & Transportation Builders Association analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Among Northeast states, only Vermont had a better record in 2016, reducing its inventory of deficient bridges by 18 percent, trailing only California’s whopping 30 percent reduction. New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Rhode Island all saw increases in their preponderance of problem bridges.
Of more than 4,200 bridges in Connecticut, 8 percent are classified as structurally deficient, according to ARTBA. About 1,070 bridges or 25 percent are classified as functionally obsolete with design standards no longer in line with current demands.
ARTBA singled out the 60-year-old Yankee Doodle Bridge on Interstate 95 in Norwalk as the bridge with structural deficiencies that carries the most traffic daily, ranking 86th nationally with 146,000 crossings daily. Other heavily trafficked I-95 bridges in southwestern Connecticut in the report include spans at the Saugatuck River in Westport and the Byram River in Greenwich. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
East Hampton picks building committee members for new town hall, police station
EAST HAMPTON >> Town officials are moving forward with alacrity to set the stage for construction of a new town hall/police station. Having decided earlier this month on a site for the new town hall in the Edgewater Hill mixed-use development, the Town Council on Tuesday selected nine members to serve on a building committee. They also gave preliminary approval to begin the process of hiring a project architect. The councilors also said they hope to put a proposal for construction of the new municipal building to a town-wide referendum some time during the first two weeks of September. Finding a new building to house the police department has been a subject of on-and-off discussions since 1982. Council Chairwoman Patience R. Anderson said she hopes the building committee will hold its first meeting next week.
Last year, the council spent several months reviewing a proposal to convert the center School into a municipal complex. The council eventually abandoned that idea amid spiraling cost estimates. In November, the council requested proposals for a new location for the town hall, which is aged, cramped and no longer able to meet the standards of a 21st century government facility. The police station, located in the basement, is an embarrassment to the town, officials have said. It is too small, does not have adequate facilities for modern policing and cannot accommodate a female officer.
Last month, police had to abandon the station for several days while a new floor was installed after a drain backed up and spewed “grey water” throughout the station. Both the police department and the town hall are not in compliance with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, officials acknowledge. The council reviewed eight proposals, and settled on a 5.4-acre site in the Edgewater Hills complex. Stephen Motto, the developer of the complex, said he will give the land to the town. He will also remain involved in overseeing construction of the building, which he estimated would contain 32,000 to 40,000 square feet. Motto will become construction manager for the eventual construction of the building and will be paid an estimated $400,000 for his work.Two councilors, Ted Hintz Jr. and Mark Philhower, raised questions about that arrangement. But their fellow councilors (minus Melissa Engel, who was absent) said they were not similarly concerned. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Sound plan to renovate East Lyme elementary schools
Niantic Center School is freshly scrubbed, cheery yellow and pleasantly decked out with bright artwork, student projects and picture books. Still, it’s not difficult to see the building’s challenges just below this bright veneer. Among them: a gym and stage no physically handicapped person can easily access, 65-year-old windows that rattle in the wind and no longer block chilly outdoor air, and excess classrooms turned into storage space.
Then there’s security. Visitors walk a considerable distance after being admitted through the front door and before reaching the office.
While the details of the challenges facing East Lyme’s three elementary schools vary from building to building, all share the reality that renovation work is essential to ensure they remain safe and effective learning environments into the foreseeable future. Because of this, the proposed $35.8 million renovation proposal for Niantic Center, Flanders and Lillie B. Haynes elementary schools deserves support.
East Lyme’s elementary school building plan has a long and somewhat circuitous history and in this instance these delays turned out to have a good result. Ultimately, the added time and new information resulted in a more cost effective and viable proposal.
School officials began considering the future of the town’s elementary schools more than seven years ago. A design committee was appointed nearly three years ago. For much of the past several years, officials leaned toward having just two elementary schools, which could have meant administrative and maintenance efficiencies. The two-school plans would have returned one building to the town for alternative use or sale. These two-school proposals were built on a foundation showing the number of pupils in kindergarten through grade four declining into the foreseeable future, a reality nearly all Connecticut school districts now face.
Other realities, however, forced delays in moving early plans forward. A plan to close Lillie B. Haynes, for example, was scrapped in part because it was determined the building would have few viable alternative uses. In addition, the Board of Education balked at the $58 million project cost and its impact on taxpayers during a flagging economy.
By early 2016, officials instead considered a $34 million plan to renovate Lillie B. Haynes, close Niantic Center and delay renovation of Flanders.
Apartment complex approved for former Frontier site in New Haven
NEW HAVEN >> A major apartment development on one of the last pieces of available land downtown was approved Wednesday, as was a special permit for a large garage on the site, though there were concerns about the traffic it will generate.
Spinnaker Real Estate Partners of South Norwalk plans to build 269 units of market rate housing and related amenities in the first phase of development, which will be called Audubon Square.The 3.3-acre block is bound by Orange, Audubon, State and Grove streets. The building will span the length of Audubon Street, as well as the northern portions of Orange and State streets. That portion which borders Orange Street will be seven stories, while the townhouses along Audubon will be four, more in line with the housing already on that block. The project will have mix of studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. A private drive through the property will run from Audubon Street under the second floor of main building to a curb cut on Grove Street.
A portion of the building to the west of the private road will wrap a 648-space, 165,000-square-foot garage, which will have one underground level and eight levels above ground. Spinnaker bought the site from Frontier Communications for $5 million.Part of the deal required the developer to provide 525 parking spaces for Frontier workers during the day and 250 on the weekend; 202 spaces will be set aside for the tenants. In addition to the garage, there will be 68 surface spaces for parkers.But before the City Planning Commission approved the proposal, Anstress Farwell, who heads the New Haven Urban Design League, said the plan’s impact on pedestrians, bicyclists, school buses, public transit and private shuttles must be considered. In a letter addressed to the members of the New Haven City Plan Commission, Farwell said the completed traffic study did not examine the effect the project would have on users, nor did the documents submitted for Site Plan Review include information on current bus stops, which are located near the entrance of the proposed 648-space parking garage on Orange Street. “Crossing the streets is currently difficult and dangerous for pedestrians, especially at the intersections of Orange and Trumbull and Orange and Audubon,” Farwell stated in her letter. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE