Rail bridge projects spell traffic nightmare in East Norwalk
NORWALK — Getting around East Norwalk in your car could become a nightmare under the state’s preliminary traffic detour plan for the Walk Bridge replacement.
As part of the broader project, the Connecticut Department of Transportation intends to replace the Osborne Avenue, Fort Point Street and East Avenue bridges along Metro-North Railroad’s New Haven Line.
A preliminary report prepared by the DOT’s engineering consultant, Parsons Brinckerhoff, shows Osborne Avenue closed, Fort Point Street regulated to alternating one-way signalized traffic and East Avenue closed to northbound traffic at their respective bridges.
Northbound traffic would detour onto Route 136/Winfield Street, Strawberry Hill Avenue and Fitch Street before returning to East Avenue north of the bridge.
The proposed traffic detours for the Walk Bridge program would go into effect from 2020 to 2023, according to Norwalk Department of Public Works officials. They’ve asked the DOT to rethink the plan.
“At this time, the City of Norwalk’s position is this traffic plan will pose a significant hardship to the community,” wrote Lisa Burns, principal engineer in the department, in an email to the DOT project manager overseeing the Walk Bridge replacement. “We are requesting to continue the dialogue to come up with a traffic control plan for the construction project that will mitigate congestion; preserve emergency services and public transportation; and protect pedestrians and commuters.”
The city of Norwalk would like to participate in project planning meetings with the construction manager and traffic engineer to address those concerns, Burns closed.
DOT spokesman Judd Everhart described the detour plan as preliminary and subject to change.
“The Department is consulting with the City of Norwalk regarding the range of alternatives for handling traffic during reconstruction of the Walk Bridge and the adjacent bridges,” Everhart said. “We would characterize any plans or options as very preliminary right now and subject to revision. Remember the bridge construction won’t start for at least another 18 months.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
DOT updates Norwalk on harbor impacts of Walk Bridge replacement
NORWALK — Rail and river traffic likely will come to a halt for a brief period of time when the Connecticut Department of Transportation moves into the critical phase of replacing the Walk Bridge over the Norwalk River.
“There may be a period of time when that does happen,” said Chris Brown, senior project manager with HNTB, the consultant firm engaged by the DOT for the project. “The railroad could be shut down and the waterway could be shut down. This is the third rail replacement project on the Northeast Corridor in Connecticut that I’ve worked and it just happens that way and there’s a lot of planning that goes on and communication.”
Brown and DOT Project Manager John D. Hanifin updated nearly two-dozen officials on the bridge replacement, including members of the Norwalk Harbor Management Commission, during a meeting in the Community Room of Norwalk City Hall on Wednesday afternoon. The meeting focused on the harbor channel and navigation as related to the project. Representatives of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the United State Coast Guard were in attendance.
Geoffrey Steadman, planning consultant for the harbor commission, asked how long the rail line was shut down when the Niantic River and Thames River bridges were replaced.
Brown described the Niantic project as different in that the rail tracks were built along a new alignment. The replacement of the Thames River Bridge between New London and Groton required rail service to shut down for 96 hours, he said.
“That was the time it took to remove the existing bascule span and install the new lift span,” Brown said. “And that’s a sensitive waterway with Electric Boat and the sub(marine) base and Coast Guard Academy right there — a very sensitive waterway and it was accommodated and a 96-hour shutdown was feasible. We’re looking at a scenario similar to that.”
In late 2018, the DOT plans to start replacing the Walk Bridge in Norwalk. The 120-year-old structure has failed to open and close properly on numerous occasions in recent years. The state’s preferred replacement is a 240-foot-vertical left bridge, which DOT officials say could largely be built around the existing swing-span bridge without disrupting rail or harbor traffic.
Brown said part of the reason for selecting a long-span vertical-lift bridge is that such a structure keeps the bulk of the construction activities outside of the navigational channel.
“Try to push everything as much to the outside as possible,” Brown said. “Because as much as we all love Norwalk River, it’s not that big of a waterway to accommodate a lot of different things going on at one time, and we want to be cognizant of everybody’s safety and everybody’s use of the waterway.”
Brown said certain construction activities will disrupt use of the channel. He cited placement of a construction barge in the east or west channel beneath the bridge. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Tribes unveil rendering of proposed East Windsor casino
Amid the frenzied back-and-forth surrounding their bid for a third Connecticut casino, the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes seized some high ground Wednesday, releasing a rendering of the East Windsor facility they hope to build as a hedge against MGM Springfield, the $950 million resort casino under construction in Massachusetts.
Hours earlier, MGM Resorts International, the Las Vegas operator behind the Springfield project, panned the tribes’ plan as a bad deal for taxpayers.
In addition to the rendering, the tribes, partners in an entity dubbed MMCT Venture, touted the benefits of Senate Bill 957, which, they said, would “include a massive infusion of funding to assist the state’s tourism industry.”
The bill, one of two casino-expansion measures the legislature’s Public Safety and Security Committee will air Thursday during a public hearing, would grant the tribes the exclusive right to develop a commercial casino on nontribal land. The tribes’ existing casinos, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, are located on their respective reservations and are considered “tribal” rather than “commercial.”
The second bill, House Bill 7239, would require the state to establish a competitive bidding process for choosing a casino operator. MGM Resorts, a big fan of 7239, staunchly has opposed the bill favoring the tribes.
The proposed East Windsor development, which the tribes describe as “a world-class” facility, would encompass 200,000 square feet of space and include 2,000 slot machines and 50 to 150 table games.
“As SB 957 stipulates, the facility would pay a 25 percent tax on its slot machines and a 25 percent tax on its table games, on par with Massachusetts tax rates,” MMCT said in a statement. “The table-game tax rate will be split, with 10 percent of the revenue going directly to the state and 15 percent going to support state tourism initiatives.”
“Under those parameters,” the tribes said, “the bill could add as much as $10 million to the state's annual tourism promotion budget.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Preston officials reviewing final draft agreement with Mohegans for Norwich Hospital property
Preston — The Preston Redevelopment Agency has received a final draft of the proposed purchase and sale agreement between the town and the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority for the tribe's proposed $200 million to $600 million development of the former Norwich Hospital property in town, but is not yet ready to vote and release the 150-page document.
The agreement has been in the hands of town and tribal attorneys, who have been holding closed-door meetings for the past several weeks, ironing out technical language and final adjustments, town officials have said as they delayed scheduling planned public informational meetings and a town meeting and referendum.
On Wednesday, the PRA reviewed the final draft in executive session. Chairman Sean Nugent said before the PRA votes on the proposed agreement, the agency first wants to brief the Board of Finance in executive session on the “financial components” of the agreement. The PRA then would vote on the agreement and forward it to the Board of Selectmen to schedule public meetings and the referendum needed to approve it.
First Selectman Robert Congdon said Wednesday afternoon that he had not yet seen the final draft document, although he has been involved in the negotiations for the past several months. Congdon said the financial components to be discussed with the Board of Finance could include property tax structuring for development on the property, repayment of the $2 million environmental cleanup loan from the state — which could be converted into a grant if the project meets development goals set by the state — and the repayment of the town's nearly $1 million in unpaid outstanding legal bills from past reviews of the failed proposed Utopia Studios project.
The Board of Finance meeting was not scheduled as of Wednesday evening, board Chairman Norman Gauthier said.
The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority and town officials announced last May that they had reached an agreement for the tribe to take over ownership and development of the entire 393-acre former Norwich Hospital property. The two parties quickly reached agreement on a 12-page memorandum of understanding that outlined a proposed five-year development period that would start as soon as the town completed the final environmental cleanup of the property, estimated to take one year. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE