Legislative Alert!
Stop the Transportation Cuts!
TAKE 2 MINUTES AND USE THIS LINK TO STOP TRANSPORTATION CUTS
THAT ARE IN THE HOUSE DEMOCRATS’ BUDGET!IT TAKES 2 MINUTES!
STOP TRANSPORTATION CUTS TODAY!
Thank you for your support!
Your support is needed for a press conference with Governor Malloy on the Transportation Funding Lockbox!
Date: Today – JULY 5, 2017
Time: 12:30pm (Please plan to arrive early!)
Place: ConnDOT Garage
140 Pond Lily Avenue
New Haven, Connecticut
A strong showing of support is important! Connecticut needs this Transportation Lockbox, and we have to show support for Governor Malloy as he opposes the House Democrats’ Budget proposal that guts the Special Transportation Fund!
Please bring as many people from your organization as possible. And forward this message to others who support transportation investments in Connecticut!
State Office Building Renovation May Spark Neighborhood Revival
A long-awaited $205 million renovation of the State Office Building on Capitol Avenue could serve as the catalyst for an even bigger goal: bringing back a neighborhood where one hasn't existed for decades.
As demolition gets underway in the office building this month and a crane dismantles a nearby parking garage that's part of the project, planners are digging into how the area's blank slate of parking lots could be transformed into a neighborhood of residences, shops and restaurants anchored by the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts.
"This would light up the south of Bushnell Park in the way that it just isn't now," said David Fay, The Bushnell's president and chief executive.
This summer, architect and Hartford native Doug Suisman, a consultant to the iQuilt project, is designing renderings of just what the neighborhood of about 20 acres could look like and mapping out how to get there. One chief goal, which dovetails with iQuilt's goal to make the city more walkable, is connecting the park to Hartford Hospital and beyond.
The renovation of the 86-year-old State Office Building and the replacement of a parking garage with a larger one is a critical piece. A larger parking venue will free up wide swaths of surface parking, especially to the east of the office building.
The lot closest to the limestone-and-granite office building will become a landscaped plaza, roughly the size of a football field. Immediately to the east, more parking is seen as ripe for a combination of housing, shops, restaurants and a parking garage hidden from the street.The overall redevelopment is likely to cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Financing, which still must be lined up, would be a combination of private investment and and public subsidy, a portion of the latter coming from the Capital Region Development Authority. There will be additional challenges to taxpayer-backed funding as the state deals with its budget woes. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
I-95 bridge replacement in New Haven, West Haven 3 months ahead of schedule, governor says
HARTFORD >> The state Department of Transportation has been able to shave off three months from the construction schedule for the new, replacement bridge being built over the West River along Interstate 95, which connects New Haven and West Haven, officials said in a release Monday.
The time saving is being done as a result of innovative construction techniques, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and DOT Commissioner James P. Redeker said in the release.The bridge carries about 135,000 vehicles per day both north and south on the interstate, officials said. “We all agree that for too many decades, our state did not make the investments needed to ensure we maintained a modernized transportation system,” Malloy said in the release. “Through projects like this, we are finally taking bold steps towards making a best-in-class transportation system a reality. The growth of our economy depends on these kinds of major upgrades, and our residents deserve nothing less than an efficient, upgraded, and renewed infrastructure that advances progress, mitigates congestion, and creates jobs.” A unique method of incremental launching of the steel girders is being employed on the project, according to the release. Rather than erecting the steel one piece at a time during nighttime lane closures, the girders are being assembled in the median and incrementally “pushed” from east to west, along the entire length of the new bridge, officials said.
This operation was originally scheduled to take 60 days of nighttime lane closures and interference with traffic. With the revised method, all construction will be completed in the current work zone during the daytime, requiring only three days of interference to existing traffic flow, according to the release. In addition, by allowing for daytime work activity, this accelerated bridge construction will eliminate a total of 292 nighttime work shifts, greatly reducing the inconvenience to the traveling public, officials said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE