Ansonia’s $5.2 million Wakelee Avenue rebuild to start April 1
ANSONIA-It’s historic, heavily traveled and desperately in need of a facelift.
Come April 1 reconstruction of Wakelee Avenue from Nolan Field to Division Street will begin thanks to $4,416,510 in state bonding, an additional $441,000 in state contingency funds and $441,000 from the city.
“This is great news for the residents and businesses on the West Side,” said Mayor David Cassetti as he signed a contract with J.Iapaluccio Construction of Brookfield Tuesday. “Wakelee Avenue serves as the gateway to Ansonia from Seymour and Derby. The residents will be getting a brand new street.”
Unlike other municipal highway projects which have been delayed or scuttled by the state’s budgetary crisis, the check for this project is in the city’s hands.
Plans call for straightening, milling and paving the slightly more than mile-long buckled, patched roadway which residents like Waldy Beltran describe as a roller coaster ride. Cassetti said the entire surface will be dug up, the asphalt covered turn-of-the century trolley tracks underneath removed and new drainage and catch basins installed. “Residents deserve to see their neighborhoods refurbished,” said Corporation Counsel John P. Marini. “It increases the value of their homes. It makes the city more aesthetically pleasing to investors.”
He admitted there will be “short-term inconveniences” but said they’ll “lead to a very positive long-term impact.”
All of the deteriorated sidewalks on both sides of the street will be demolished and a new base with cement will be installed. Corners will have granite curbs cut for handicapped access while street lights will be installed every 75 feet.
For people like Chris Godfrey that’s “great news. On Tuesday afternoon Godfrey slowly manipulated his crutches over the broken up sidewalk between his Pork Hollow home and Jackson Street bus stop while he and Marissa Mansfield waited for their seven-year-old son, Kevin. “It’s about time these sidewalks were fixed,” said Godfrey, who is recovering from knee surgery.
“Try pushing a baby stroller down these sidewalks.” said Mansfield. “It’s difficult. These sidewalks need to be replaced.”
What won’t be replaced Cassetti said are the cement block horse ties or the Pork Hollow monument installed in 1901 in front of Klanko’s Market. The monument commemorates the actions of colonial soldiers and civilians who hid provisions, particularly pork, from an invading British Army in 1777. “Those monuments are very important. Please, Please be careful,” Cassetti told Kris Nigro, Iapaluccio’s vice president of construction work. She said Iapaluccio’s work includes the Brookfield and Madison streetscapes and New Haven’s Bowen Field. The project is something Cassetti has been pushing since taking office in 2013.
“I went before the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments and made my case,” he said. “I got full support from the 19-member towns.”
Under the terms of the contract, work will take place from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday any after hours or weekend work must receive city approval, said Bill Anderson, senior project engineer for VBH of Wethersfield. The workers must notify owners two weeks in advance if any property disturbance is planned and 24 hours in advance for a driveway cut. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Temporary closure of North Water Street starts Wednesday
NORWALK — Starting Wednesday morning, North Water Street will be closed between West Avenue and the Metro-North Railroad Danbury Line tracks to allow ongoing work on The SoNo Collection.
A temporary detour road has been built to connect Pine Street Extension and North Water Street. Motorists also may continue to use Ann and Marshall streets.
Wednesday’s closure of North Water Street marks a slight change in the timetable as the city, mall builder General Growth Properties and the Connecticut Department of Transportation work to minimize disruptions resulting from the mall construction and upcoming DOT work.
The Norwalk Traffic Authority initially authorized closing the roadway from Feb. 15 to May 15 to allow work on The SoNo Collection but amended that on Monday to the time period Jan. 23 to May 15. “We got an opportunity to move it up, so it’s going to take it off the back end,” James Adams, consultant to GGP, told the traffic authority. “We can slide everything forward and get us open and that way in no way we’ll interfere with DOT’s work on Ann Street. We’ll clear them. We were at a meeting, coordinating with them, coordinating with DOT and Ann Street and their closure, so I think it’s good for everybody.”
The DOT expects two approximately 50-day closures of Ann Street — one this spring, the other in the fall — to replace the superstructure of the railroad bridge over the street. The work is part of preliminary track-and-signal upgrades related the replacement of the Walk Bridge replacement, which is expected to begin in 2019. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Start date for Plainville school project uncertain
PLAINVILLE – The state budget crisis may delay the start of a $22.8 million renovation project at Wheeler Elementary School.
“It’s something we have little control over,” said Town Manager Robert Lee. “It’s up in the air when we are going to start.”
He said the town is on the state’s recommended priority list, but the project still needs final approval. The town is expecting a 65 percent state reimbursement. The state budget includes $453 million for school construction for fiscal year 2018.
The Department of Administrative Services qualified the school for renovate-as-new funding due to the fact that the current size of the school exceeds space requirements for a new building.
The project was reduced in the fall by $705,000, less than $450 per square foot, in order to qualify.
The “oversized” status of the building was initially going to be waived, but the district was recently informed that the exemption would not be granted and that Wheeler would need more students.
School Superintendent MaureenBrummett is currently working on a plan to enroll 45 additional students when the project is done.
“We’ve met all criteria and the blueprints have been approved,” she said recently. “Everything is in good order.”
The town’s Capital Project Building Committee recently decided to hold off on a decision to spend $42,000 on design and documentaion work.
They are expected to talk more about the project and status next week.
“We will be monitoring it very closely,” Brummett said.
She said if the state signs off on the project soon, the town can go out to bid in April or May. Construction would then start when school lets out for the summer.
If the state does not sign off by spring, the project may be delayed until next year.
“The question is – when will we know?” Lee said. “We don’t want to move forward without having that in place.”
The state budget includes $453 million for school construction for fiscal year 2018.
Developer seeks wetlands permit for first phase of Perkins Farm project in Mystic
Mystic — The developer of the former Perkins farm property is seeking a wetlands permit for the first phase of the project, construction of a four-story, 121-unit apartment building.
While the Stonington Planning and Zoning Commission already has approved a master plan to construct a 71-acre medical, academic and residential campus, the application by developer David Lattizori of Groton to the town’s inland wetlands commission is the first to construct a building. The wetlands commission has slated a public hearing on the application for 7 p.m. Feb. 1 at the police station. If it is approved, Lattizori will need to obtain site plan approval for the building from the Planning and Zoning Commission.
The wetlands permit is needed for the construction of the building, roads, storm drainage, utilities and landscaping. Some of that work would be done in the wetlands and the upland review area that borders wetlands.
The application states 3.7 acres of upland review area would be disturbed, as well as 4,953 square feet of actual wetlands, where 45 cubic yards of gravel would be deposited. The apartment building has 286 parking spaces and a pool.
Lee Gardiner, who owns an adjacent home at 223 Jerry Browne Road has sent a memo to the wetlands commission opposing the permit. Specifically, Gardiner objects to the location of a secondary entrance that would serve the residential portion of the project and be located 100 feet from the Gardiner home’s driveway. The entrance would be located just southeast of Pequotsepos Road.Gardiner wrote that Lattizori’s engineers have not offered alternatives to the road location that would have less impact on the wetlands and upland review areas. Gardiner also projected that this so-called second entrance will become more heavily used than the proposed main entrance.
Under the approved master plan, the main entrance to the project, which is projected to serve the medical and academic portions of the campus, would be located at the existing intersection of Coogan Boulevard and Jerry Browne Road. Plans call for a four-way stop there using signs, not lights.
If built as envisioned by Lattizori, the project would become the town’s largest taxpayer, generating an estimated $1.3 million a year in tax revenue and creating several hundred jobs.
Rojas to propose 4-cent hike in CT gasoline tax
The House chairman of the General Assembly's tax-writing panel announced Tuesday he will propose adding 4 cents per gallon to Connecticut's gasoline tax to avert a crisis in the transportation program.
Rep. Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford, said this proposal would not eliminate the need for a more in-depth debate to address Connecticut's transportation financing needs for decades to come.
But unless some action is taken during the regular 2018 session — which begins Feb. 7 — Rojas said he's convinced capital projects will stall, rail and bus fares will rise, and key transit services will be canceled.
"Something has to be done, and tolls are still several years out," Rojas said. "We have an immediate need for revenue."
Rojas, who posted his plans Tuesday on Twitter, then discussed them in an interview with The Mirror.
The East Hartford lawmaker echoed concerns raised over the past two months by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who has alerted everyone from Wall Street investors to business leaders to state legislators about the need for immediate action.
His Tweet @jrojas9 reads: "Those who are honest about our transportation needs will agree. I plan to introduce a bill to raise the gas tax by 4 cents to expand the conversation."
"An investment in transportation is an investment in Connecticut's economic future," Malloy spokesman Leigh Appleby said. "We appreciate Representative Rojas's recognition that we must take immediate action to keep the Special Transportation Fund solvent and his willingness to put real ideas on the table. Governor Malloy will put forward his own detailed plan before the start of the next legislative session, and we look forward to working with the legislature to find a long-term solution."
The Special Transportation Fund, which holds about $1.51 billion this fiscal year and represents about 7 percent of the overall budget, is in crisis. The administration says the existing transportation program is headed for a series of annual deficits starting with the fiscal year that begins July 1, and would reach insolvency by mid-2020.
Growth in gasoline tax receipts has been meager for much of the past decade, in part because of improving vehicle efficiency.
Meanwhile, debt costs on transportation bonds –involving both outstanding debt and anticipated borrowing in the next few years — are surging rapidly as Connecticut tries to reverse decades of deferred maintenance and other infrastructure investment.
Debt costs alone are projected to jump 38 percent over the next three years combined — and 73 percent over the next five.
Rojas said he believes raising the retail gasoline tax, which currently stands at a flat 25-cents-per-gallon, is the most transparent way to address the transportation fund's needs.
Connecticut also imposes a wholesale levy on gasoline when it is delivered to stations. That cost typically then is built into the price charged to motorists.
"I thought the excise tax was the clearest to the general public," Rojas said. "I think there's a lot of concern among the general public about transportation. And I think, when public officials are honest with them about the need, and if they have faith that the money will be used for transportation, they will understand."
Rojas said he also anticipates support from Connecticut's business community, which includes many vocal advocates for greater transportation investment.
The head of the Connecticut Construction Industry Association, Don Shubert, recently warned a major contraction in the state's transportation program could cause hard-to-reverse damage to a construction industry already in retreat.
Earlier this month Malloy outlined nearly 400 capital projects worth $4.3 billion that would be suspended over the next five years because of inadequate funding for transportation.
"Considering the governor's comments, and all indications from the state's presentation to the (Wall Street) credit rating agencies, it's clear that the revenues flowing into the Special Transportation Fund are not sufficient," Shubert said Tuesday.
The alternatives, both project and service cutbacks, "are in nobody's best interest right now," Shubert said, adding he believes many businesses would back Rojas' proposed tax hike.
Rojas added he is willing to discuss options for phasing in the tax increase, but insists something needs to be done now — regardless of the fact that 2018 is a state election year and legislators traditionally steer clear of tax increases during those times. CLCIK TITLE TO CONTINUE
New Poll Finds Support For Tolls
HARTFORD, CT — A poll of 980 Connecticut drivers found that 47 percent of them support the idea of adding electronic tolls.
The poll was conducted by AAA Allied and AAA Northeast, Jan. 12-14. It has a 3.1 percent margin of error.
The 47 percent who support tolls was more than the 30 percent who don’t support any increase in fees. Another 16 percent said they would support an increase in federal and state gas taxes instead of tolls and five percent said they would pay a fee based on the annual number of miles they drive. Another 2 percent don’t believe any funding is needed.
The survey also found that 87 percent of drivers support a constitutional amendment to create a “lockbox” to ensure that gas tax receipts and other transportation-related fees are used to finance state transportation projects. Voters will have an opportunity to approve the constitutional amendment at the ballot box this November.
The poll comes just ahead of the 2018 legislative session where Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the General Assembly are expected to tackle the shortfall in the state’s Special Transportation Fund. If no changes are made to the current methods of raising revenue, the fund will be about $38 million in deficit by 2019 and the red ink is expected to grow to $216 million by 2022. It is critical that the motoring public, those who pay hundreds of millions in motor vehicle taxes and fees, have a voice in how transportation funds are collected and protected,” Amy Parmenter, public and government affairs manager for AAA, said. ”AAA’s intention in conducting the survey was to help make motorists’ opinions known to lawmakers and transportation stakeholders.”
In the next few weeks, Malloy is expected to unveil his proposal to resolve the deficit. In the meantime, he’s canceled $4.3 billion in transportation projects that impact every community in the state.
The Connecticut House came close to approving highway tolls last year, but after a few hours of debate the bill was removed from consideration without a vote.