Fairfield County drivers probably won't be surprised to find out that Stamford made the list of America’s top 20 cities with the worst traffic congestion, according to a study released Tuesday.
Stamford is the 17th most gridlocked city in the U.S., ranking between Austin, Texas, and Tacoma, Washington, according to traffic data company INRIX. People who commute by car to Stamford spent on average 41 hours stuck in traffic last year, costing $1,588 per driver.
With 85 percent of work commutes taken by car, the U.S. ranked as the most congested developed country in the world, INRIX found. And for the sixth year in a row, Los Angeles is the most congested city in the world, topping world capitals like Moscow, London or Paris, according to the study. With limited access freeways and arterials, Los Angeles drivers spent 102 hours sitting in congestion last year during peak periods.
Bridgeport and Danbury were ranked 57th and 58th, respectively, with drivers spending more than 20 hours on average a year in congestion last year.
In an earlier study, INRIX found that Stamford's worst traffic congestion "hotspot" is I-95 south at Route 136 to Stratford Avenue.
The Cross-Bronx Expressway (I-95) in New York is the worst traffic corridor in the country, the study shows. The average New York driver spends 118 hours per year sitting in congestion, an increase of 37 percent over last year. According to INRIX, traffic jams cost New York City about $34 billion last year.
Public hearing mixed on proposed trail in Plainville
PLAINVILLE - Bike trail supporters and detractors packed the auditorium of the Middle School of Plainville Monday to make their voices heard on the proposed path.
Steering committee member Tim Malone of the Capitol Region Council of Governments began the public hearing with an overview of the project. Theresa Carr of the steering committee took notes on comments made by members of the audience.
Residents and out-of-town visitors filled nearly every seat.
The proposed trail alignment, maps of which were provided to attendees, would create a 5.3-mile bicycle path from Northwest Drive to Town Line Road that is 98 percent off-road. This would close the “Plainville Gap” in the East Coast Greenway, a network of connected trails throughout the region. State funding has been promised to support the project.
The steering committee and town leaders such as Town Manager Robert E. Lee and Director of Planning and Economic Development Mark Devoe have supported the trail, arguing that it will bring increased business to the town as well as being a positive amenity.
Trail opponents have raised concerns about privacy, safety, environmental impact and property values.
Lee and Devoe have said that environmental impacts would be minimal, trails do not cause an uptick in crime and barriers could be included to ensure privacy. They have also cited studies showing that having a bike path increases adjacent property values. Malone backed up these rebuttals.
Resident Barbara Davison was among those that supported the trail.
“This is the best possible route and it goes through many beautiful parts of town. Farmington and Southington have invested in trails and seen the benefits,” she said.
Members of the local chamber of commerce, police department, parks and recreation department and youth services supported the trail gap closure.
Resident Kathy LaBella was among the voices of opposition. She argued that the state will not have enough money in its transportation fund to support the construction of the trail.
“The governor has postponed $4.3 billion in transportation projects and if they do seek to raise money for this fund it will be through burdensome tolls and gas taxes,” she said. “It is fiscally irresponsible to spend money on a recreational trail when there are so many critical projects that need to be funded.”
Malone said that he has spoken with the state Department of Transportation and that they consider the project a priority. Town Council Chair Kathy Pugliese also reiterated that the council will not support the project if state funding does not come through. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Southington PZC considers Wonx Spring apartments
SOUTHINGTON — Planning and Zoning Commission members considered a plan for apartment buildings off Wonx Spring Road late into the night Tuesday, hearing from developers and area residents.
Local developer Carl Verderame proposed five apartment buildings on Hunters Lane off Wonx Spring Road. If built, they’ll total 40 units of 55 and older apartments.
The property is part of the former Allied Controls complex, a company that moved to Waterbury three decades ago. A portion of the land contaminated by the factory has an environmental land use restriction.
Area residents oppose the plan, citing concerns over disruption of contaminated land near the proposed apartment site as well as the disruption they say the apartments will bring.
Stephen Giudice, an engineer representing the developer, said there is an environmental land use restriction on a portion of the site, but not where the apartments will be located. Residential construction could take place within the restricted area with certain construction methods and precautions.
Giudice also presented alternative plans that would put houses, duplexes or 130 housing units on the site. Those developments would cause more traffic and environmental impact, Guidice said, arguing that the age-restricted apartments were the “least intrusive” use for the land.
Neighbors who spoke Tuesday night weren’t convinced and argued that rentals weren’t in keeping with the neighborhood’s character.
Kayla Swain, a Hunters Lane resident who bought her home last year, was concerned that the undeveloped land on the site wouldn’t remain that way.
“All that land that’s left there, that’s definitely going to be built on,” she said. “They’re going to want to make their money off that land.”
Giudice said there are no plans to do so and that much of the empty land was wetlands.
He said many of the objections to the development didn’t concern the town’s regulations, which are the criteria upon which the commission should judge the plan.
Neighbors opposed previous plans for an industrial park on the land, forming a group "Southington Citizens for Common Sense Land Use" and filing a lawsuit against the town and the wetlands commission to block the development. The court settlement allowed the developer to build age-restricting housing on the property rather than build an industrial park.
Berlin to move forward with police station upgrades
BERLIN – Plans to upgrade jail cells at the police department are moving forward, as well as a study that will look at future renovations to the current facility.
“Right now there are too many opportunities for prisoners in cells to attempt suicide,” said Deputy Police Chief Chris Ciuci.
The cells currently have bars which have been used in suicide attempts.
He said a recent attempt occurred in January. Before that there was an attempt in 2016.
Since 2016, the department has spent $48,000 in overtime to have an officer in the holding area when a prisoner is jailed to prevent suicide. The department has been focusing on modernizing the holding area to get rid of the bars and use plexiglass instead.
The Town Council waived the bidding process Tuesday for a design and build agreement with a construction company out of Milford. The council previously tabled the topic to further evaluate the current facility’s future.
“We need to do it,” said Karen Pagliaro, councilor. “It’s a no brainer.”
She said it was “eye opening” to see the state of the jails during a recent tour.
The council agreed is it a human life issue as well as town liability concern.
Trumbull will be updating nine of its jail cells, in collaboration with the same construction company, for an estimate of $250,000. Berlin will be updating four cells.
Funding is currently in the police budget from other capital projects.
The council sent a statement of need for the Berlin police facility as a whole to the public building commission for review. The previous council voted against sending a plan for a new station on Farmington Avenue to referendum.
“We have to do something,” said Mayor Mark Kaczynski.
The police commission recently drafted a statement of need to move forward with a cost and feasibility study to expand the current police space into the attached board of education area.
The station as is stands now lacks space. The latest upgrade was done to the more than 30-year old police communication system which was bonded last year for more than $1 million.
Ciuci said an interview room off the lobby and inside police headquarters is needed for safety reasons and better accessibility. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Neighbors Of Proposed Gravel Operation Angered By Trucking Route
The town plan and zoning commission is trying to determine the best route for trucks trying to access a proposed gravel operation along Dug Road.
William Dufford is hoping to mine 210,000 cubic yards of sand and gravel from a 10-acre parcel between Dug Road and Tryon Street in South Glastonbury. Residents along Duffords Landing, directly west of the proposed operation, are upset at the prospect of more than 12,000 trucks traveling through their small development.
The proposed route has trucks traveling from the gravel operation behind a pair of houses and then down their steep shared driveway to Duffords Landing — a short cul-de-sac — then on to Tryon Street. William Dufford, who developed Duffords Landing, lives just south of the development.
Virginia Blair, who owns a house at the end of the cul-de-sac, said at a public hearing this week that she opposed the plan to use the driveway and street as a “heavy construction machinery thoroughfare.” She purchased her home nearly four years ago after “being charmed by the lovely, quiet setting.” “The thought of it is as upsetting as it is ludicrous,” she said of the trucking route. “Our children play here. Our neighbors’ children play here and this is a residential area, not an industrial district. … How grossly irresponsible would this decision be?
“If this land was to be utilized as an industrial gravel quarry zone, then so be it,” she added. “But do not sell it to profit and turn around years later as an industrial thoroughfare. This issue exemplifies zoning at its worst. … I urge you to use logic and pure common sense.”
Chairwoman Sharon H. Purtill asked the developer’s attorney, Meghan Hope, to return to the commission with other options for a truck route.
“We aren’t going to make everyone happy,” Purtill said. “But we need to try and get his right to develop his property and balance that with the neighbors. And balance that with the roads and the trucks and try and see if there is some way to resolve this.”
Labor Bets On MGM Casino
New Haven’s labor unions flexed their political muscle to back MGM Resorts’s proposed casino in Bridgeport, as a showdown begins over tribal nations’ competing plans.
At a rally Tuesday night at UNITE HERE’s hall at First & Summerfield Church on Elm Street, three mayors, four state legislators (two of them Republicans), a gubernatorial hopeful, nine alders and a crew of workers from other MGM properties spoke about the jobs that a resort casino could bring to the region.
Betting on a strong market in Southern Connecticut, with its access to trains from Manhattan and ferries from Long Island, MGM has proposed building a $675 million, waterfront casino in Bridgeport. A casino there has been an ambition for multiple developers, including Donald Trump.
The company has also agreed to open a workforce development center in New Haven, where 2,000 employees would be trained. “This resort will need people who handle money and luggage; people who plan menus, prepare the food and serve it; people who buy advertising; and people who manage the payroll for all those jobs,” Mayor Toni Harp said. The partnership deals New Haven into the pack with Bridgeport as a political team to work alongside UNITE HERE in Hartford, where a legislative showdown against Native American tribes will take place. At Tuesday’s meeting, Bob Proto, UNITE HERE — Local 35’s longtime president, announced that he has struck a neutrality agreement for the proposed casino. Essentially, that means MGM, which already works with UNITE HERE at 27 hotels like the Bellagio and Mandalay Bay on the Vegas Strip, won’t interfere with organizing employees at the new project. So workers will have a union and earn living wages and benefits.
“This state needs new ideas, and now, a private investor wants to come in, who won’t put a burden on taxpayers,” Proto said. “But we have some folks that are cynical and narrow-minded in this state. Ask the folks in this region, in Bridgeport, if they want a good job with benefits. Because if you go against this project, you’re going against opportunity. And the fact is we’re not going to let that happen.” After jamming out to the 1970 single “When Will We Be Paid?” by The Staple Singers, UNITE HERE organizer Rev. Scott Marks took the pulpit and got the crowd revved up. “This is real,” he told roughly 85 union members in attendance. “Bring the jobs, that’s what we need. Bring the jobs, that’s how our family eats.”
Wearing green shirts that read, “7,000 Jobs / No Taxpayer Dollars,” they rose to their feet and cheered for each speaker. (Bridgeport’s Mayor Joe Ganim and the Republican politicians were present but didn’t take the microphone.) At one point, led by Walker, they burst into song, chanting, “We are the union, the mighty, might union.”
The room was captivated by testimonials from current MGM employees, who travelled from other properties in Detroit, Atlantic City and Washington, D.C., to speak in New Haven.
Alicia Weaver, a room attendant at the Detroit casino, described how the casino helped her go from a dropout to a wage-earner. After being hired as a restaurant server 19 years ago, Weaver said she’s now earning $16.35 hourly, about double the state’s minimum wage, and she has two raises on the way. And she said it’s turned her hometown around. “You should see Detroit from 20 years ago. MGM has been good to our city,” Weaver said. “It’s because of them, our city has a shining light at the end of the tunnel, and they can do it for you as well.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Trump to Release Infrastructure Plan Feb. 12
President Trump will release his much-anticipated infrastructure plan on Feb. 12, Bloomberg reported.
According to a White House official, the plan will include between 30 and 40 pages summarizing President Trump's strategy for creating new investment, consolidating the process for project review and permitting to two years or less and funding projects in the rural U.S., Bloomberg reported.
Earlier this month Trump focused on rebuilding the country's infrastructure in his State of the Union address. There, he called for spending $1.5 trillion to improve highways, bridges, waterways, airports and rail and seaport terminals. However, to make this plan work, the Trump administration must first face three distinct challenges, including:
encouraging Congress to work together to pass the legislation that would allow for the infrastructure plan's implementation;
finding a way to streamline the regulatory process to get infrastructure projects up and running faster; and
figuring out the best way to target federal funding across the nation.
The Trump administration has been looking at setting aside at least $200 billion over the next decade for infrastructure improvements. Of that money, about 50 percent would be allocated for incentives used to prompt state and local governments, as well as the private sector, to raise their own capital for these projects. Bloomberg reported. In addition, 25 percent of federal funds would go to aid rural parts of the country in paying for “transformational projects” that are unable to get enough funding from private sources.
According to a Fact Sheet recently released by the White House, the Trump administration plans to keep these four key principles in mind as it further develops its infrastructure plan:
“Make Targeted Federal Investments.” According to the fact sheet, federal funds should go toward “projects that address problems that are a high priority from the perspective of a region or the Nation, or projects that lead to long-term changes in how infrastructure is designed, built and maintained.”
“Encourage Self-Help.” The administration would like to support state and local governments who have, or who plan to, put in place methods of raising their own funds to pay for infrastructure costs.
“Align Infrastructure Investment with Entities Best Suited to Provide Sustained and Efficient Investment.” Here, the administration would like to finds ways to deliver services more efficiently by getting out of some of these and then using the funds saved elsewhere, and more.
“Leverage the Private Sector.” According to the fact sheet, “the private sector can provide valuable benefits for the delivery of infrastructure, through better procurement methods, market discipline, and a long-term focus on maintaining assets.” Although the administration recognizes that public-private partnerships won't fix everything for the nation's infrastructure, it believes these alliances can help some of the biggest, most “regionally significant” projects move forward.
Residents and out-of-town visitors filled nearly every seat.
The proposed trail alignment, maps of which were provided to attendees, would create a 5.3-mile bicycle path from Northwest Drive to Town Line Road that is 98 percent off-road. This would close the “Plainville Gap” in the East Coast Greenway, a network of connected trails throughout the region. State funding has been promised to support the project.
The steering committee and town leaders such as Town Manager Robert E. Lee and Director of Planning and Economic Development Mark Devoe have supported the trail, arguing that it will bring increased business to the town as well as being a positive amenity.
Trail opponents have raised concerns about privacy, safety, environmental impact and property values.
Lee and Devoe have said that environmental impacts would be minimal, trails do not cause an uptick in crime and barriers could be included to ensure privacy. They have also cited studies showing that having a bike path increases adjacent property values. Malone backed up these rebuttals.
Resident Barbara Davison was among those that supported the trail.
“This is the best possible route and it goes through many beautiful parts of town. Farmington and Southington have invested in trails and seen the benefits,” she said.
Members of the local chamber of commerce, police department, parks and recreation department and youth services supported the trail gap closure.
Resident Kathy LaBella was among the voices of opposition. She argued that the state will not have enough money in its transportation fund to support the construction of the trail.
“The governor has postponed $4.3 billion in transportation projects and if they do seek to raise money for this fund it will be through burdensome tolls and gas taxes,” she said. “It is fiscally irresponsible to spend money on a recreational trail when there are so many critical projects that need to be funded.”
Malone said that he has spoken with the state Department of Transportation and that they consider the project a priority. Town Council Chair Kathy Pugliese also reiterated that the council will not support the project if state funding does not come through. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Southington PZC considers Wonx Spring apartments
SOUTHINGTON — Planning and Zoning Commission members considered a plan for apartment buildings off Wonx Spring Road late into the night Tuesday, hearing from developers and area residents.
Local developer Carl Verderame proposed five apartment buildings on Hunters Lane off Wonx Spring Road. If built, they’ll total 40 units of 55 and older apartments.
The property is part of the former Allied Controls complex, a company that moved to Waterbury three decades ago. A portion of the land contaminated by the factory has an environmental land use restriction.
Area residents oppose the plan, citing concerns over disruption of contaminated land near the proposed apartment site as well as the disruption they say the apartments will bring.
Stephen Giudice, an engineer representing the developer, said there is an environmental land use restriction on a portion of the site, but not where the apartments will be located. Residential construction could take place within the restricted area with certain construction methods and precautions.
Giudice also presented alternative plans that would put houses, duplexes or 130 housing units on the site. Those developments would cause more traffic and environmental impact, Guidice said, arguing that the age-restricted apartments were the “least intrusive” use for the land.
Neighbors who spoke Tuesday night weren’t convinced and argued that rentals weren’t in keeping with the neighborhood’s character.
Kayla Swain, a Hunters Lane resident who bought her home last year, was concerned that the undeveloped land on the site wouldn’t remain that way.
“All that land that’s left there, that’s definitely going to be built on,” she said. “They’re going to want to make their money off that land.”
Giudice said there are no plans to do so and that much of the empty land was wetlands.
He said many of the objections to the development didn’t concern the town’s regulations, which are the criteria upon which the commission should judge the plan.
Neighbors opposed previous plans for an industrial park on the land, forming a group "Southington Citizens for Common Sense Land Use" and filing a lawsuit against the town and the wetlands commission to block the development. The court settlement allowed the developer to build age-restricting housing on the property rather than build an industrial park.
Berlin to move forward with police station upgrades
BERLIN – Plans to upgrade jail cells at the police department are moving forward, as well as a study that will look at future renovations to the current facility.
“Right now there are too many opportunities for prisoners in cells to attempt suicide,” said Deputy Police Chief Chris Ciuci.
The cells currently have bars which have been used in suicide attempts.
He said a recent attempt occurred in January. Before that there was an attempt in 2016.
Since 2016, the department has spent $48,000 in overtime to have an officer in the holding area when a prisoner is jailed to prevent suicide. The department has been focusing on modernizing the holding area to get rid of the bars and use plexiglass instead.
The Town Council waived the bidding process Tuesday for a design and build agreement with a construction company out of Milford. The council previously tabled the topic to further evaluate the current facility’s future.
“We need to do it,” said Karen Pagliaro, councilor. “It’s a no brainer.”
She said it was “eye opening” to see the state of the jails during a recent tour.
The council agreed is it a human life issue as well as town liability concern.
Trumbull will be updating nine of its jail cells, in collaboration with the same construction company, for an estimate of $250,000. Berlin will be updating four cells.
Funding is currently in the police budget from other capital projects.
The council sent a statement of need for the Berlin police facility as a whole to the public building commission for review. The previous council voted against sending a plan for a new station on Farmington Avenue to referendum.
“We have to do something,” said Mayor Mark Kaczynski.
The police commission recently drafted a statement of need to move forward with a cost and feasibility study to expand the current police space into the attached board of education area.
The station as is stands now lacks space. The latest upgrade was done to the more than 30-year old police communication system which was bonded last year for more than $1 million.
Ciuci said an interview room off the lobby and inside police headquarters is needed for safety reasons and better accessibility. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Neighbors Of Proposed Gravel Operation Angered By Trucking Route
The town plan and zoning commission is trying to determine the best route for trucks trying to access a proposed gravel operation along Dug Road.
William Dufford is hoping to mine 210,000 cubic yards of sand and gravel from a 10-acre parcel between Dug Road and Tryon Street in South Glastonbury. Residents along Duffords Landing, directly west of the proposed operation, are upset at the prospect of more than 12,000 trucks traveling through their small development.
The proposed route has trucks traveling from the gravel operation behind a pair of houses and then down their steep shared driveway to Duffords Landing — a short cul-de-sac — then on to Tryon Street. William Dufford, who developed Duffords Landing, lives just south of the development.
Virginia Blair, who owns a house at the end of the cul-de-sac, said at a public hearing this week that she opposed the plan to use the driveway and street as a “heavy construction machinery thoroughfare.” She purchased her home nearly four years ago after “being charmed by the lovely, quiet setting.” “The thought of it is as upsetting as it is ludicrous,” she said of the trucking route. “Our children play here. Our neighbors’ children play here and this is a residential area, not an industrial district. … How grossly irresponsible would this decision be?
“If this land was to be utilized as an industrial gravel quarry zone, then so be it,” she added. “But do not sell it to profit and turn around years later as an industrial thoroughfare. This issue exemplifies zoning at its worst. … I urge you to use logic and pure common sense.”
Chairwoman Sharon H. Purtill asked the developer’s attorney, Meghan Hope, to return to the commission with other options for a truck route.
“We aren’t going to make everyone happy,” Purtill said. “But we need to try and get his right to develop his property and balance that with the neighbors. And balance that with the roads and the trucks and try and see if there is some way to resolve this.”
Over much of the past decade, trucks have entered past gravel operations at the site along Main Street to Dug Road. The filled trucks drove west along Dug Road and then exited north along Tryon Street. Sgt. Jeffrey Hodder, supervisor of the police department’s traffic division, said the division supported the new route in order to give Dug Road residents a break.
The residents of Dug Road bore the brunt of the truck traffic over the past years, he said, adding, “One of the suggestions was to split it up so there’s not 24,000 trucks going in and out of Dug Road at the same place. … It’s clear the Dug Road route has been working. It’s just a matter of if the commission wants to keep putting the residents on Dug Road through that same thing for four more years.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUELabor Bets On MGM Casino
New Haven’s labor unions flexed their political muscle to back MGM Resorts’s proposed casino in Bridgeport, as a showdown begins over tribal nations’ competing plans.
At a rally Tuesday night at UNITE HERE’s hall at First & Summerfield Church on Elm Street, three mayors, four state legislators (two of them Republicans), a gubernatorial hopeful, nine alders and a crew of workers from other MGM properties spoke about the jobs that a resort casino could bring to the region.
Betting on a strong market in Southern Connecticut, with its access to trains from Manhattan and ferries from Long Island, MGM has proposed building a $675 million, waterfront casino in Bridgeport. A casino there has been an ambition for multiple developers, including Donald Trump.
The company has also agreed to open a workforce development center in New Haven, where 2,000 employees would be trained. “This resort will need people who handle money and luggage; people who plan menus, prepare the food and serve it; people who buy advertising; and people who manage the payroll for all those jobs,” Mayor Toni Harp said. The partnership deals New Haven into the pack with Bridgeport as a political team to work alongside UNITE HERE in Hartford, where a legislative showdown against Native American tribes will take place. At Tuesday’s meeting, Bob Proto, UNITE HERE — Local 35’s longtime president, announced that he has struck a neutrality agreement for the proposed casino. Essentially, that means MGM, which already works with UNITE HERE at 27 hotels like the Bellagio and Mandalay Bay on the Vegas Strip, won’t interfere with organizing employees at the new project. So workers will have a union and earn living wages and benefits.
“This state needs new ideas, and now, a private investor wants to come in, who won’t put a burden on taxpayers,” Proto said. “But we have some folks that are cynical and narrow-minded in this state. Ask the folks in this region, in Bridgeport, if they want a good job with benefits. Because if you go against this project, you’re going against opportunity. And the fact is we’re not going to let that happen.” After jamming out to the 1970 single “When Will We Be Paid?” by The Staple Singers, UNITE HERE organizer Rev. Scott Marks took the pulpit and got the crowd revved up. “This is real,” he told roughly 85 union members in attendance. “Bring the jobs, that’s what we need. Bring the jobs, that’s how our family eats.”
Wearing green shirts that read, “7,000 Jobs / No Taxpayer Dollars,” they rose to their feet and cheered for each speaker. (Bridgeport’s Mayor Joe Ganim and the Republican politicians were present but didn’t take the microphone.) At one point, led by Walker, they burst into song, chanting, “We are the union, the mighty, might union.”
The room was captivated by testimonials from current MGM employees, who travelled from other properties in Detroit, Atlantic City and Washington, D.C., to speak in New Haven.
Alicia Weaver, a room attendant at the Detroit casino, described how the casino helped her go from a dropout to a wage-earner. After being hired as a restaurant server 19 years ago, Weaver said she’s now earning $16.35 hourly, about double the state’s minimum wage, and she has two raises on the way. And she said it’s turned her hometown around. “You should see Detroit from 20 years ago. MGM has been good to our city,” Weaver said. “It’s because of them, our city has a shining light at the end of the tunnel, and they can do it for you as well.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Trump to Release Infrastructure Plan Feb. 12
President Trump will release his much-anticipated infrastructure plan on Feb. 12, Bloomberg reported.
According to a White House official, the plan will include between 30 and 40 pages summarizing President Trump's strategy for creating new investment, consolidating the process for project review and permitting to two years or less and funding projects in the rural U.S., Bloomberg reported.
Earlier this month Trump focused on rebuilding the country's infrastructure in his State of the Union address. There, he called for spending $1.5 trillion to improve highways, bridges, waterways, airports and rail and seaport terminals. However, to make this plan work, the Trump administration must first face three distinct challenges, including:
According to a Fact Sheet recently released by the White House, the Trump administration plans to keep these four key principles in mind as it further develops its infrastructure plan: