BY ANDREW LARSON
Low bidder for Mixmaster was contractor on troubled I-95 job
WATERBURY – The low bidder on a $155 million bridge rehabilitation project slated to begin in May has a checkered history in Connecticut.
Six companies placed bids on the project, with the lowest coming from Walsh Construction Co., which is based in Chicago and has offices across the nation.
Walsh’s bid of $152.96 million is 1.74 percent lower than the next lowest bid, which was placed by a Torrington-based joint venture.
The DOT is reviewing the bids and is scheduled to award the contract to the lowest qualified bidder on April 6. Most likely, the contract will go to Walsh Construction.
Walsh was the lead contractor working on the Moses Wheeler Bridge, which carries Interstate 95 over the Housatonic River between Milford and Stratford. The $166.48 million project, which took place from 2009 to 2016, involved expanding an existing bridge and adding shoulders.
After four serious safety incidents occurred during a six-month period, the DOT forced Walsh to stop working on the project and submit a corrective action plan. In a letter dated April 16, 2012, Mark Rolfe, the district engineer, said the incidents were “indicative of a systematic problem and a weakness in the Walsh/PCL safety program.”
The bridge was built in a joint venture between Walsh and PCL Civil Constructors, but Walsh was the primary entity. Rolfe suspended Walsh and PCL from the project for seven days after two cranes tipped over, a 40-foot rebar cage collapsed and poor-quality fill undermined part of the highway. A worker suffered injuries in one of the crane collapses.
“We were sufficiently concerned that we called for a safety stand-down,” Rolfe said Thursday. He is now the chief engineer for the DOT and oversees all design and construction projects.
Walsh apologized for the incidents and blamed them on having “the wrong people” in several key positions. The joint venture made personnel changes, hired an outside safety expert and required workers to undergo additional training. The companies initiated several safety campaigns, including “stop and fix it” and “safety happens every minute of every day.”
After work resumed on April 23, 2012, there were no other incidents of the magnitude of the four that resulted in the suspension, Rolfe said.
Walsh remains eligible to enter into state DOT contracts, and it successfully completed work on the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge in New Haven.
Rolfe said he’s satisfied the company is capable and competent based on how it responded to the Moses Wheeler issues.
“I believe the largest contributing factor to the incidents was a general lack of safety awareness,” Rolfe said. “They were saying the right things, but weren’t doing the right things. I think the proof (of their competence) is that subsequent to the safety stand-down, their record improved markedly.
DOT’s revised project would mean big changes for Route 9, downtown Middletown
Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part series on proposed improvements to Route 9 and Main Street. This first article will explore the state’s proposal. The second portion, to run in Tuesday’s paper, will explore public reaction to the plan.
MIDDLETOWN — State transportation engineers outlined plans this week for a three-phase, $70.75 million project centered on the removal of two traffic signals on Route 9, which, they said, would increase safety, alleviate congestion and improve access to downtown.
Eighty percent of the costs would be borne by the federal government and 20 percent by the state.
Construction would take place in three phases, beginning in 2019: Sidewalk bump-outs, or curb extensions (the shortest portion of the project), would take place from spring to fall of 2019; intersection improvements would be made from the summer 2019 to fall of 2020; and the removal of lights, summer 2020 to fall 2022. The nearly three-and-a-half-hour session was held Thursday night at the Middletown High School auditorium and attended by about 120 people, among them residents, business owners, concerned citizens and officials.
The proposal was modified following public input at a hearing in July 2016, during with the DOT presented a design to remove the traffic signals on Route 9 by elevating the southbound direction in two locations: the intersection of Hartford Avenue and Route 9 as well as Washington Street and Route 9, according to the DOT.
The public voiced two main concerns at the time:
The effect of the additional traffic on Main Street, despite the operational benefits of the proposed bump-outs (sidewalk extensions to lessen the time needed for pedestrians to cross). The view obstruction of the Connecticut River by the southern elevated section of Route 9 south.
Construction would affect Route 66 (Washington Street), Route 17 (at Hartford Avenue), Main Street, and Route 9 north and south entering and exiting the city. Two other projects, part of the overall plan, will be addressed at a later time, said William W. Britnell, the principal engineer, who presented the main part of the program Thursday.
The Route 17 on ramp to Route 9 has encountered some complications with the Arrigoni Bridge and the proposed pedestrian bridge across Route 9 is still in the works.
There is a steep financial impact caused by traffic tie-ups during peak travel hours and the high number of crashes in the affected areas, according to Britnell.
The most recent statistics, from Jan. 1, 2015, to Dec. 31, 2017, show there were 528 collisions, which caused 121 injuries, including a single fatality, on state roads within the project limits of all three projects, according to the DOT. “When we talk about number of crashes, people’s eyes glaze over. You don’t really appreciate what that means: 528 crashes amounts to an economic burden of $3 million a year just for crashes,” Britnell said. “That’s 1 million person hours of delay annually — people sitting in traffic — and $42 million a year. That’s just the peak hours of Monday through Friday.
“You can imagine that economic cost is actually much, much higher than that.”
Combined, the economic burden is $45 million annually.
Also, getting into and out of the city has become a headache for many motorists, who prefer to avoid the area altogether and shop or eat in other towns.
“There are lots of people who quite honestly avoid Middletown because of the lights on Route 9, the congestion on Route 9,” Britnell said. If you have a choice to go to Middletown, a lot of people choose to go somewhere else,” Bricknell said. State findings show potential visitors bypass the city, he said.
“These queues are not just people going to the beach or down to Essex. About 1 out of every 4 or 5 vehicles is trying to get into Middletown. They’re trying to get to your stores, they’re residents trying to get home.” Changes would significantly affect a number of commuting times during peak use hours by motorists, engineers said.
Locally, those traveling on Route 9 south toward Portland via the Arrigoni Bridge would half their travel time: from an average of 24 minutes to 12. Motorists on 9 north going to Route 66 west would be minimally affected, according to the plan.
Cars driving on Route 66 west would go from an 8-minute commute to a 5-minute one, those going east on 66 toward the Arrigoni Bridge would go from 11 minutes to 6, and motorists traveling from the bridge to 66 west would save 4 minutes: from a 7-minute travel time to 3.
On Route 9 south, commute time would go from 8 to 3 minutes, and heading north, motorists would save a full 10 minutes: from 13 to 3 minutes.
In the North End, the Miller and Bridge street neighborhood, closed off to local traffic years ago, has only been accessible by an exit off Route 9 south.
The proposal is to take Route 9 south and raise it up and over the ramp coming out of Hartford Avenue: “a simple up-and-over bridge,” Britnell said.
Now, access is very dangerous from a fast-moving highway, where drivers have to take a right-hand turn into the isolated neighborhood. “I don’t think I have to tell anybody that. It’s an undesirable situation,” he said. “They’re not supposed to turn left into Miller Street. I’ve seen people do it.”
At the last informational meeting, city officials brought up the fact that school buses have to turn on and off that street onto a busy highway. The solution is to reopen the now fenced-off railroad crossing on Portland Street. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Plans for Coast Guard museum pedestrian bridge move forward
New London — The nonprofit organization spearheading the $100 million National Coast Guard Museum is seeking State Bond Commission approval of $1.8 million to continue work on a pedestrian bridge downtown.
While the state already has committed up to $20 million for the bridge, the money is being requested incrementally as the project progresses, said Dick Grahn, president and chief executive officer of the National Coast Guard Museum Association Inc.
About $500,000 was used for what Grahn described as predesign activities: the hiring of an architect, along with some engineering, environmental and survey work being completed in conjunction with the overall design of the museum.
The latest request will pay for development of schematic designs and “help get us to a shovel-ready status over the next year or 18 months or so,” Grahn said.
The bridge eventually will span Water Street and the Amtrak railway line and connect the city-owned parking garage with the train station platform and another location convenient to both the museum and Cross Sound Ferry. It will include stairways and elevators in several locations.
“Things are moving along rapidly,” Grahn said.
Grahn said it is a complicated process, since local, state and federal regulations must be followed during the design and construction of both the bridge and museum. It also is key for the pedestrian bridge design to be developed in conjunction with the museum itself.
Boston-based architectural firm Payette is designing both the 54,000-square-foot museum and the bridge. The Coast Guard is now in the process of publishing its request for proposals for the museum exhibit designer for the interior.
Bob Ross, executive director for the state's Office of Military Affairs, said the fact the architect is designing both will ensure a seamless connection of the separate but interconnected projects. He expects it also will save money.
Ross said the project tentatively is scheduled to break ground in 2021, though that is subject to change.
Simultaneous to the bond commission request is a proposed bill referred to the Joint Committee on Finance, Revenue and Bonding to secure legislative approval of bonds in an amount not to exceed $20 million over a period.
“With the governor’s term coming to an end, I want to get continuity. I thought it would be a good idea to get it on the list,” Formica said.
Whether it will be necessary is unclear.
In 2014, a memorandum of agreement was signed by the state, New London, the Coast Guard and the National Coast Guard Museum Association that includes the state financial commitment.
“The State of Connecticut will pursue a funding commitment of an amount not to exceed $20 million for development and construction of the Museum, which in part will support construction of a pedestrian bridge across the railroad tracks for access to the Museum Parcel and the Cross Sound Ferry terminal,” the agreement reads.
It goes on to say the money would be released to the museum foundation through an agreement with the state Department of Economic and Community Development. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Plan And Zoning Commission Rejects Plans For South Glastonbury Gravel Operation
Peter Marteka
The town plan and zoning commission on Thursday unanimously rejected a farmer’s plan to remove 110,000 cubic yards of sand and gravel from a South Glastonbury farm using thousands of trucks traveling through neighborhoods and along narrow back roads.
William Dufford, a lifetime farmer and construction company owner, was seeking a special permit to remove the material from an existing gravel operation along Dug Road, one of the town’s oldest streets that has changed little since the town was developed.
But dozens of residents along Dug Road and Duffords Landing opposed the project, saying they were concerned about the potential danger of the truck traffic and the dust and noise from vehicles that would make as many as 12,000 trips to extract the material. The gravel operation has been in use for the past decade.
Skip Kamis, a builder and Dug Road resident, said that since the gravel pit was first worked the area been transformed into a neighborhood populated by young families and children “who only wish to live in peace and safety.”
“It is obviously dangerous,” he said. “and blatantly unfair. I look to you as a commission not to endanger and burden the residents of Dug Road. Please do not vote to direct thousands of large trucks through our neighborhood.”
The proposal originally called for the trucks to go through Duffords Landing, a development directly south of Dug Road. But Dufford could not get the proper easements to allow the truck traffic. So that meant more years of truck traffic along Dug Road, something the commission decided was unfair to residents who have endured the traffic for years already.
“The suggestion was to go to Duffords Landing because it was equitable,” commissioner Keith S. Shaw said, “because it was too much of a burden to continue on Dug Road and the people had enough for 8-10 years.”
Beth Ann Dufford Couture, Dufford’s daughter, said the gravel operation is being done to transform the property into more farm fields. She said tha tthe operation isn’t a “get rich quick scheme” and that the trucks have had a spotless safety record over the past 10 years.
“Dug Road is a public road and our farm is able to use it as much as any resident,” she said.
“It’s ultimately a balance,” added Dufford’s attorney Meghan Hope. “It’s a balance between a property owner’s right to use their property … and the impact on neighbors. … Is it less than ideal? Perhaps. But that doesn’t make it unsafe.”But, in the end, the commission sided with the residents and, as commissioner Raymond Hassett said, the “public health, safety and general welfare of the community.”
“I don’t think it is appropriate for us … to simply disregard the testimony from the community,” he said. “I believe this is a case where we need to look at the general welfare and promote safety.”
“It’s crazy to continue to take trucks down Dug Road,” commission Chairwoman Sharon Purtill added. “This has been very difficult. … We have to take the fact that we’ve had dozens and dozens of residents come out here and say the same things over and over again about how narrow the road is and how difficult it is.”