State sends $389,000 to Ansonia to improve route to railroad station
ANSONIA- The state finalized a $389,000 grant to improve sidewalks, build handicapped accessible curb cuts and install lighting leading to the railroad station from downtown.“This is a critical infrastructure grant which will pair nicely with the residential units planned for downtown,” said Mayor David Cassetti. “We are continuing to improve the look and feel of our already busy downtown. This grant will be used to help improve the safety of our sidewalks and the look leading to our train station.”
Cassetti told the Board of Aldermen last month that the city would be getting this Community Connectivity grant from the state Department of Transportation.““We are grateful to the Connecticut Department of Transportation for selecting our project,” said Sheila O’Malley, the city’s economic development director who was instrumental in applying for and obtaining the grant. “We believe Ansonia’s downtown activity warrants significant improvements to our infrastructure. Main Street and East Main will be getting improvements that our residents will be able to enjoy.”
O’Malley said the purpose of the grant is to provide better connections between the railroad station and the apartments on Main Street and East Main Street.
She said stripes will be painted for a bicycle path leading to the train station and signs will be installed. Additionally benches will be placed along Main Street near the apartment complexes particularly those planned for the ATP and Palmer buildings which are in the process of being sold and renovated.
One of the goals is to make things safer for cyclists and pedestrians,” O’Malley said. “We want to provide easier access from East Main, West Main and Main Street to the train station.”
Once the design is completed,O’Malley said bids for construction will be sought.
“We could probably get started with the signage and the striping this year,” she said. “The sidewalks may have to wait until the spring.The mayor said will be additional lighting placed every 75 feet with flower pots built into them“I want to beautify Main Street —make it a destination place with our restaurant row,” Cassetti said..
Cassetti said he has been meeting with the state Department of Transportation and Metro-North in the hopes of getting anywhere from $180,000 to $250,000 to construct a covered kiosk where people could buy tickets and wait for the train.
“We need a place where they can wait inside especially during inclement weather,” Cassetti said.\
One of the goals is to make things safer for cyclists and pedestrians,” O’Malley said. “We want to provide easier access from East Main, West Main and Main Street to the train station.”
The mayor and O’Malley credited the work of retiring State Rep. Linda Gentile, R-Ansonia, who helped push the grant through.
“There are so many benefits—from Ansonia’s economic growth to the physical health of our residents to improved safety that will come with new sidewalks and improved lighting,” Gentile said.
The grant was among $12.4 million awarded by the Department of Transportation to 40 municipalities with the intent to improve safety and accessibility for pedestrians and bicyclists.
Contractors find more asbestos in demolition of Meriden housing project
MERIDEN — Workers clearing the Mills Memorial Apartments for demolition discovered more asbestos than expected, leading to an estimated cost increase of $110,311 so far, with city officials expecting additional costs.
”We have had two change orders so far for additional asbestos material, mostly tile located inside the buildings,” said city Economic Development Director Juliet Burdelski. “I anticipate a third change order this week for additional exterior abatement.”
Workers started the $3 million demolition earlier this summer and plans call for all five buildings to be razed at once.
“It is not unusual to have change orders for projects this size,” said City Planner Robert Seale, adding the demolition work on the five buildings is continuing.
“The exterior abatement is for additional asbestos found behind fabric, beneath the exterior brick,” Seale said. “It is limited to small patches on the columns and floors. We do not have an estimate at this time regarding the cost of the abatement.”
The demolition of the 1960s low-income housing project required that all 144 families be relocated, a task finally completed last winter. The Meriden Housing Authority turned the property over to the city as part of a flood control project which entails uncovering Harbor Brook and extending the Meriden Green to Cedar Street.
In exchange, the city gave the housing authority a parcel on State and Mill streets to build Meriden Commons I and II, a 151-unit mixed income housing complex.
The city received a $2 million state grant to pay for the demolition and hired Bestech Inc. of Ellington for $1.9 million through a competitive bid process. The company is performing environmental cleanup and has begun to take down the buildings in sections.
The company will remove the exterior bricks and then weaken the base of each building until it “basically falls down on itself,” Burdelski said this spring.
The project is expected to be completed by the end of the year. It wasn’t known Monday if the discovery of additional asbestos would impact the timeline.
City officials initially hoped to raze the Mills this spring, however, the project hit several snags, including delays in relocating the remaining Mills tenants, said Meriden Housing Authority Executive Director Robert Cappelletti.
"Obviously it's very exciting for the new projects to go up and the old to come down," Cappelletti said. "It will be an amazing transformation for the downtown area."
Wallingford’s East Center Street bridge project remains stalled
WALLINGFORD — It may feel like construction began on replacing the century-old East Center Street bridge many years ago.
In reality, it’s only been two years, but a Center Street (Route 150) business owner is wondering if there’s any end in sight. Work has been halted for about a year for some redesigns.
Srijan Katwal, manager of Global Food Mart and gas station, 570 Center St. said business has been slowed by the uncompleted bridge replacement.
“We invested so much money in here,” Katwal said Monday, installing new gas tanks and expanding the convenience store. “We started working, and they stopped working.”
The business reopened in February, but the issue of the bridge work remained. The main problem, Katwal said, is obstructed access to the business.
“Sometimes, a few customers come in,” he said, “and they say, ‘you guys are open but I can’t come in because traffic is bad. I have to come out of it, I don’t want to waste the time.’”
The construction equipment and dumpsters left by the contractor, New Haven-based company C.J. Fucci, are blocking the view of his business, he said.
Not all business owners are complaining. Lucy Pacheco, owner of Lucy’s Laundry, 549 Center St., said her customers were inconvenienced more before the work halted.
“When they’re working, that’s when I see the problem,” Pacheco said Monday. “People want to drop off their laundry, and when they’re working, the road gets so busy it’s not easy to get the customers.”
Kevin Nursick, state Department of Transportation spokesman, said Monday that the construction timeline has been extended and a new timeline is hard to pin down. He said it will be at least two more months before work can recommence, and the project is now expected to last until the summer of 2020.
“This is kind of a rarity,” he said. “In this business, there’s always the potential for unforeseen circumstances.”
The original price was $4 million and completion date was Nov. 30, 2018.
A new price that reflects changes in magnitude, order and scope of work will be available after negotiations with the contractor are completed.
Nursick said since the bridge’s structural integrity was under review, “this is not a circumstance we can afford to rush, or else the consequences can be significant.”
The DOT, which is responsible for maintenance because Route 150 is a state highway, rated the 104-year-old bridge over Wharton Brook structurally deficient, and recommended replacement to meet current design standards.
Bridge replacement work began in August 2016. The construction area spans from Elm Street to Pomeroy Avenue.
The project calls for a concrete deck over a steel girder superstructure supported by concrete abutments resting on bedrock. The new bridge will be about 13 feet longer and 1 foot wider than the old bridge, and it will have sidewalks on each side.
The bridge replacement is being done in two phases, and it’s currently in the middle of the first phase. Traffic was pushed to the south side, and the bridge was demolished on the north side.
Construction delays began when the contractor raised concerns that demolition work on the abutments could destabilize the support structure.
DOT had to verify the stability of the existing abutment, and found the structure was stable but in need of some minor redesigns necessary for a temporary earth retaining system.
“We added additional piles,” Dan Stasko, DOT supervising engineer, said Monday, “which reinforced the temporary shoring for the existing structure.”
Work has been stopped for about a year. Since the project has been delayed for so long, Stasko said, there were some price increases that DOT and the contractor are still settling.
“We are very close to having the initial portion of it resolved,” he said, “enough to get (the contractor) back to work.”
Dillon Stadium overhaul experiencing 'unexpected surprises'
While the Hartford Athletic is still expected to kick off its inaugural season in the Capital City in April, the overseers renovating Dillon Stadium are uncovering several infrastructure issues at the 83-year-old stadium.
Construction crews have found "unexpected surprises" throughout the stadium, including an outdated concrete bleacher foundation and the field being one foot higher from one end, according to Michael Freimuth, executive director of the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA), the agency overseeing the $10 million renovations.
CRDA, Freimuth says, has made progress responding to the antiquated foundation, which is fixed in "very bad" soils at the site. Crews have poured spread footings almost 11 feet deep to counter the supporting system problems with the buildings and bleachers, he said.
To avoid project cost overruns, Freimuth said CRDA is considering a variety of changes to stay under budget, including reducing the stadium's capacity from 6,000 to 5,000 seats.
The seat reduction would allow CRDA to cut the number of restrooms and concessions needed to accommodate a capacity crowd at the historic stadium situated in Colt Park.
CRDA has also considered retaining the stadium's old scoreboard instead of buying new, he said.
Despite the project's barriers thus far, Freimuth said the stadium remains on target to open in mid-to-late April if the winter weather is not too harsh. Crews broke ground at the stadium in August.
The Athletic will play 30 games in Hartford next year, with several airing on the United Soccer League's (USL) media partner, ESPN. Its schedule is expected to be released in the coming weeks.
In February, the state Bond Commission approved $10 million for renovating the stadium, which has hosted numerous high school football and pro soccer games and rock concerts since it was built in 1935.
As part of the renovations, the field will be moved east toward Huyshope Avenue to create additional room for seats closer to the artificial turf field.
The Athletic received more than 1,000 season ticket commitments by the time it was named as the USL's newest team in July.
Owned by the Hartford Sports Group (HSG) -- led by CEO and Chairman Bruce Mandell, and co-partners Joseph Calafiore Jr. and Scott Schooley -- the team is joining the USL, a Division II pro soccer league, with five other expansion teams.