Jim Shay and Julia Perkins
BROOKFIELD — A $6 million plan to improve busy Federal Road is back on track. The state Department of Transportation will conduct a public information meeting on proposed safety improvements along Route 202 in Brookfield later this month.
The work was among the $4.3 billion worth of transportation projects the state had postponed at the start of this year until funding could be identified.
The project is designed to improve safety and reduce the bottlenecks on the road, where several big stores are located.
“We’re getting traffic jams every Saturday and Sunday along the lower corridor of Federal Road,” First Selectman Steve Dunn said. “That's primarily due to the fact that the road has not been upgraded to address the addition of big box stores — the Kohl’s, the Costcos, the BJs. The road is overloaded right now as constructed.” The state has also cited the area as a problem spot for crashes.
A 2015 Western Connecticut Council of Governments study found there were 442 crashes between 2010 and 2012 on the 1.6 mile lower Federal Road corridor from White Turkey Road to Route 133. The WestCOG study found about 30,000 cars drive on portions of lower Federal Road each day.
There are no sidewalks and only one crosswalk in that Federal Road corridor, according to the WestCOG study.
The DOT project will include the construction of five-foot sidewalks to accommodate pedestrian traffic along the corridor, in addition to widening the road for four-foot shoulders to improve safety for bicyclists The project extends from the driveway of BJ’s/Kohl’s to the intersection of Federal Road and Junction Road. The plan is to pay for construction with 80 percent federal funds and 20 percent state funds.
The state began working on the project after Dunn asked the DOT commissioner to install a left-turn signal on the northbound side at Chick-Fil-A. But Dunn said the commissioner told him the state would not do that alone.
Instead, traffic signals will be installed at the southern intersection of Federal Road and Old New Milford Road, as well as the intersection of Beverly Drive and Hardscrabble Road.
Dunn said it is next to impossible to turn left off of Beverly Drive on the weekends.
Two traffic signals at the northern intersection of Federal Road and Old New Milford Road will also be removed.A dedicated left-turn lane will also be added to the southbound side at the Chick-fil-A and Shop Rite plaza.
“It’s going to make the traffic flow much more smoothly,” Dunn said. “That’s what we want.”
Design is expected to be completed in January 2021, with construction anticipated to begin in summer 2021. The public information meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 29 at Town Hall.
Architect Shares Updated Plans for Newington Town Hall
Architects shared updated and detailed plans for the Newington town hall renovation project Wednesday night.
The design for the much-anticipated town hall renovation includes a community center, town and board of education offices, expandable meeting spaces and recreational facilities.
The current facility, built in 1950, was once the town's high school but now houses the town's central government offices, the Mortensen Community Center and the school central offices.
A report from the Hamden-based DTC Engineering Consulting Firm said the building is well maintained but is in serious need of modernization and upgrades, including improved wheelchair access, energy efficiency and new heating and plumbing systems.
The renovation plans call for more efficient use of office space and modernized, spacious meeting rooms, with the town council chambers attached to the Helen Nelson Meeting Room, where the school board will meet.
Tom Arcari, the project’s architect, said the rooms will be separated by movable walls for expansion.
“The seating varies, but in the smallest space you can seat 100 people and if you open up the room to the second level you can get another 75 people in,” Arcari said. “And if you open up the Helen Nelson Meeting Room, you can get a maximum of 200 people.”
The renovation will also create what Arcari calls “The Grand Hall.” According to the plan, the main entrance features a wide tile hallway with town offices on either side and an information kiosk at the end. The idea is to make it easy and quick for residents to access town services.
“We have removed the stairwell at the end of the hall and put in a public information kiosk instead,” Arcari said.
The community center portion of the new building will feature an open room for events and activities, as well as a full-service kitchen. It will also have two full-sized basketball courts. “One of the goals of the project was to build two high school-sized basketball courts,” he said.
Arcari said the courts meet Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference standards and could be used for recreational leagues and CIAC games.
The third-floor education offices will now be located around the perimeter of the building, with open office space in the center. The third floor offices will have two secure entry points.
The renovation project was approved by voters during a 2017 referendum. In June, the project was estimated to cost $30 million.
The town has been considering a renovation or the construction of a new building since 2009.
Route 8 on-ramp at Riverside Street in Waterbury to close for at least 2 weeks
ANDREW LARSON
WATERBURY – The Route 8 southbound on-ramp from Riverside Street will close overnight for two to three weeks as part of the Mixmaster rehabilitation project.
The $153 million Mixmaster project includes the rehabilitation of bridges and ramps that comprise the Route 8 and Interstate 84 interchange. The state Department of Transportation’s contractor is Walsh Construction. Work began in June and is expected to be finished by Sept. 10, 2022.
Starting Tuesday, the entrance is scheduled to close at 7 p.m. five nights a week, Sunday through Friday, and reopen the following morning at 6 a.m. Motorists will be detoured onto the next on-ramp by continuing on Riverside Street, which turns into Charles Street.
The closure is necessary to facilitate deck repairs to Route 8 northbound, said Project Engineer David Ferraro, of the state Department of Transportation. By closing the ramp on the lower deck, which carries Route 8 southbound, workers will be able to access the northbound direction.
Also, a lane of Route 8 northbound between Exit 30 to Exit 32 is closed from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday through Friday. That closure began Sunday and is expected to last for three to four weeks.
In addition, Riverside Street southbound has been changed to accommodate two-way traffic. The side of the road that previously carried northbound traffic is closed while crews build a temporary Route 8 northbound bypass.
The Exit 32 off-ramp to northbound Riverside Street is closed as well, with traffic being diverted to Exit 30, following a detour along South Leonard Street, which becomes Riverside Street.