Kenneth R. Gosselin
A replacement of the
aging I-84 viaduct in Hartford is still at least a decade away, but state
transportation planners now say they are confident the $5 billion project is
possible without shutting down the highway to traffic passing through the city.
Think Waterbury.“It’s a lot like Waterbury where we did offline work, we kept the traffic moving, then we did some widening or built a temporary road and traffic shifted over there and then you went and built in the other area,” Andy Fesenmeyer, a state Department of Transportation project manager, said. “It’s that same theory, we never shut any lanes down in Waterbury.”
The news isn’t so rosy for commuters into Hartford who would have to deal with closed-down ramps and detours on the way to work.“There are serious inconveniences,” Fesenmeyer said. “Let’s call it. We can’t sugarcoat that. There is going to be pain like any construction project.”The state DOT and its consultants are sharing their assessment for the project’s effect on traffic at Thursday’s meeting of the I-84 public advisory committee. Construction on the project is not expected to get underway until the late 2020s, but that is contingent upon securing funding.
The price tag for replacing the 2-mile stretch as it passes through Hartford is now estimated to be $4.3 billion to $5.3 billion, a combination of state and federal funding.
The construction of I-84 cut a swath through the city in the 1960s when highways were the prime consideration. Now, the lowered highway has the potential to reconnect neighborhoods torn apart in a era when there is a strong emphasis on shoring up urban areas and making them walkable and attractive to new residents. In addition to its age, the viaduct is expensive to maintain, costing the state millions of dollars.
The DOT is moving closer to recommending the viaduct be eliminated in favor of a lowered highway, slightly below grade. The other option is to keep repairing the existing viaduct. Another alternative -- burying the highway in a tunnel -- has already been thrown out.
Even though the DOT has been studying the viaduct replacement for six years, the project is still in the early stages.
But one thing is already clear, streets in Hartford could bear the brunt in the construction because some existing ramps will close and temporary detours will be built, changing the way traffic winds its way through the city.
“There are going to be changes to the ramps,” Fesenmeyer said. “If you are on the highway, you’re going to be either here or over here. But the ramps are going to changes in some of the stages [of the project] and that’s going to be bigger impact.”
Fesenmeyer said there will be “accommodations” made for commuters, “but now you may go on another local road that you didn’t use to take. The traffic pattern changes that the city is concerned about, we have to figure that out. And we don’t have that figured out yet.”
“There are a lot of things to look at and try to get a handle on, which we haven’t yet, but we’re comfortable there are ways,” Fesenmeyer said.
For much of the last year or more, the DOT and its consultants have been working with the public advisory committee to determine the best location for a new train and bus station with parking garage, plus a new route for CTfastrak, the state-owned bus line that has a dedicated roadway.
The new train and bus station is needed because plans for lowering I-84 to slightly below garde requires shifting it to the west. Such a dramatic change requires laying a new path of train tracks to the west of the lowered highway. A new use would be found for historic Union Station, built in 1889. Similarly, the CTfastrak also must move, the busway shifting to the south of the new highway. For much of the last two years, the DOT and its consultants have been working with the public advisory committee to determine potential train and bus station locations and routes for the busway. No final decisions have been made, but there is informal consensus that the train station should be located to the north of Asylum Street. The relocated CTfastrak could either use the abandoned train tracks now running into Union Station or new nearby city streets.
The DOT says further focus on those aspects, which would include public hearings on each, isn’t likely until the project goes into its “final design” stage, still a couple of years away.
State transportation planners say the discussion was necessary, as it prepares it final written report on its recommendations for the project, to ensure there were “no fatal flaws.”
“I know it’s going to be hard,” Michael N. Calabrese, a DOT principal engineer on the I-84 project, said. “We were at a thousand feet, and now we have to pull back to 10,000 to write the document.”
The DOT’s report with its recommendation is due early next year and is subject to public hearings and further revision. It must then be signed off by Federal Highway Administration, which could come in later in 2020 or in 2021. If funding is secured, the final designs would come next, and could take 3-5 years. One reason why construction is pushed out to late 2020′s because dozens of properties -- all or some part of them -- must be acquired for the project.
Apartment buildings, such as the Capitol View, and others along Spring Street would be in the path of the replacement project, and would require relocating tenants before demolition. Other buildings include 25 Sigourney St., the abandoned state office building, which the state has unsuccessfully tried to sell.
Both the train tracks and CTfastrak would have to move first because they cross under the viaduct.
Lamont seeks help with tolls, other priorities, in D.C.
Ana Radelat
Washington – During a quick trip to the nation’s capital, Gov. Ned Lamont met with foreign businessmen, spoke to U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao about tolls, and explored expansion of the use of offshore wind energy in Connecticut.
On Wednesday, Lamont attended a gathering hosted by the Organization for International Investment, a group that looks out for the interests of foreign companies doing business in the United States.
Among those attending were executives from Boehringer Ingelheim, a pharmaceutical company whose U.S. operations are located in Ridgefield.
“I urged them to have a bigger footprint in Connecticut,” Lamont said of the companies at the event who do business in the state.
The governor also met with Chao on Wednesday over the issue of tolls, which has bedeviled him back home.
He said they discussed how tolls are established in other parts of the nation, including Indiana and Virginia.
The elusive infrastructure bill promised by President Donald Trump was also part of the conversation
“We talked about if and when that would be like,” Lamont said of the transportation bill, and how the state should fashion its list of federal priority projects if Congress ever approves the legislation.
Another part of the discussion related to the 20 percent in transportation matching funds Connecticut must supply.On Thursday, Lamont attended an event at the Canadian Embassy hosted by the National Governor’s Association and the embassies of Australia, Canada and Denmark.
The meeting centered on pushing for more use of offshore wind energy though mandates, incentive programs and the removal of regulatory and policy barriers.
Lamont said he met with representatives of Orsted, a Danish company that owns wind areas off the coast of New England. Connecticut has already agreed to purchase offshore wind power from one of those areas.
“Connecticut has less than 1 percent of its energy generated by wind power while Denmark has 40 percent,” Lamont said, referring to the state’s land-based wind area in Colebrook. “I talked (to Orsted) about why wind is an important part of the energy portfolio.”
There’s an effort in the state legislature to increase the amount of offshore wind energy allowed in Connecticut.
Lamont also attended an NGA event aimed at increased recruitment of minority teachers.
“Forty percent of the students in Connecticut are children of color and only 10 percent of the teachers are minorities,” Lamont said.
Black and Hispanic prospective teachers are winnowed out in the teacher certification process, which includes passing teacher-prep exams and clearing other hurdles.Lamont said there was a discussion about pairing up prospective minority teachers with seasoned educators to learn the ropes. He said he met with “some folks interested in investing money” in those types of projects.
The governor’s visit to Washington D.C. was busy, but brief. He met with Rep. John Larson, D-1st District, but otherwise steered largely clear of Capitol Hill.
“I didn’t even know the governor was in Washington,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said on Wednesday.
‘Tolls monster’ widening divide between Lamont, GOP
Keith M. Phaneuf
The gulf between Gov. Ned Lamont and Republican legislators on tolls grew even wider Thursday.
While administration officials urged compromise, Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, said any long-term funding plan that includes the “toll monster” is a non-starter for his caucus.
“I say no tolls — period,” Fasano said during an early afternoon news conference, adding he believes residents staunchly oppose “allowing another taxing beast into our system. … Now you’ve got this beast, which is the tolls monster.”
Fasano was touting Prioritize Progress, the Republican legislators’ alternative plan to finance long-term transportation upgrades without tolls.
Connecticut chiefly finances transportation upgrades using a combination of state and federal dollars. Most of the state money is borrowing through the sales of transportation bonds on Wall Street. Those bonds are repaid using fuel tax receipts and other revenues from the budget’s Special Transportation Fund.
But analysts say Connecticut has invested too lightly in transportation for decades, and the $750 million to $800 million in state bonding it issues annually needs to grow.Lamont has proposed installing electronic tolls, which would boost transportation fund revenues by nearly 40 percent by 2023 or 2024 — and give Connecticut the revenues to support a more aggressive bonding program.The administration estimates as much as 40 percent of toll receipts would be paid by out-of-state motorists.
But the GOP says Connecticut doesn’t have to wait four or five years to expand transportation work — and it doesn’t have to toll anyone.
Republicans want to redirect other bonding — used for school construction, capital programs at state universities and economic development — for transportation.
State funds for transportation construction work would swell from about $800 million per year to $1.4 billion annually under the GOP’s “Prioritize Progress” plan. In contrast, Lamont would essentially keep resources for transportation work constant over the next four or five years until toll receipts arrive.
And Fasano distributed a Department of Transportation analyst’s memo — first disclosed by the CT Mirror on Feb. 27 — that warns the administration’s plan would be too lean over the next four to five years.
The governor’s plan “would have significant impacts on our capital program, severely constricting the number of new projects that advance in the current, and future years,” the DOT wrote.“I didn’t say it,” Fasano said. “DOT said it. This is an alarm they sent out.”
But some transportation advocates have said the Democratic governor and Republican legislators’ respective plans could easily be merged.
For example, some non-transportation bonds could be redirected to ramp up transportation work over the next few years — and then phased out as toll receipts arrive.
But while Fasano said he couldn’t consider any compromise if it involved tolls, Lamont’s chief of staff, Ryan Drajewicz, and budget director, Melissa McCaw, said there is room for middle ground.
“There is a path through this,” said Drajewicz, who attended Fasano’s news conference and addressed reporters immediately afterward. Connecticut’s motorists and businesses want the state’s aging, overcrowded transportation system upgraded and will not accept partisan gridlock, Drajewicz said, urging Fasano to stop holding news conferences and come negotiate with the governor.
“We’re ready to talk,” he said. “We’re ready to work through this.”
The key, McCaw said, is to develop a compromise built on honest, fiscal principles that allows for key strategic investments in transportation. If Connecticut makes no changes to its transportation building program, or if it follows the GOP plan, the budget’s Special Transportation Fund is at risk of deficits by the mid-2020s and insolvency shortly thereafter, she said, adding it simply needs more resources over the long haul.“If there’s no money to fund the debt service,” McCaw said, “that’s a problem.” The administration is ready to look at any plan that brings long-term stability to state finances, including its transportation program, she said.That plan must make some attempt to restrain overall borrowing, administration officials said. Lamont proposed a “debt diet” in February, arguing that past administrations recommended far too much borrowing for non-transportation programs.
Senate Republicans Lobby Lamont On ‘Prioritize Progress’ Using DOT Memo
Christine Stuart
HARTFORD, CT — Senate Republicans pointed Thursday to an internal Department of Transportation memo to show Gov. Ned Lamont’s transportation funding proposal is inadequate and will severely limit funding for new transportation projects.
Senate President Len Fasano, R-North Haven, said Lamont’s own DOT created a document that shows removing $250 million in general obligation bonds from the Special Transportation Fund will “severely limit the funding available for new projects.” It would also require the delay of many pending projects ranging from the Charter Oak/I-91 interchange to the Clinton railroad station.
The internal DOT memo, which was written on Feb. 7, doesn’t anticipate Lamont’s decision to cap new car sales tax revenue going into the Special Transportation Fund, but it does anticipate future revenue from tolls.
Moving $250 million in general obligation bonds to the Special Transportation Fund was part of the bipartisan budget negotiated before Lamont was elected when the number of Republicans and Democrats in the Senate was tied.
“It violates the public trust in that we said this was going to be dedicated to infrastructure,” Fasano said.
He said the memo talks about other revenue, specifically tolls. However, it also mentions that toll revenue will not be realized for five years from the day that it’s approved. “The time to plan, gain regulatory approvals, design and construct a toll system has been estimated to take 4 years, with partial revenue services in years 5 and 6. Full revenue operations would be achieved in year 7,” the memo states.
Fasano called it a grievous error to remove $250 million in general obligation bonds that would have a devastating impact on Connecticut in the short term. He contends that impact will be felt regardless of what direction the state decides to go with installing electronic tolls.
Republicans are philosophically opposed to installing tolls, Fasano said. Republicans believe they can reallocate Connecticut’s borrowing to improve its transportation infrastructure instead.
He said the “Prioritize Progress” plan dedicates about $706 million a year toward transportation infrastructure improvements over the next 30 years without tolls. Republicans have been promised a public hearing on the proposal by the Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee.
Over the past two days, Lamont was in Washington, D.C., meeting with federal officials including U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Cho, but his Chief of Staff Ryan Drajewicz said they are open to having a discussion about using the Republican plan in the short-term.
However, the Lamont administration was unwilling to budge on the idea of installing electronic tolls.
Asked whether the governor was confident he had the votes in the General Assembly for tolls, Drajewicz said, “Yes.”
But he pivoted to say that the conversation is not about tolls — “The conversation is about Connecticut’s future. Transportation plays a critical role in that,” Drajewicz said.
Drajewicz said they’ve inviting Fasano to come work with them at the conference table and not at a podium at a press conference.
“There’s a path through this. This is not a short-term issue. This is not about the next four years,” Drajewicz said. “This is about the next generation.”
He said the number one impediment to Connecticut’s economic growth is the current state of its infrastructure. Office of Policy and Management Secretary Melissa McCaw defended the decision to cap the transfer of new car sales tax revenue to the Special Transportation Fund. She said they froze the transfer because the Lamont administration doesn’t like “bandaids.” She said they want to find a long-term solution.
“We’re hoping our partners in the legislature will begin to have a long-term view,” McCaw said.
She said S&P Global’s recent decision to upgrade its outlook on Connecticut’s bonds is because of the debt diet Lamont proposed as part of his budget. Lamont wants to put $500 million less on Connecticut’s credit card than previous administrations. “If there’s no money to fund the debt service, that’s a problem,” McCaw said.
That’s why Lamont has proposed tightening the purse strings when it comes to borrowing.
“This administration believes we should make commitments that are also supported by a funding plan,” McCaw added. She said there was nothing funded to support the debt service created by the $250 million transfer.
In order to fund all the projects on the list that will be delayed as result of losing $250 million in funding, she said, “We are talking about meeting annual debt service of $1.1 billion.”
She said that’s why the conversation is about how the state gets there in both the short and long term.
The General Assembly ultimately will decide the issue as it negotiates the state budget, but the two-year election cycle might not make tolls popular. An estimated 59 percent of voters oppose electronic tolls, according to a Sacred Heart University poll.
“This is one of those moments where legislators have to put themselves above the next two years,” Drajewicz added
Governor willing to end his ‘debt diet’ for transportation
PAUL HUGHES REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
HARTFORD — Top cabinet officials Thursday said Gov. Ned Lamont is willing to break his “debt diet” to borrow more for transportation as a stopgap while Connecticut transitions to highway tolls.
Chief of Staff Ryan Drajewicz and Melissa McCaw, the state budget director, laid out the potential deal after listening to Senate Minority Leader Leonard A. Fasano, R-North Haven, blast Lamont’s plans for transportation spending for 30 minutes.
The prospects for such a compromise appear slim based on the steadfast opposition of the House and Senate GOP caucuses to highways tolls. The dueling news conferences Thursday underscored the wide gulf on highway tolls.
“I say no tolls, period,” Fasano said.
A day earlier House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, reiterated House Republicans remain opposed to tolls.
McCaw and Drajewicz on Thursday continued to present tolls as the only sustainable, long-term revenue source for the Special Transportation Fund.Fasano said Senate Republicans are opposed to unleashing a “toll monster” on Connecticut.
Drajewicz said Lamont is confident that the legislature will vote to authorize an all-electronic tolling system this session, and he shares the governor’s confidence.
The Transportation Committee voted along party lines last week to advance competing tolling bills that House Democrats, Senate Democrats and the governor’s office proposed.
“This where the real back and forth will begin. I am confident that we will be able to win the argument at the end of the day,” Drajewicz said.
Fasano was not conceding the argument Thursday.
He once more highlighted the Republican Party’s Prioritize Progress plan, and Drajewicz and McCaw dismissed the GOP alternative to tolls once again.
House and Senate Republicans propose to dedicate roughly $2 billion in state bonds and anticipated federal funds to finance transportation projects annually for the next 30 years.
The Republican leader criticized Lamont for refusing to issue $250 million in general obligation bonds that last legislature authorized to supplement $750 million in revenue-backed special transportation obligation bonds for 2018 and 2019 fiscal years.
The Prioritize Progress plan relies on a combination of GO and STO bonds going forward. For the first 10 years, the initiative assumes an average of $703 million in GO bonds a year, another $750 million in STO bonds, and slightly more than $730 million in federal funds.
Fasano quoted from an internal memo from the Department of Transportation that said Lamont’s bonding limits would “severely restrict” funding for new projects and require the delay of a number of pending projects. The memo was written Feb. 7, roughly two weeks before Lamont recommended a two-year, $43.1 billion budget plan.
McCaw and Drajewicz argued Connecticut taxpayers will bear the entire cost of the borrowing under the GOP plan, while they said tolls will require out-of-state motorists and heavy trucks contribute to bridge and highway maintenance.
The two cabinet officials said Lamont would be willing to authorize GO bonds to supplement transportation funding for three or four years as part of a larger deal to transition to tolls.
McCaw clarified such bonding would be exempted from Lamont’s self-imposed bonding cap of $960 billion annually that he announced in Feb. 12.
She and Drajewicz also defended Lamont’s decision to halt the planned transfer of sales taxes from car purchases from the general fund to the Special Transportation Fund after Fasano criticized the governor.
The last legislature adopted a schedule to gradually shift 100 percent of those tax receipts over the next five fiscal years. The governor’s two-year budget plan caps that transfer at the current 8 percent rate. It is due to increase to 33 percent in the next fiscal year.
McCaw said the amount of revenue is insufficient to sustain the transportation fund, and the transfers also create a hole in the general fund.
“The car sales tax transfer is not a solution,” she said.
Drajewicz invited Republicans to meet and negotiate a long-term plan for transportation funding.
“This isn’t about right or wrong. If we are talking about the next three to four years versus the next 30, it is the wrong the discussion,” he said. “If what is getting in our way is the ability to meet in the middle for the next four years, we’re all ears. We want to have the conversation, the governor wants to have the conversation about what does the next 30 and 60 years look like. That is what is most important.”
“I say no tolls, period,” Fasano said.
A day earlier House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, reiterated House Republicans remain opposed to tolls.
McCaw and Drajewicz on Thursday continued to present tolls as the only sustainable, long-term revenue source for the Special Transportation Fund.Fasano said Senate Republicans are opposed to unleashing a “toll monster” on Connecticut.
“You’re going to create a new creature that is going to siphon money and pickpocket taxpayers,” he said.
The Transportation Committee voted along party lines last week to advance competing tolling bills that House Democrats, Senate Democrats and the governor’s office proposed.
“This where the real back and forth will begin. I am confident that we will be able to win the argument at the end of the day,” Drajewicz said.
Fasano was not conceding the argument Thursday.
He once more highlighted the Republican Party’s Prioritize Progress plan, and Drajewicz and McCaw dismissed the GOP alternative to tolls once again.
House and Senate Republicans propose to dedicate roughly $2 billion in state bonds and anticipated federal funds to finance transportation projects annually for the next 30 years.
The Republican leader criticized Lamont for refusing to issue $250 million in general obligation bonds that last legislature authorized to supplement $750 million in revenue-backed special transportation obligation bonds for 2018 and 2019 fiscal years.
The Prioritize Progress plan relies on a combination of GO and STO bonds going forward. For the first 10 years, the initiative assumes an average of $703 million in GO bonds a year, another $750 million in STO bonds, and slightly more than $730 million in federal funds.
Fasano quoted from an internal memo from the Department of Transportation that said Lamont’s bonding limits would “severely restrict” funding for new projects and require the delay of a number of pending projects. The memo was written Feb. 7, roughly two weeks before Lamont recommended a two-year, $43.1 billion budget plan.
McCaw and Drajewicz argued Connecticut taxpayers will bear the entire cost of the borrowing under the GOP plan, while they said tolls will require out-of-state motorists and heavy trucks contribute to bridge and highway maintenance.
The two cabinet officials said Lamont would be willing to authorize GO bonds to supplement transportation funding for three or four years as part of a larger deal to transition to tolls.
McCaw clarified such bonding would be exempted from Lamont’s self-imposed bonding cap of $960 billion annually that he announced in Feb. 12.
She and Drajewicz also defended Lamont’s decision to halt the planned transfer of sales taxes from car purchases from the general fund to the Special Transportation Fund after Fasano criticized the governor.
The last legislature adopted a schedule to gradually shift 100 percent of those tax receipts over the next five fiscal years. The governor’s two-year budget plan caps that transfer at the current 8 percent rate. It is due to increase to 33 percent in the next fiscal year.
McCaw said the amount of revenue is insufficient to sustain the transportation fund, and the transfers also create a hole in the general fund.
“The car sales tax transfer is not a solution,” she said.
Drajewicz invited Republicans to meet and negotiate a long-term plan for transportation funding.
“This isn’t about right or wrong. If we are talking about the next three to four years versus the next 30, it is the wrong the discussion,” he said. “If what is getting in our way is the ability to meet in the middle for the next four years, we’re all ears. We want to have the conversation, the governor wants to have the conversation about what does the next 30 and 60 years look like. That is what is most important.”
DOT previews Merritt Parkway rehab for New Canaan, Norwalk and Westport
Justin Papp
NORWALK — Representatives from the Connecticut Department of Transportation visited City Hall Wednesday to provide information on a Merritt Parkway rehabilitation project stretching from New Canaan to Westport that could begin summer 2020.
There were a little more than 20 residents who came out for the informational meeting about the project, including state Reps. Lucy Dathan, D- 142, and Tom O’Dea, R-125, followed by a question and answer session.The team of engineers described a 6.1 mile long project, which could take three-quarters of a year to complete, beginning at South Avenue in New Canaan and ending just shy of the Newtown Turnpike Bridge in Westport. The estimated $85 million cost would come 80 percent from federal funds and 20 percent from state funds.
“It’s the eighth and final corridor project along the Merritt Parkway.,” said Michael Cherpak, project manager at the Department of Transportation. The exception, Cherpak said, is the area around the Route 7 and Merritt Parkway interchange in Norwalk, which is an estimated $175 million project still several years from approval.
Along the route, the parkway’s shoulders will be widened by eight feet — four of which will be paved and four of which will be reinforced grass — existing guide rails will be replaced, median barriers will be installed where the width of the road is limited and the roadway will be resurfaced.
During construction, drivers will experience road closures during the day and night, though they will be limited to non-peak hours. There will also be proposed detours, including a roughly 5-mile long redirect around Comstock Hill Road.“So it’s just important to mention that this is our official state route detour. and that’s because we have to consider height of vehicles, weight of vehicles. we try to use all state routes when we’re assigning an official state route detour,” Cherpak said. “No one would be precluded... to use some sort of other way around.”“At any of these detours we would be in constant coordination through the design process with that municipality and their emergency services people,” Cherpak continued. “We do take these very seriously and we do take a lot of precauion.t
In the area of Norwalk near the Route 7 and Merritt Parkway interchange, the roadways will be resurfaced, the guiderails will be upgraded and the shoulders widened. No major bridge reconstruction or landscaping will be undertaken.
“We call this our area of limited project scope,” said Nicholas Ivanoff, project engineer for the state Department of Transportation. “That’s a major interchange project. It’s goal is to improve system linkage between 7 and 15. and it’s not slated for construction until 2024.”The portion of Merritt Parkway connecting New Canaan and Westport will be the last of roughly two decades of work to improve the road.Public comment will remain open until April 10.
Westport water main project starting April 1
Aquarion Water Company today announced a water main replacement project beginning April 1 on Franklin Street and Riverside Avenue in Westport.
Additional water main replacements on Railroad Place, Kings Highway North, Iris Lane, Old Hill Road, East Meadow Road and Valley Road will also be completed later in 2019.
The project, which will replace 11,200 feet of water main, is part of an ongoing program to improve Aquarion’s water distribution system and to ensure the highest quality water, the announcement said. The infrastructure upgrades will also help to reduce leaks and water main breaks that can cause service interruptions.
During the project, customers in the area may experience temporary service disruptions or discolored water, the company said. The company recommended customers store water in their refrigerators for drinking and cooking in case these circumstances arise. Customers also should refrain from washing laundry if their water is discolored. Prior to resuming use, customers should run their cold-water faucets until the water appears clear.
“We greatly appreciate residents’ patience during this project,” said Michael Hiltz, Aquarion’s manager of utility programs. “We will work closely with our customers, contractors, and town officials to coordinate the work and minimize any disruptions.”
Due to construction, customers should expect minor traffic delays and possible detours during the working hours of 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.Westport, CT-based A.J. Penna & Son will be serving as the contractor for the water main replacement project.
To keep customers informed about scheduled/unscheduled work, Aquarion utilizes a CodeRED notification system to call affected customers. Customers are encouraged to sign up for this free service at www.aquarionwater.com/codered.
Project updates describing the construction status, schedule for the following week, changes in traffic patterns, and detours will be posted weekly on Thursday evenings at www.westportct.gov.
Learning the ropes: Firefighters prep for bridge work
Lindsay Boyle
New London — Though they’re no strangers to training, city firefighters are flying high this month with an oddly specific purpose: to rescue construction workers should they get stuck under the Gold Star Memorial Bridge.
Chief Tom Curcio said this particular high-angle rope rescue training, put on by the Connecticut Fire Academy and made possible by a federal grant, “is training we haven’t done before.”
“Especially with work on the northbound side starting in 2020, we wanted to make sure our guys would be able to go over the side of the bridge if they had to,” he said.
Contractors with the state Department of Transportation have been working on the southbound side of the bridge since April 2017, when they launched a $26 million project that included steel repairs, concrete deck patching, joint replacement, illumination and paving.
During that time and even before, firefighters have had to rescue workers stuck in inspection or other trucks under the bridge. But they’ve always been able to park a ladder truck on a New London or Groton street and reach the workers that way.
With work on the southbound side almost complete, DOT soon will start on the northbound span.
Because the northbound project is slated to be more extensive and will include reinforcing steel under the bridge, Curcio said workers will be more likely to get stuck somewhere that isn’t accessible by land.
“This is going to be a very useful training for us,” he said.
Firefighters began the seven-day, 56-hour rope rescue course in Roland Hall at the Coast Guard Academy, which houses a gym, pool and other athletic facilities. They started small, dropping from the gym’s catwalk to learn how to lift and lower themselves.
They have since moved to the vacant Crystal Avenue high-rises, where on Thursday — day five of the training — they had strung a 600-foot rope system, complete with pulleys and trolleys, through a metal tripod anchored to a wall on the fourth floor.
In each case, a group at the top secured the tripod so it wouldn't tip forward while a group on the ground set the correct tension on the rope, which was attached to the back of an ambulance.
Then, as one firefighter hoisted himself out the window, both groups worked to send him horizontally across the rope, lower him down to "rescue" another firefighter, lift the pair back up and send them the rest of the way to the ground.
Curcio said while it's unfortunate that people who lived in the high-rises had to vacate because of mold, rodents and poor maintenance, it's good that firefighters can use the buildings for training. While he has done rope rescue training before, he said many younger members of the department had not.
In the coming days, the firefighters will start on the seventh floor of one building, perform a "rescue," then be sent across the rope to the same floor of an adjacent building, which is comparable to having to move from one section of the bridge to another.
“I think I’m going to go myself and watch that,” Curcio said.
The $251,799 grant came from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant program, to which city firefighters regularly apply.
Curcio said the funding, which was boosted by a 10 percent, $25,179 contribution from the city, covers the training, overtime pay for participating firefighters and almost $50,000 in rope rescue equipment the department gets to keep.
Curcio said all of the city’s firefighters are participating, although some won’t make it to all seven days of training for various reasons. Those who do attend all 56 hours can become certified upon completion.
Battalion Chief Jeff Rheaume, who also has been trained in rope rescue, said the training highlights how firefighters do more than fight flames.
"This is not what you think about when you sign up" to be a firefighter, he said. "But it's great for them to be able to practice in this controlled atmosphere."