Kimberly Drelich
About nine years after the North Stonington Road Bridge over Whitford Brook in Old Mystic closed, orange signs tell drivers "Bridge Out" and it remains out of service.
The small structure, between Groton and Stonington, was found to be in poor condition following a torrential downpour in the spring of 2010.
Neither town has set aside funding for the bridge for fiscal year 2020, but local officials are eyeing fiscal year 2021 as the year they could fund the bridge replacement.
Old Mystic Fire Chief Ken Richards Jr. called the closure of the bridge "a public safety issue." With the bridge closed, fire trucks leaving from the Old Mystic Fire Department now make a right-hand turn heading into Groton at the intersection of Route 27 and Main Street by the Old Mystic General Store, said Richards. He described the right-hand turn as "very hazardous" for fire apparatus.
"We’ve had numerous close calls at that intersection," Richards said.
A couple of times when cars were parked in no parking zones, fire trucks were forced to go another route, delaying response time by three to four minutes, he said.
Funding at issue
The bridge's superstructure was found in need of repairs or total replacement during an inspection after the 2010 storm, but the storm did not cause the issue, according to a project description in Groton's Capital Improvement Program.
About five years ago, repairs started on the bridge, after both towns allocated funding, but it was determined that a new deck was needed and the project halted, the project description states. A $90,000 settlement with the engineering company in 2014 allowed for the hiring of "a consulting engineering firm to investigate the existing abutments and proposed alternatives to reestablish the bridge."
Groton was notified in 2016 that a project to replace the bridge qualifies for a $597,000 state grant, with Groton and Stonington then each needing to contribute about $300,000. The grant is in place, Groton Town Manager John Burt said.
In January 2018, the project was among the $4.3 billion in capital projects that former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy cautioned would be "postponed indefinitely" if additional revenue were not allocated to the state's Special Transportation Fund. In May 2018, the state passed a budget that added revenue to the transportation fund for the upcoming fiscal year, the Connecticut Mirror reported.
Stonington First Selectman Rob Simmons said the cost of replacing the bridge has delayed the towns from doing the project. He described it as "a card game" between Groton and Stonington, where one will put aside funding for it, and the other won't, and vice versa.
"In this very difficult budget crisis where we are struggling like other towns to make ends meet and make taxes reasonable, we took the bridge project out of the budget, because there's been no progress for three years," said Simmons, who said he's supported funding the bridge in the past.
Simmons said Stonington is trying to participate in replacing the bridge but the financial climate — with the potential for tolls, a possible new fee for towns to pay a share of the costs for teacher retirements, cuts to state aid, and other town projects that need to be done — is forcing the town to make hard choices.
The Groton town manager's budget also didn't include money for the bridge. Burt, too, has said the town has to make tough decisions, as it faces state mandates and potential state aid cuts, as well as costs associated with the schools project. He cited in the budget proposal that the bridge has been closed for a long time and the town has received few complaints about it.
At a March 28 Groton public hearing on the budget proposal, several residents asked the town to fund the project, raising concerns, including about emergency vehicles navigating the busy three-way intersection.
Fiscal year 2021
Simmons said Stonington has put a marker for the bridge project in the fiscal year 2021 budget as a reminder of its importance to the Old Mystic Fire Department, and will have to see what happens.
"We’re not forgetting about it," Simmons said.
Groton also potentially is looking at the project for fiscal year 2021.
The Groton Town Council did not consider this year funding the bridge, as the council believed Stonington was not going to fund it, but next year if the state and Stonington schedule funding for it, Groton would probably fund it, Town Mayor Patrice Granatosky said.
"Stonington has it tentatively in their 2021 budget for their portion, so that’s likely what we will look at doing, too," Burt said. "The bridge has been discussed several times over the years but the funding hasn’t been designated for it."
"Hopefully next year, it will all come together, and we can get it done," Granatosky added.
Norwich bridge project will close Scotland Road there this summer
John Barry
NORWICH - The center of a bridge that carries Scotland Road over Interstate 395 has become so deteriorated that yellow stripes are painted several feet apart to divert drivers to the safer sides.
“It’s half of its normal rating (in the middle),” Mayor Peter Nystrom said.
Signs posted at each end of the bridge list a 27-ton weight limit and ban trucks.
The state Department of Transportation is beginning work this month on a $5.4 million project to restore the bridge’s condition. The two-lane overpass was built in 1958. Work will include replacing the concrete deck, parapets, steel bearings and deteriorated steel components. The steel girders under the deck will stay and will be repainted.
The project will require Scotland Road to be entirely closed at the bridge for eight weeks from late June to mid-August.
Norwich Public Works Director Patrick McLaughlin guessed that the closure will take place as soon as possible after schools close, to give workers as much time as possible so the road can be reopened before school buses start running again.
Because of the tight eight-week schedule, some work will take place at night, the DOT’s project manager, Bryan Reed, said at a public hearing in October.
About 2,000 vehicles use the bridge daily, according to the DOT, and they’ll have to find a way around it.
“It could have a huge impact on my business,” said Carol Benesch, who owns Norwichtown Pet Resort & Spa at 763 Scotland Road, which provides both day care and overnight care for pets. “They didn’t consider us when they made their plans.”
She said while the bridge is closed, many customers who drop their pets off before work will have to leave earlier and then have longer trips when they pick the animals up after work.
“The day care will definitely take a blow,” Benesch said.
The bridge is about 200 yards north of Scotland Road’s intersection with Case Street. Detour signs will be put up directing drivers to use White Plains Road, Plain Hill Road, Huntington Avenue and West Town Street instead.
The detour will add about 3 miles to the normal 3-mile trip on Scotland Road between West Town Street and White Plains Road.
Drivers also can use Canterbury Turnpike and Lawler Lane as a detour, but that route won’t be marked.
“The goal is to get it done through the summer, and get it done completely,” Nystrom said.
The mayor said that the fear is that if one lane of traffic is kept open while the bridge is replaced, the project won’t be able to be completed before the construction season ends this fall.
The DOT also warned that one-way traffic on Scotland Road may be required during work hours in the months before the road is closed and possibly after it reopens.
Plymouth residents seek temporary injunction to stop 58-unit apartment complex project
JACQUELINE STOUGHTON
PLYMOUTH — Ida Marie and Stanley Klaneski have lived in their historic Prospect Street home since 1978 and will do anything to protect the character of the neighborhood they’ve spent the last 40 years in, they said last week.
A plan to convert the abandoned Prospect Street School building at 12 Prospect St. into market-rate apartments by developer Craig Bothroyd, a Goshen resident and owner of Prospect Ridge LLC, is now at a standstill after the Klaneskis filed a temporary injunction to stop the project.
“The property values will never be the same again,” said Ida Marie Klaneski, 68, who lives at 20 Prospect St., right next door to the school building. “This street is only about a quarter of a mile long and very steep, and many houses are historic. By putting in all those apartments, it would entirely change the character of the neighborhood. We don’t need 58 apartments in the most congested part of town.”
The injunction against Prospect Place Apartments was filed March 11 in New Britain Superior Court.
“In this case, the plaintiffs claim that building a 58-apartment unit development next to and behind their home in a neighborhood composed of approximately 25 well-spaced and well-cared-for single-family homes, their property value would be substantially reduced,” the temporary injunction court documents state. “Building these units, whether they are zoned for low-income housing or not, would significantly decrease the value of their home, causing them to suffer irreparable harm.”
Bothroyd’s site plans had been approved by the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission on Feb. 28 after three hearings.
“We are against it because it’s taking away athletic fields and we do not believe that he will ever be able to remediate this school,” Ida Klaneski said. “In 2009, the town did a market analysis of the school and concluded that because of the age and condition of the building, there wasn’t much that could be done with it. This developer has never publicly mentioned what his plans are to remediate the school. The residents don’t believe it will ever be done.”
On April 10, the town filed a motion to dismiss the Klaneskis’ complaint. Town Attorney William Hamzy said there will be a hearing on the motion to dismiss May 13 at the earliest.
“It’s clear they’re against this project,” Hamzy said of the Klaneskis. “Planning and Zoning did everything by the book and in accordance with regulations. They’re just grasping at straws to prevent this from happening.”
Throughout the hearings on the project, Bothroyd said there will be a 144-space parking lot and noted the complex will not be affordable housing. He said his tenants will be young professionals, couples and starter families. He said he expects construction to take about four years.
Bothroyd plans to purchase the historical school building, built in 1900, and the adjacent athletic fields and convert the building into 28 apartments and 30 townhouse-style units in four new buildings on the fields. The town plans to sell the school building and field to Bothroyd for $200,000 with a contingency in the contracts to negotiate a tax-abatement plan. Bothroyd estimates his project will cost at least $3 million.
“The contractor has invested a lot of money so far and has complied with every single requirement from Planning and Zoning,” Mayor David V. Merchant said. “He has had done everything he needed to do. Planning and Zoning has already approved this project. For the town to sell this building and for someone to breathe new life into a property that has been abandoned for 10 years is a good thing.”
The 1.76-acre property has been vacant since 2008.
“If this project is stopped, it would mean the end of trying to sell that building,” the mayor said. “It would continue to deteriorate, and to tear it down would be an extremely expensive ordeal.”
Merchant noted it would cost about $2.5 million to abate and demolish the building.
“This could turn out to be a highlight of our town and increase property values,” he said. “(Bothroyd) is looking to put millions of dollars into this. (The Klaneskis) are only visualizing it to be a bad thing for the town.”
Though Ida Marie Klaneski says she would like to see the boards removed from the school’s windows and something done with the building, she’s unsure what the best course of action would be for that property.
“Remediation would cost millions and no one wants to do that,” she said. “I don’t care if they demolish it or fix it, but we don’t want to ruin the athletic fields and don’t want to lose them to a developer who wants to build apartments on them. In the eyes of many people, when the mayor wants something, he pushes it through. It’s really a big disappointment.”