Hartford’s Charter Oak Bridge in $213 million project
Kenneth R. Gosselin
For nearly four decades, WTIC-AM traffic reporter Mike Alan sent off his radio
dispatches from the air, a thousand feet above the fray on Greater Hartford’s
highways, and one bottleneck was inevitably in his daily report: where I-91
northbound in Hartford exits to the Charter Oak Bridge.
Traffic can back up for a mile or more — infuriating commuters, leisure travelers and operators of
18-wheelers as many struggle to connect to I-84 East — a problem the state now
aims to solve as part of a $213 million transportation project just getting underway.
“It’s sort of like a dull headache, all week long, all day long,” Alan said. “Any given time of day, any
given day of the week, you can see delays on I-91 north in that area.”
Last month, with fundingand contractors now in place, the state Department of Transportation launched an ambitious project that by 2022 will create a new route for motorists to
reach the Charter Oak Bridge from I-91 north.The centerpiece of the project
calls for replacing — and dismantling — the current, one-lane, right-hand Exit
29 that now connects I-91 with the bridge. A new, two-lane, left-hand exit,
also numbered 29, will be built beginning just after Airport Road. The new exit
will be elevated on a bridge which, planners say, will connect more smoothly to
the Charter Oak.The area around the Charter Oak Bridge has drawn national
attention, landing more than once on an annual list of the 100 worst
bottlenecks in the country for truck freight.The back-ups are also a trigger
for accidents. In just two years, between 2015 and 2017, the DOT tallied 621
car crashes in the same area, from exit 26 in Old Wethersfield to exit 29A,
referred to as the “Capitol Area.”The right-hand lane that now leads to Exit 29
isn’t a dedicated turning lane and the configuration invites drivers familiar
with the area’s traffic snarls to use the center lane to get ahead of queued up
vehicles. The drivers then try to cut into the right lane, often slowing the
traffic in all lanes, the DOT says.“One way or another, something needs to be
done with that,” said Alan, who still reports on traffic for WTIC-AM, but not
from the air. “I even find myself amazed how many times on weekends that it is
backed up.”A one-lane exitThe
back-ups have existed since the new, wider Charter Oak Bridge opened in 1991,
just south of the original — now dismantled — bridge that was built in the
1940s.The thought behind connecting I-91 north to Routes 5 and 15 and
ultimately, I-84 east via the new Charter Oak Bridge was to ease congestion
closer to downtown Hartford on the Founders and Bulkeley bridges caused by
drivers trying to make the same connection.Donald L. Ward, a DOT district
engineer on the reconstruction project, was a new state "I’d drive by it
every single day, and I kept thinking to myself, ‘Oh, that’s only a temporary
bridge. It’s temporary for construction,’ " Ward recalls, the bridge being
the one-lane exit. "All of a sudden, the job was complete, and I went:
“Oh. And this is the late 1980s, that I recognized this was not a good idea. I
mean that was just me, personally.”“That’s exactly what we’re trying to fix
now,” Ward said.Correcting the problem — made progressively worse by increasing
traffic volume over the last two decades — had been talked about for years.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy pushed heavily for the project in 2015 and announced that
preliminary planning would start. Malloy said making such transportation
improvements would be a strong component to promote broader economic
development goals.“We know that transportation is key to an area
flourishing," Amy Parmenter, a spokesman for AAA in Connecticut, said.
“Ideally you have roadways that get you where you are going in a way that is
safe and also reasonably fast, not beyond the speed limit, but not necessarily
meaning slow.”Ward said it is possible that one lane of the new exit could be
open as early as 2021.Opening a bottleneck
The new, left-hand exit — and the widening necessary to create it — is part of
a larger, 6-mile swath of improvements along I-91 north and south. The project
will cover a stretch just before the Putnam Bridge in Wethersfield and cross
over the Charter Oak Bridge — Routes 5 and 15 — and end at the Silver Lane
overpass in East Hartford. Improvements also are planned on I-91 as far north
as Reserve Road.The section from the Putnam Bridge to just beyond Wethersfield
Cove will see sorely-needed repaving, better lighting, upgraded drainage and
improved medians. The first stages of this work have already gotten underway in
this area and is expected to cost about $50 million, with 90 percent picked up
by federal highway funding.Nighttime lane closures started this week, the DOT
said.The remaining portion — the widening of I-91 north beginning after Airport
Road, the new exit to the Charter Oak Bridge and into East Hartford — will cost
about $163 million, all state funding and the proceeds from the sale of state
transportation bondsKevin Nursick, a DOT spokesman, said it is not unusual for
the state to fully pay the tab for high-priority transportation projects when
the state commits its annual federal transportation grants — nearly $800
million in the current fiscal year — to other projects.Some of the borrowing
costs to state taxpayers could be reduced if the state is successful in its
application for a special transportation grant of $75 million under the federal
government’s Infrastructure for Rebuilding America program that seeks to
improve particularly thorny transportation troubles, Nursick said.The widening
leading up to the new, left-hand exit also will require a slight lowering of
Routes 5 and 15, including the southbound ramp at exit 87 and portions of
Airport Road. The roadways run under I-91 north in the area of the widening and
must be lowered to maintain clearance requirements for trucks.It also is
anticipated that two exits in the area — exit 28 from I-91 north to Routes 5
and 15, and exit 87 from Routes 5 and 15 south to I-91 south — could be closed
for up to two years for the construction.A fourth lane will be added to the
Charter Oak Bridge to accommodate the new Exit 29. The bridge won’t need to be
widened because the new lane will be taken from the existing, generously sized
shoulders.The new, fourth lane also is aimed at easing the jockeying on the
bridge by motorists bound for I-84 east and those that want to continue on
Route 5 and 15, the DOT says.“This is a no-brainer,” Nursick said. “The
bottleneck will be opened up for tens and tens of thousands of drivers
everyday. For people in center of state, this is going to have massive impact
on quality of life, better for commuters, better for leisure travelers, just
better for the general public.”
Critics: Middletown sidewalk project endangers pedestrians
Cassandra Day
MIDDLETOWN — A month into the state’s $1.8 million Main Street sidewalk project,
concerned citizens and the business community are urging officials to address
the safety of pedestrians, many of whom are endangering themselves by entering
the road to get across.
The topic was addressed during the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce Central Business Bureau meeting
Thursday, where representatives of the state Department of Transportation and
Paramount Construction delivered an update on the project. At issue is the well-being of
vulnerable populations, such as the elderly, those in wheelchairs/electric
scooters or with other disabilities, as well as parents pushing strollers.Eighteen pedestrian bump-outs will
be built from Union to Green streets along the Main Street corridor in a
project that began April 1 and is estimated to be done by the end of August.
“This will put pedestrians in a visible location, instead of being “tucked way back at the front of parked Cars, way out of the sight line,” state Transportation Supervising Engineer
Erik A. Jarboe has told The Press.Curb extensions will also reduce the amount
of time it takes for walkers to cross the intersection because they’ll be
standing in a protected portion of the sidewalk waiting for the light to
engage. Many acknowledge there can be
confusion when a walker crosses the street and sees a large construction site
as they approach the opposite side, then realize there’s a large perimeter of
caution tape preventing them from accessing the walk button. “The idea that pedestrians on Main
Street should cross the street to keep going doesn’t take into account how
people really use downtown. The project needs to make pedestrian access a top
priority,” said Jennifer Alexander, Downtown
Business District commissioner and owner of Kidcity Children’s
Museum on Washington Street. “It’s different at every corner, so
they can’t use a one-size-fits-all approach to Main Street. They have to think
about each corner, and how to find a safe way for pedestrians to get around
that particular piece of construction — and that shouldn’t include having to
cross the street,” she said. Presently, at Washington and Main,
there is a 28-second wait as walkers make their way along a 97-foot distance.
Curb changes mean walkers will have a maximum of 14.5 seconds to make their way
55 feet from one corner to the other. The result is less exposure to traffic,
adding to pedestrian safety. “They’re thinking about things from
the car’s perspective, not what it’s like to be a pedestrian. In a business
community and for those of us who live downtown, these kinds of details really
matter,” Alexander said. “It’s a pedestrian safety issue, not
a parking or public works project,” said Parking Director Geen Thazhampallath,
who has been fielding public concerns. People assume his office is handling the
project because work is taking place in front of the meters, he said. Following the meeting, he and Deputy
Director of Public Works Chris Holden went out to inspect the affected areas. “We raised the issue with the
contractor in early April, and the issues have persisted,” said Thazhampallath,
adding that Paramount project superintendent Chez Pace has been “great to work
with.” “We were startled by the fact we
didn’t have alternative pathways, and you could be on one side of the sidewalk
and be forced to go to a completely other end, but there’s no means to get
there safely. We wanted to see it from our own eyes, and the reality is there
are significant places of confusion when it comes to the various projects,”
Thazhampallath said. “Essentially we’re saying, ‘walk
around the construction zone via crosswalks and push buttons the way you’re
supposed to.’ Once you see ‘sidewalk closed, cross here,’ that’s intended for
you to hit the button and use that safely cross,” said Pace, who acknowledged
some people may misunderstand the signs. “When we’re there during the day and
we’re working, we have two, three Middletown police officers with us and a
flagger, even our own Paramount personnel are more than happy to help the
elderly or someone pushing a stroller. We’ll hold traffic and make sure things
are done safely,” Pace said.Marie Kalita Leary, chairwoman of the Downtown Business
District, would like to see a temporary crossing area in place. “The sidewalk is closed, so you turn
around, walk back down the sidewalk, cross over the street, go to the opposite
side of where need to go, so you’re going to be criss-crossing back and forth.
At the other end of the sidewalk, [the state] put up sign. At that end, people
don’t see anything, so they walk past it,” Kalita-Leary said. “People are seeing it and they’re
going out into the road to go around the bump-outs, because we’re creatures of
habit — you walk a straight line. You don’t jump back and forth, side to side,”
she said. “We need to account for the fact
that people, when they come up on the construction zones, don’t know which way
to go. What they are doing is taking the path of least resistance, which is
into the roadway to get around and that’s really on the project and the state
to rectify that,” said Thazhampallath, who would like to see temporary ramps
for those with mobility issues. Pace is in constant communication
with the chamber and city, as well as working with business owners asking for
signs that tell customers the sidewalk may be closed but their establishment is
open.“I will personally do that. It’s not on the plans, but if that will make
small business happy, I’m for that,” Pace said. “I’m here for support and help,
and trying to keep everybody happy.” In fact, business signage was not
including in the state’s plan, “but I recognize their concerns, and I went out
of my own way today to order ‘business open’ signs we could post next to the
‘sidewalk open’ signs.” Alexander said everyone understands
the project is relatively short-lived.“It really does matter when people get
the impression that you’re closed, and we make it complicated for people to
walk on Main Street: whether they live here or are visiting businesses, they’re
both important.” As temperatures rise, more and more
people will be walking around downtown, Kalita-Leary said. “We hope the city
departments will work together and come up with a reasonable and safe plan so
construction can continue. We’d rather be preventative than wait for something
to happen.” “After somebody gets hurt, it’s too
late. This is one of those issues where we all need to work together, whether
it’s the state, city, public works, parking, whoever it is, to help improve
communication here before somebody gets hurt. After the fact is not OK,”
Thazhampallath said. For project information, visit ct.gov/dot.
New London’s State Pier to potentially become offshore wind
hub
Greg Smith
New London — The state has reached a
harbor development agreement and announced the start of a $93 million
investment at State Pier, the beginning of what state officials foresee as the
transformation of an underutilized port into a hub for the offshore wind
industry.
Gov. Ned Lamont visited City Pier on
Thursday to announce the private-public partnership and lease agreement between
the Connecticut Port Authority, pier operator Gateway and Bay State Wind, which
is a joint venture between offshore wind giant
Ørsted and Eversource. The news comes a day after Gateway New London LLC took over as port operator
as part of a 20-year agreement. Gateway also operates New Haven's port. “Connecticut’s maritime economy has
significant potential to drive economic growth and create jobs across the
state, and redeveloping State Pier is a central component to that growth,”
Lamont said. “This new public-private partnership reaffirms the unwavering
commitment of the state to increase procurement of offshore wind and make the
economic expansion of our maritime economy a reality.” The Connecticut Port Authority will
oversee a project at State Pier with an aggressive timeline to upgrade the
infrastructure and add heavy-lift capacity to accommodate components of
offshore wind turbines. After a design and permitting phase, construction
tentatively is scheduled to start in January 2020 and finish by March 2022,
Connecticut Port Authority Chairman Scott Bates said. Prior to Thursday’s announcement,
the Port Authority voted at a special meeting to prepare permit applications
and hire AECOM Technical Services at a cost of $794,790 for the permitting and
contract bid development. During that meeting, Noank farmer Kevin Blacker
criticized the board's closed-door negotiations throughout the process The completion of the project will
be followed by the signing of a 10-year lease agreement with an option to
extend for seven years. The $93 million public-private
partnership includes $35.5 million from the state and a $57.5 million
investment by Ørsted and Eversource, including $2.5 million to the Port
Authority to offset operational costs. Ørsted previously had committed
$22.5 million after Connecticut secured 300 megawatts from Ørsted’s Revolution
Wind farm south of Martha’s Vineyard. Ørsted and Eversource jointly have agreed
to add $35 million as part of the new agreement “We look forward to continue working
with the state, the City of New London and our partners the Connecticut Port
Authority and Gateway Terminal, as we drive towards a green economy, bring more
sources of clean energy to Connecticut, and ultimately lower carbon emissions
for our planet,” said Thomas Brostrøm, Ørsted president of North America and
Ørsted U.S. Offshore Wind CEO. The Port Authority also will receive
annual $3 million payments and be eligible for a completion bonus if the
project is done by March 2022. Bates said jobs will be created for
the local workforce as construction starts at the port, and more will be
created for the regional manufacturing workforce for building components of the
offshore wind turbines. Longer term, Bates said, the increase in activity at
the pier will benefit the job market statewide. Plans for the upgrades at the pier
have not yet been created, Bates said, but he acknowledged that the pier will
shift away from conventional cargo as it accommodates the wind industry. There
will be breaks in activity during construction and offshore wind projects when
Gateway may decide to bring in conventional cargo. David Kooris, deputy
commissioner of the state Department of Economic and Community Development,
said New London’s port welcomes one to two vessels a month compared to New
Haven’s 20. That number is expected to increase to four to five vessels a month
when wind activity starts. Mayor Michael Passero said the city
is negotiating terms of a new host community agreement that could provide
between $250,000 and $750,000 per year to the city over the
10-year-period of the lease with Ørsted and Eversource. The host agreement
previously negotiated with Deepwater Wind, a company that since
has been purchased by Ørsted, has New London receiving $1.5 million over a
two-year period — money that is still guaranteed as part of new agreement.
Passero said the amount of money the city will receive after two years will be
based on the amount of offshore wind power purchased by the state. As part of the Port Authority's agreement
with Gateway, New London receives 10 percent of the Port Authority's share of
revenue from State Pier — at least $50,000 annually — plus an additional
$75,000 to help defray costs of municipal services. “Today our city is emerging as an
epicenter of innovation as new businesses and supply chains have invested in
our community in preparation for this new industry coming to New London,”
Passero said. State Sen. Paul Formica, R-East
Lyme, a ranking member of the legislature’s Energy and Technology Committee,
said in a statement, “unleashing State Pier’s vast potential is our collective
priority." "Our shared goal is to turn New
London’s port into the offshore wind capital of the Northeast and open New
London to more maritime businesses," Formica said. "This will
continue to be a true team effort and I commend the team on its continued push
to turn New London and southeastern Connecticut into a regional hub for green
jobs.”
Capital Prep, North Hartford community work to heal rift over
planned DoNo grocery store Rebecca Lurye
Months after Capital Prep began fighting a proposal to place a full-service supermarket in its backyard, the North Hartford community is no closer to a compromise.
While residents and local nonprofits have been pushing for another grocery store for years, the magnet school was blindsided last fall by plans to build The project next door — on the site of the Keney Memorial Clock Tower and a small, public park where students play. This week, critics and supporters of the proposal met at the school and worked to bridge their divide, lamenting that missteps in the project had created a rift between groups that usually work together.Janice Flemming, founder of the Hartford-based social justice firm Voices of Women of Color, said she’s working toward a day when her organization can bring local seniors to a store down the block instead of driving them out of city limits through rain, sleet and snow.She asked Capital Prep to consider that this location may be the best solution to the food deserts of Clay Arsenal and Northeast Hartford, even if it means sacrificing the school’s open space.“This school is not a standalone, it’s part of a community," Flemming said. "Like a grocery store, like a school, like a hospital, that’s what makes a community. So we have to figure out as a community how we solve this problem.”Principal Kitsia Hughey Ferguson took issue, saying that supporting the neighborhood is part of the mission of the social justice-themed magnet school.“I hope the North End community feels the same way about Capital Prep and the work being done here,” she said. "... To take from the least of these to give to the least of these seems contrary to me, so that’s where I stand.”She added, “I hope a perceived sense of urgency doesn’t force a decision that maybe nobody wins.”City Councilwoman Jo Winch called Tuesday’s meeting in Capital Prep’s Sheff Center. The multipurpose room partially overlooks the proposed site of the grocery store project, called the Hartford Health Hub, which would eventually include a teaching kitchen, cafe, pharmacy, medical clinic, and exercise space.“If you look out this window, you can see exactly what the children would be looking at should the project come to fruition,” Winch said. “I’m personally saying, ‘No grocery store right there.’”More than two dozen people attending the meeting, including members of the police and fire departments, the Hartford Loan Fund — which is leading the project — and other groups that have spent years pushing for the store, like Hartford Food System, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving and Voices of Women of Color.No detailed designs have been drawn up. The loan fund is still in early discussions with potential operators after securing $8.5 million in state bond funding for the $23 million supermarket. On Thursday, loan fund CEO Rex Fowler said revisions meant to address Capital Prep’s concerns have created new questions about traffic and parking. Answers may be a couple of months away, Fowler said, as a traffic study for the planned development is ongoing.The loan fund initially wanted to place the store at 1212 Main St., a parcel that’s now part of Dunkin Donuts Stadium, but ceased planning five years ago when the city first proposed building the minor league baseball stadium.Most of those at Tuesday’s meeting agreed the city still needs a full-service grocery store in the area to ease food insecurity. They disagree on where, with Capital Prep arguing it shouldn’t have to lose access to the open field next door.Ferguson noted it’s still possible the store could be built on some of the vacant lots around the ballpark, as part of the multi-year Downtown North development.But that land is tied up in ongoing litigation between the city and the fired stadium developer, Centerplan Construction Co.And resolving that legal battle won’t bring the city much closer to building a grocery store. The first phase of the development calls for housing and just 11,000 square feet of retail and community space.That’s a far cry from the Hartford Health Hub plan, which calls for a supermarket of up to 45,000 square feet. So while several people said they’re open to alternative locations, they don’t want residents waiting too much longer for alternative to shopping in Bloomfield, East Hartford, West Hartford and Windsor.Angela Harris, a health initiatives liaison for the North End Promise Zone, cited the loan fund’s 7-year-old market analysis that showed the city could absorb nearly 70,000 square feet of additional grocery space, and that city residents were spending about $38 million each year buying groceries in the suburbs.“The status quo is unacceptable,” she said. “What we have today is unacceptable because $38 million every year gets sucked out of the city from people buying their groceries, their choice selection of what they want to buy, outside of the city of Hartford.”State Rep. Brandon McGee, a candidate for mayor, raised another possibility Tuesday. He said he’d rather a new supermarket in a more residential location in North Hartford, or a better selection at the existing Save-a-Lot on Main Street or Bravo on Albany Avenue.“I’m just not convinced, and all good intentions in this aside, that this grocery store is going in a place the community wants,” McGee said.He added that any operators interested in the Downtown North development will be catering to customers who can afford to live Downtown, and in the $46 million, 200-unit apartment building RMS hopes to add to Downtown North.“None of our
Folks can live in those buildings and apartments, and the idea is this grocery
store would be frequented by folks from North East and Clay Arsenal? Do y’all eally believe that?” McGee asked. “So I’m not necessarily against the idea of having the conversation, but let’s be real – where are the folks who are actually pushing this? They’re not here.”Some organizers were at Capital Prep, though, including Hartford Food System executive director Martha Page. She said
Fowler would also have attended if a prior commitment hadn’t taken him out of
town.Martha Page, executive director of Hartford Food System, cautioned residents against writing off the clock tower location. A grocery store operator will only open where there’s an adequate customer base, so any store in Hartford will need to pull shoppers from surrounding neighborhoods and areas, from the West End to East Hartford.A store in the North End simply won’t draw enough people, Page said.“If you start trying to figure out where, anywhere north of Downtown, that can occur, this turns out to be the best location,” she said.
Construction begins on new Honda dealership in Torrington
BRUNO MATARAZZO
TORRINGTON — Construction will begin
soon at a new Sullivan Honda dealership after months of prep work at the East
Main Street site.
Company and local officials last
week broke ground on the property that will relocate the local Honda dealership
on Migeon Avenue after 15 years to a new facility at the top of East Main
Street.
“I can’t wait,” said Kevin Sullivan,
president of Sullivan Honda. “I’ve been working on this for 5 years to get to
this point.”
Work is expected to finish by the
first quarter of 2020. Since October 2018, workers have been excavating 55,000
yards to clear the 4-acre site at 2015 East Main St. The prep work took longer
than expected as crews had to deal with a rainy winter and spring.
The new 22,000-square-foot building
will have 16 mechanical bays, an enclosed drop-off area and a full-size
showroom floor
Moving out of Migeon Avenue has been
part of the plan for Sullivan since he purchased the dealership from the Curry
family in 2013. The Migeon Avenue property is still owned by the Curry family
and Sullivan leases it.
The new dealership will be next door
to Sullivan’s Northwest Hills Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram at 2033 East Main St. and
near Sullivan’s Northwest Hills Chevrolet Buick GMC at 2065 East Main St.