Connecticut Gov. Lamont Tours Merritt 7 Train Station Being Built in Norwalk
Connecticut's governor was given an update on the major
renovations of Norwalk's Merritt 7 train station by the state's Department
of Transportation (CTDOT) on Sept. 10, a project set to be completed in
fall 2022.
Gov. Ned Lamont learned that the station, a stop on the
Danbury branch of the Metro-North Railroad, will be equipped with a high-level,
500-ft.-long platform, 105 parking spaces and heated platforms to prevent snow
and ice accumulation, according to CTDOT Public Transportation Chief Rich
Andreski.
In addition, it will have tower structures on the east and
west side of the station with elevators and stairs as well as a pedestrian
overpass across the tracks, a passenger information display system, PA and
security system, canopy and bike shelter, according to the transportation
agency.
The goal of the reconstructed Merritt 7 station, along with
expediting travel to New York, is to create a more commuter-friendly
environment, where residents can live, work and shop in the same area without
the need for car travel, Lamont said.
Additionally, the new Merritt 7 train stop will meet all
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards.
Designs of the new station's platforms aim to improve
accessibility for customers and reduce boarding time by providing access to all
the cars on the longest trains traveling up and down the line, CTDOT spokesperson
Kevin Nursick told the Hour. The existing platform only allows a few doors to
open for boarding.
When finished, though, the new Merritt 7 will serve 28
trains daily, eight of which are direct to New York's Grand Central Station,
Andreski noted. Parking at the Norwalk station will increase from 88 to 105
spots, some of which will be in a newly built and paved lot just across the
street from the whistle stop, located along Glover Avenue close to the
Norwalk-Wilton border.
The Merritt 7 is the final stop on the Danbury Branch before
it connects with the New Haven Line in south Norwalk.
Connecticut first authorized funding for the project in
2017, when $21 million was approved to borrow for the upgrades to the Merritt 7
stop and design work for a proposed station servicing Orange.
Monies from the Connecticut State Bond Commission put in
motion the two projects that had sat idle on the books for several years.
Finally, construction work on the Merritt 7 station began in
September 2020.
Better Connection to Be Built to Adjacent Developments
The improved station's walkway bridge will also lead to the
Merritt 7 offices, the largest corporate park in Fairfield County, according to
the compound's website.
Merritt 7 Corporate is home to IBM, Xerox, MassMutual and
Frontier Communications, among other companies. Hearst Connecticut Media Group
(which includes the Norwalk Hour) also has office space in the complex.
"They want to give it a village effect and you can get
everything you need," Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling said of the area's new
condominium and apartment complexes being developed. "There are all kinds
of things that can be done here to get things running smoothly and traffic
flowing."
The new stairs and overpass will provide access to riders
coming from the adjacent development. They currently face a long walk to the
station or a car ride.
The Merritt 7 train station currently consists of a small
shelter and a narrow parking lot on the north and south sides. It also has the
only low-level platform on the Danbury branch.
According to the Hour, the new footbridge and improved train
station will open at a time when Norwalk is rapidly growing. The city
experienced the seventh-largest population increase in the state during the
last decade, and third-largest growth among big cities, according to 2020
census data, with approximately 90,000 residents.
Developers propose partially pre-fabricated housing complex in New Haven's Quinnipiac Meadows
Mary E. O’Leary
NEW HAVEN — Developers proposing to standardize construction
of affordable housing have a plan for a partially pre-fabricated complex in
Quinnipiac Meadows that also requests a unique taxing structure.
Vessel Technologies LLC, with headquarters in New York, is
looking to build a three-story, 27-unit building at 136 Hemingway St. on 1.3
acres, only a portion of which is able to be developed because of a floodplain
and wetlands, according to the developer and the city.
The property, taken by the city through foreclosure, has
been vacant and off the tax rolls for some two decades.
Vessel Technologies LLC,
owned by CEO Neil Rubler and Executive Vice President Josh Levy, is promoting
an approach to affordable housing as a way to streamline design, but still
build quality.
The company has proposed a similar project in Stratford that
is going through planning and zoning review in that town , while another is
under construction in Trenton, N.J.
The New Haven property is appraised at $147,400, according
to the assessor’s website.
Livable City Initiative staff member Evan Trachten said its
Property Acquisition and Disposition Committee has approved selling the
Hemingway parcel for $40,000.
The developer is considering gifting the wetlands to the
Land Trust, which owns adjacent property known as Hemingway Creek, according to
the PAD July meeting minutes.
The sale still would have to be approved by the Livable City
Initiative board of directors and the Board of Alders.
Separately, the taxing structure would go before the
city’s Low
Income Supportive Housing Tax Abatement Committee.
Discussions among the alders have centered on having LISHTA
follow more structured rules when it comes to agreements with affordable
housing developers, as the amounts paid have varied.
Vessel presented its plans to Alder Rosa Santana, D-13, and
Alder Gerald Antunes, D-12. Antunes approved the sale as part of PAD.
“I think it is a good project,” Santana said.
The alder said they suggested the developer add
three-bedroom units and offer it to tenants with lower incomes than proposed,
which are renters making 80 percent of the area median income.
Santana said she liked the emphasis on energy-efficient
components.
Vessel is proposing 24 one-bedroom units and 3 two-bedroom
units and a 1-1 parking ratio. The building wold be approximately 80 feet wide,
85 feet long and 35 feet high.
The pre-fabricated unit is a manufactured product, but the
developers said they would use local labor for the on-site work — walkways,
parking, clearing and grading.
They also would look locally for the trades, such as
plumbers, HVAC installers and electricians.
As for property management, Vessel, in its material
submitted to alders, said they would train a community member who would become
“our local partners and receive the surplus cash flow from the building’s
operations.” The position could be part-time.
They referred to them as the “caretakers,” but didn’t
elaborate when asked how the system would work.
Vessel said the building would be 100 percent steel
non-combustible construction and have energy-efficient appliances, integrated
smart home technology and services for hearing and visually impaired tenants.
From the beginning of the site work, estimated to occur in
March 2021, if plans are approved, the project would be completed two months
later in May.
The proposed tax structure could be the most unusual
component. They are proposing taxes based on a percentage of revenue. This
would be 6 percent for the first 10 years, 8 percent for the next 10 years ,
and 10 percent for the 10 after that.
If the tax arrangement were kept to 17 years, Vessel offered
5 percent of revenue for the 17-year term. In the document submitted to alders
it says “revenue is defined as the money collected by the property,
without deductions for expenses.”
Rubler founded Candlebrook Properties, which operates real
estate development in seven states with a portfolio of $2 billion in
properties, according to its submission to alders.
Levy was managing director of Candlebrook Properties and
co-founder of its subsidiary, CB-Cubed LLC, which focuses on affordable
housing.
The package sent to the alders also says that Vessel has
“re-thought the traditional ownership structure for housing and created the
first-ever franchise system for multifamily real estate.”
Asked in an email, what that system meant, Rubler said they
are still working on the concept.
As for where else they hope to build, Rubler said “we are
working with partners in states up and down the eastern seaboard to achieve our
mission,” but they did not give specifics.
Members of the Quinnipiac East Community Management Team are
expected to weigh in on development on the proposal because of regular flooding
in the area.
Opposition is percolating from the team, which has a trail
vision for the area and also objects to any disturbance of the wetlands along
the Hemingway Creek.
Patricia Kane, a resident of the area, said she has concerns
about use of the property. “It is necessary to handle flood waters,” she said.
MIDDLETOWN — The state
project to reengineer two traffic lights on Route 9, as well as the
removal of a yield sign at Route 17 that acts as an on-ramp, is awaiting a
traffic study that will help shape future work.
Decades-long safety concerns as well as frequent motor
vehicle crashes along the city’s portion of the highway have
driven this project for some time.
State Department of Transportation Chief Communications
Officer Kafi Rouse said public comments at previous meetings will drive the
next iteration of the proposal.
“A traffic simulation of each alternative is being
performed,” she said. “This included initially performing an origin/destination
study to determine current traffic patterns. This is used to ensure there is a
better understanding of traffic patterns as the traffic analysis is performed
and completed.
“Once all analysis is completed and alternatives reviewed,
depending on the results, next steps will be considered at that time,” she
continued.
She said a public meeting will then be considered “to move
any project alternative forward,” she said.
The DOT is seeking various opportunities for public outreach
in Middletown with the goal of making representatives available to answer
questions and present the design, Rouse added.
The
project calls for work on exits 13 (Route 17 South), 15 (to Route 66
West) and 16 (Route
17 north to Route 66).
Exit 13 has a yield sign rather than an on-ramp, which has
led to numerous accidents, officials said. Mayor Ben Florsheim said it is “an
incredibly problematic intersection.”
In fact, he drove past a rear-end crash there on his way to
work Friday morning, as he has “on many days,” Florsheim said.
He and his staff meet with DOT officials on a monthly basis,
most recently to coordinate construction, now complete downtown, and work that
continues on the Arrigoni Bridge.
Stakeholders have also been discussing upcoming Route 9 work
“and how it dovetails with the riverfront (master plan),” the mayor said.
“One of the things that has kept
it in a holding pattern is, they’re doing a traffic study of cars getting
on and off of Route 9 in Middletown and coming through Middletown — where are
they coming from, what is their destination and what do they take to get
there,” he said.
This examination is key to the project, Florsheim said.
“One of the problems with the last couple of plans the DOT
brought forth is they didn’t reflect the actual usage of people coming on and
off of Route 9 through downtown and the traffic impact on downtown Middletown
in the plan they proposed.”
“They’re taking a real objective look at that impact,” the
mayor said.
There have been some delays attributable to the pandemic,
the mayor said. “It’s a hard thing to do virtually, and a hard thing to do
outdoors, because you need those materials to present. It seems to me they are
really taking this time to really take a deep look at the traffic patterns, the
engineering — what didn’t work about the previous plan. Using that process to
rule out things that are not going to work,” Florsheim said.
The off-ramp that earlier DOT plans had proposed for Rapallo
Avenue was met with public criticism, especially among residents of the densely
populated historic North End.
“The analysis [the DOT has] done has caused them to rule out
some of old proposals,” Florsheim said, after the community widely “panned” the
idea.
What the next iteration will look like has yet to be
determined, Florsheim said. “I feel good about the communication we’ve been
able to establish with them.”
Timing will also work to the city’s advantage, he added.
“We’re going to be able to plan Route 9 in coordination with the planning
of the riverfront and making sure those things are complementary to
one another.”