How a New Haven development project is transforming part of the city
Mary E. O’Leary
NEW HAVEN — The new construction will make it clear you are
now in an urban center.
And, among other things, the new intersection there will
feature the first protected bicycle/pedestrian intersection in the state, said
Donna Hall, the project manager for Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the massive
infrastructure undertaking.
The changes also mean there will be a connection to the Hill
from downtown on South Orange Street for the first time in an estimated 60
years.
Phase 2 of the Downtown Crossing, which is reclaiming
multiple acres of developable land, is transforming the area.
The work will take the very busy highway traffic flowing
from Interstates 91 and 95 into the city, with a high priority for protection
of its pedestrians and cyclists.
Hall said this transition zone will be marked by a “robust
program of landscaping and lighting” — visual clues that traffic is entering an
urban grid.
There are very wide crosswalks adjacent to clearly marked
bike lanes with multiple safety islands at the intersection itself. Pedestrians
will push the button for a walk signal to the first island and then push a
second button for a signal to finish crossing.
Hall said the new infrastructure will allow the growth of
the business district to include the medical district, as well as the harbor,
Long Wharf and Union Station.
Phase 1 was the build-out of 100 College Street, while Phase
2, in addition to upgrading the intersection, paves the way for construction of
101 College Street, another major biotech building with space for start-ups and
programs to prepare students for jobs emanating from the research there.
Hall said the revamped roadways will also enhance and enable
development of the former Coliseum site at the corner of South Orange Street
and South Frontage Road.
The new crossing will have the same number of lanes that
residents are used to at such major arteries as Elm Street and Church Street,
she said.
The project manager said the new intersection is expected to
become the main pedestrian connection to Union Station, which is a major train
and bus hub.
Another important element is creation of bioswales at the
intersection that will deal with the stormwater runoff for the area, much of
which was visible this week with more extensive landscaping in the near future.
Members of the New Haven Development Commission toured the
intersection with South Frontage Street this week. Hall said the last of the
pavement markers are being put down and the last traffic signal needed is on
its way. The progress report was given to the commission as it is one of the
entities that approves projects that are part of the Downtown Municipal
Development District.
The new route to Union Station at the site goes past the art
installation by Sheila de Bretteville on Union Avenue. The underside of a
bridge is painted blue, evocative of the water, while spotlights shine on the
sidewalk at night, triggered as pedestrians walk by.
Called “Lighting Your Way,” passersby become, in a sense,
part of a performance, Hall said. It also plays up urban infrastructure as art.
Across Union Avenue on the other side of the overpass there
was a chain link fence that has been pulled back to reveal landscaping and granite
cobblestones.
Hall said the changes have transformed the space,
particularly at night.
There is a new addition to Columbus Avenue with its wide
bikeway, but, most noticeable is its direct connection to the train station.
The previous abrupt ending of the street added to the
isolation of the former Church
Street South housing complex, razed after decades of deterioration and now
awaiting a new chapter.
“This will be well discovered once the intersection is
open,” Economic Development Administrator Mike Piscitelli said.
Hall said the traffic analysis of extending Columbus Avenue
showed much heavy traffic will be removed from other congested streets
downtown. She said it is also another way to get on the highways rather than
South Frontage Road.
Piscitelli said the next big piece of infrastructure the
city hopes will qualify for federal funding is a pipeline to take the pressure
off stormwater runoff at Temple Street to the Metro North railyard.
A new neighborhood is growing up around the area with 587
apartments finished or in progress in developments by Randi Salvatore, all of
which are starting to rival the new density at Wooster Square.
There also has been work The done on Phase 3, which is
construction of 101 College Street by developer Carter Winstanley, who also
built 100 College Street.
Hall said South Frontage Road has been raised about 7.5
feet, which sets the elevation for a bridge that will go over the service
drives to Temple Street on the other side. The actual construction of the
bridge and raising Martin Luther King Boulevard will be Phase 4.
The recent work has created some stress for motorists, as,
in order to raise South Frontage Road for future construction
of the bridge, a detour
was set up in June. Drivers coming down South Frontage must turn right onto
College Street, then left onto Congress Avenue and right onto Lafayette Street.
On Phase 3, Hall said the contractor, Manafort Brothers
Inc., was ready to put the pavement down at the site, but United Illuminating
decided at the last minute to put in a duct bank so it won’t have to dig up the
area in the spring.
She added that despite this, Manafort is expected to stay on
schedule, paving the service roads and opening them and South Frontage Road
around Dec. 1.
“It is remarkable. Manafort has been an outstanding
contractor to deal with. This has been a real challenge and they have met that
challenge,” Hall said.
The Phase 2 contract is valued at $19.6 million with $4
million left to spend; Phase 3 will cost $14.8 million with $4.7 million in
remaining work, Hall said.
City engineer Robert Ellis, who is the project manager for
101 College Street, said the main foundation slab for the building has been
poured for the 525,000-square-foot facility.
Ellis said 101 College is expected to be a huge job
generator for Greater New Haven.
Piscitelli said it is projected to bring over 3,000 people
from throughout the state, taking into consideration supply chain investments,
hotels, hospitality, the residential developments, as well as the science
employment.
The economic development administrator also commented beyond
job numbers.
He reflected on the “meaningful nature of the work that will
happen in these buildings and the quality of the science both coming out of the
Yale School of Medicine and other innovation portals in our community, changing
health outcomes around the world.”
Piscitelli said “Robert, Donna and our Traffic Department
are like part of an orchestra on this.
“It starts with safety, maintaining safety given it is live
traffic, (in the ) middle of a city and then moving from piece to piece,” he
said.
New wind farms would dot US coastlines under Biden plan
MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Seven major offshore wind farms would be
developed on the East and West coasts and in the Gulf of Mexico under a plan
announced Wednesday by the Biden administration.
The projects are part of President Joe Biden’s plan to
deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030, generating enough
electricity to power more than 10 million homes.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said her department hopes to
hold lease sales by 2025 off the coasts of Maine, New York and the
mid-Atlantic, as well as the Carolinas, California, Oregon and the Gulf of
Mexico. The projects are part of Biden’s plan to address global warming and
could avoid about 78 million metric tons of planet-warming carbon dioxide
emissions, while creating up to 77,000 jobs, officials said.
“The Interior Department is laying out an ambitious road map
as we advance the administration’s plans to confront climate change, create
good-paying jobs and accelerate the nation’s transition to a cleaner energy
future,” Haaland said. “We have big goals to achieve a clean energy economy and
Interior is meeting the moment.”
In addition to offshore wind, the Interior Department is
working with other federal agencies to increase renewable energy production on
public lands, Haaland said, with a goal of at least 25 gigawatts of onshore
renewable energy from wind and solar power by 2025.
Haaland and Amanda Lefton, director of department's Bureau
of Ocean Energy Management, said officials hope to reduce potential conflicts
with fishing groups and other ocean users as much as possible. “This means we
will engage early and often with all stakeholders prior to identifying any new
wind energy areas,” Lefton said in a statement.
Commercial fishing businesses have said planned offshore
wind projects off the East Coast would make it difficult to harvest valuable
seafood species such as scallops and lobsters. Some conservation groups also
fear that big turbines will kill thousands of birds
Biden has set a goal to deploy 30 gigawatts, or 30,000
megawatts, of offshore wind power in the United States by 2030. Meeting the
target could mean jobs for more than 44,000 workers and for 33,000 others in
related employment, the White House said.
The bureau completed its review of a construction and
operations plan for the Vineyard Wind project 15 miles off the Massachusetts
coast earlier this year. The agency is reviewing nine additional projects,
including the South Fork wind farm near New York's Long Island and the Ocean
Wind project off New Jersey.
Vineyard Wind is expected to produce about 800 megawatts of
power and South Fork about 132 megawatts. Ocean Wind, the largest project, has
a total capacity of 1,100 megawatts, enough energy to power 500,000 homes
across New Jersey.
The administration has committed to processing the 13 other
projects currently under federal review by 2025.
The ocean energy agency has said it is targeting offshore
wind projects in shallow waters near Long Island and New Jersey. A recent study
shows the area can support up to 25,000 development and construction jobs by
2030, the Interior Department said.
Heather Zichal, a former climate adviser to President Barack
Obama who now leads the American Clean Power Association, a renewable energy
group, said Biden’s goal for offshore wind was “ambitious but achievable.″ Wind
power is an essential part of the goal to reach 100 percent carbon
pollution-free electricity by 2035, she said.
In a related announcement, the Energy Department said it is
spending $11.5 million to study risks that offshore wind development may pose
to birds, bats and marine mammals, and survey changes in commercial fish and
marine invertebrate populations at an offshore wind site on the East Coast.
The department will spend $2 million on visual surveys and
acoustic monitoring of marine mammals and seabirds at potential wind sites on
the West Coast.
“In order for Americans living in coastal areas to see the
benefits of offshore wind, we must ensure that it’s done with care for the
surrounding ecosystem by coexisting with fisheries and marine life – and that’s
exactly what this investment will do,'' Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said
in a news release.
Kensington Avenue reopens in Meriden with completion of bridge
Mary Ellen Godin
MERIDEN— Construction of the Kensington Avenue
bridge is complete, ending the months-long road closure and detour
near the Meriden Mall and MidState Medical Center.
The delay in reopening the bridge was caused by a traffic
signal light in need of replacement. Supply chain issues during the pandemic
meant waiting longer than usual for the signal light, said Mayor Kevin
Scarpati.
“I had gotten several phone calls and emails about the
delay,” Scarpati said. “The project was done for quite a while before it opened.
The issue was the traffic signal. It has taken much longer than anticipated.”
Reopening Kensington Avenue and the intersection was
critical for local and state travel, given the resurfacing work on
Interstate-691 and resulting detours, Scarpati said. The signal was installed
and the intersection opened last Friday.
The Kensington Avenue bridge spans Sodom Brook and work
to replace the bridge and its culverts began in early spring. The work is
part of the latest $22 million phase of a citywide flood control
project.
The project’s goals are to reduce the flood plain from 225
to 95 acres, to remove about 150 properties from the flood plain and to protect
an additional 50 properties from flood waters. Key aspects include property
acquisition, Harbor Brook channel improvements, 12 bridge replacements and
flood water detention at the Meriden Green and Falcon Field.
Much of the work has been finished, including deepening
and widening much of Harbor Brook and bridge replacements on Cook,
Bradley, and Columbus avenues, as well as Amtrak culverts. In progress are
bridge replacements at Cooper, Cedar, and Center streets, with future bridge
work slated for Hanover Towers, South Butler Street, and Broad Street, plus
Mill Street bridge removal.
Cooper Street remains closed due to construction.
“Cooper Street is progressing,” said Howard Weissberg,
public works director. “We have the second culvert and the project
progressing on schedule. We expect the road to open up in early
December.”
A July downpour tested the work already done to control
flooding in the downtown area. City officials said the flooding would have been
much worse and lasted longer had there been no improvements made at the
Meriden Green and the bridges and culverts. But the work is not finished and
they are awaiting funding to begin the next steps, Scarpati said.
Scarpati is seeking re-election to his fourth consecutive
two-year term this fall, running as an independent with the Democratic
endorsement. His Republican challenger Elain Cariati said Tuesday she supported
the city’s flood control initiative overall and added it was important that the
road reopen to traffic around the hospital and a nursing home in the area.
“'With another piece of flood control being done, it's a
great thing," Cariati said.
Windsor Locks to get new railroad station; goal is to spur development
Skyler Frazer
Local and state officials unveiled plans for a new, revamped
railroad station in Windsor Locks that they hope will spur more development in
the area.
Gov. Ned Lamont and Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz joined Windsor
Locks First Selectman Christopher Kervick on Friday to talk about a
transit-oriented development project that will revitalize the railroad station
on Main Street.
The mixed use development will include a new 500-foot-long
boarding platform, traffic improvements, an indoor public market and
retail space.
Connecticut Transportation Commissioner Joseph Giulietti
said the project will go out to bid next month with construction expected to
begin in the spring. The project will last between two and two-and-a-half
years, Giulietti said.
Office giant Shelbourne proposes Hartford subdivision to help 1st-time home buyers
Terry Corcoran
Downtown Hartford’s largest commercial landlord, Shelbourne
Global Solutions, recently added an unusual purchase to its real estate
portfolio.
The real estate giant, which controls hundreds of millions
of dollars worth of downtown office space, bought an abandoned building at 25
Cornwall St., in the city’s Blue Hills neighborhood for $175,000.
With the purchase, Shelbourne is looking to help first-time
Hartford home buyers, a company official said.
Shelbourne enlisted Lifecare Designs Inc., a Hartford architectural
firm, to design a 12-lot subdivision of single-family homes on the 1.1 acres at
25 Cornwall St. The parcel is also bordered by Granby, Sharon and Burlington
streets.
“We are looking to provide affordable housing ownership for
the community,” Michael Seidenfeld, COO of Shelbourne, said in an email,
calling it “a project that helps first-time buyers become property owners.”
A limited liability company affiliated with Shelbourne
bought 25 Cornwall St., in July.
The purchase includes a 7,500-square-foot building with no plumbing or
utilities that was last used as a house of worship.
According to an application Lifecare Designs submitted to
the Planning and Zoning Commission, the building would be razed to make room
for the 12-lot subdivision.
Each home would have 1,300 square feet, including 900 square
feet on the first floor and a 400-square-foot loft. The homes would also have a
one-car garage, a driveway for a second vehicle and sit on parcels of about
4,000-square-feet.
“The subdivision of the subject property into 12 lots for
residential development is consistent with the Plan of Conservation and
Development and should generally be viewed favorably,” City Planner Aimee
Chambers wrote in a Sept. 28 letter.
The single-story property was purchased by SGS Cornwall LLC,
whose principal is Bernard Bertram, a managing member of the Brooklyn,
N.Y.-based Shelbourne. The seller was the Northeastern Conference Corporation
of Seventh Day Adventists.
The building was constructed in 1956 by the Tikvoh Chadoshoh
congregation, a group comprised mostly of German immigrants who fled Nazi
persecution during World War II, and originally used as a Yeshiva and day
school for between 80 and 150 students.
The City Planning and Zoning Commission held a hearing on
the application Sept. 28 and continued the hearing on Oct. 12. The hearing
deadline is Nov. 2.
Waterbury to pay construction consultant
MICHAEL PUFFER
WATERBURY – The Board of Aldermen on Tuesday agreed to pay a
consultant to oversee construction and repair projects using an as-of-yet
unspecified chunk of $74 million in federal COVID relief funds coming to the
city.
City Hall has been allocated $74 million from the $1.9
trillion American Rescue Plan Act. City schools, separately, have been granted
$141 million through the “Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief
Fund.”
The Board of Education signed off last week on the hiring of
KBE Building Corp. to oversee its infrastructure spending. On Tuesday, the
Board of Aldermen followed suit.
While detailed spending plans aren’t expected until spring
at the earliest, officials expect to spend much, perhaps most, of these federal
funds on building and infrastructure upgrades.
Mayor Neil M. O’Leary pushed to hire an oversight firm.
O’Leary said he wants to ensure spending satisfies federal requirements.
City Finance Director Michael LeBlanc said an audit is
expected at some time.
“They will bring resources to make sure the interests of the
city are protected from the beginning to the end of the process,” LeBlanc said.
KBE was among six applicants for the job.
The contract charges hourly, rather than a lump sum, with
rates for KBE staff running between $88 and $200 per hour. There is no estimate
of what costs might tally eventually.
The contract runs to Jan. 31, 2023, but with four one-year
options to renew, that can see it extended to Jan. 31, 2027.
The KBE contract was approved in a 10-1 vote, with only
Republican Vernon Matthews objecting.
In other business, Matthews was joined by fellow Republican
aldermen George Noujaim and Mary Grace Cavallo in opposing a $181,948 increase
to a contract with SLR International Corp.
The company designed, and is overseeing, ongoing upgrades to
East Main Street between the city Green and police headquarters.
The board’s 10 Democrats supported the amendment. It is the
latest of four, which has brought the contract from $543,000 two years ago to
$848,548 today.
Reconstruction of East Main Street began two years ago at an
anticipated total cost of $4 million. Construction costs jumped to $6.4 million
as unanticipated complications drove up the duration of scope of the project,
city officials say.
Contractors found pipes, utilities and even building
basements in places that were not anticipated, driving up needed repairs and
time, according to Waterbury Development Corp. staff.
The project was also shut down temporarily amid the height
of the COVID-19 pandemic, out of fear of disrupting water service to the city’s
hard-pressed hospitals.
Once the street was opened for upgrade of water mains, the
city found corroded lateral lines running to buildings needed to be replaced.
The city also added work, replacing a portion of the water main under North
Main Street.
Noujaim asked if Milone & MacBroom should have
anticipated complications in its bid, and therefore carry excess costs.
Board of Aldermen Paul K. Pernerewski Jr. countered the
company made its bid based on information supplied by the city.
“The contractor bid on the job as we described it, but it
turns out to be a significantly different job,” Pernerewski said. “Under what
theory should the contractor have to pay for it?”
Paving and sidewalk improvements are due to be completed by
Nov. 19, said Thomas Hyde, interim director of the Waterbury Development Corp.
New seating, lighting, waste receptacles, signs and bus shelters will be in
place by Jan. 19. Some plantings will be added in the spring, he said.