Amtrak details Connecticut River Bridge replacement
Kimberly Drelich
Old Lyme ― The proposed new Connecticut River Bridge will
feature a longer movable span that will improve navigational clearances for
boaters and will open and close more quickly than the current structure,
according to a presentation from Amtrak.
The new two-track electrified rail bridge, which will be
built to the south of the existing two-track electrified rail bridge, will
improve the reliability of train service and increase the authorized speeds for trains from 45 to 70
miles per hour, according to the presentation.
Amtrak showed a preliminary rendering and detailed the
construction timeline, the need for the bridge replacement, the history of the
project, and construction impacts during a virtual information session on
Wednesday evening.
Construction on the new bridge, between Old Lyme and Old
Saybrook, is expected to start next year, with the total project, including the
demolition of the existing bridge, slated to be completed in 2029, according to
the presentation.
Amtrak held the information session to reintroduce the
project to the public and is seeking comments before Amtrak submits permit
applications, said Clarissa Fuller, senior principal project manager with
Amtrak.
Project to address reliability, service
The existing 1,570-foot-long bridge, was built in 1907, and
needs to be replaced, according to Amtrak.
The new bridge design features a 204-foot-long movable
section, an increase of 44 feet, that is intended to be kept in the open
position during peak boating season and has been designed with unique features,
said Benjamin Hawthorne, deputy project manager at Hardesty & Hanover, a
New York City infrastructure engineering firm.
The steel and concrete bridge will be designed to make
inspection and maintenance easier.
The Connecticut River Bridge carries on average 38 Amtrak
trains, 12 Shore Line East, and 6 Providence & Worcester freight trains a
day, said Hawthorne.
The movable span opened 2,200 times last year, with 80% of
the openings occurring during peak boating season between May and October, he
said. Most of the boating in this area of the Connecticut River is
recreational, with a mix of powerboats and sailboats, and its commercial usage
is typically limited to general contractors and occasional cargo barges, as
well as commercial fishing activities.
“The bridge is 116 years old and it’s nearing the end of its
useful life,” Hawthorne said.
Amtrak regularly inspects the bridge and it is maintained in
a condition to provide safe travel, but he said there is a limit to how long
the bridge’s service life can be extended, he said.
The reliability of components on a movable structure is
critical, as aging components can decrease the reliability of opening and
closing the bridge ― resulting in train traffic delays and impacting speed
throughout the corridor and service on the bridge and river, Hawthorne said.
“This project will address the reliability and long-term
serviceability of the river crossing, ensuring continued passenger and freight
rail operations along the Northeast Corridor, as well as along the Connecticut
River,” Hawthorne said.
Construction, environmental impacts
Ryan Apanovitch, senior environmental project manager for
AECOM, an infrastructure consulting firm, said the nearby Ferry Landing State
Park boardwalk and fishing pier will be closed during construction. Amtrak is
proposing to replace the existing boardwalk with a new, improved structure at
the end of construction.
Amtrak will provide a substitute location for fishing during
construction by rebuilding the fishing pier at Eagle Landing State Park in
Haddam.
Apanovitch said there is a diverse mosaic of estuarine and
environmental resources within the project area, including marsh, fisheries,
protected species and watercourses, and the project is subject to reviews as
part of the permitting process.
Amtrak has been working with the state Department of Energy
and Environmental Protection, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S.
Coast Guard to develop permit applications and seek authorizations under the
Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbor Act, and people will have additional
opportunities to comment on the project.
He said Amtrak has been working with regulatory stakeholders
to avoid, minimize and mitigate impacts to natural resources, including
wetlands and watercourses, plants, wildlife, and fisheries. For example, Amtrak
will implement restrictions on activities to reduce impacts during fish
migratory periods.
Hawthorne said the project is designed to minimize
interruption to rail service. To further minimize any impacts, various construction
activities may occur at night, weekends or by closing a track.
Hawthorne said Amtrak anticipates the need for temporary
access roads and staging platforms along the existing Amtrak right of way and
shoreline near the abutments. He said any facilities that create temporary
impacts to the environment will be removed at the end of construction and the
area will be restored.
Hawthorne showed a proposed access road tying into Route
1/Boston Post Road in Old Saybrook and a proposed access road tying into Route
156/Shore Road in Old Lyme. He said Amtrak will use temporary access roads that
tie into local roads, but there are no planned closures or detours of local
roads.
He said river navigation will be maintained throughout
construction, except for any necessary short closures, which will take place in
the winter. The existing navigation channel will have a reduced width during
the majority of construction.
Amtrak will communicate any construction impacts to the
public, and any work requiring restrictions to the navigation channel must be
approved by the Coast Guard and will include a public notice, he said.
People can submit comments by emailing nec@amtrak.com,
mailing Office of Community Engagement c/o Danelle Hunter, Amtrak (Re: Conn
River Bridge), 2955 Market Street, 3N-153, Philadelphia, PA 19104, or by
calling (844) 891-7879.
Andrew Brown and Dave Altimari
Connecticut officials are examining why the state paid a
contractor an estimated $1.4 million to clean up asbestos and other hazardous
materials at Cedarcrest, an abandoned mental hospital in Newington, when that
work was never formally authorized.
The state Department of Administrative Services confirmed
that AAIS, a West Haven company, was hired to perform the cleanup and provide
security services at the former Cedarcrest Hospital from August 2020 to
December 2021.
But state officials now say that project was not approved
through an appropriate contracting process. And they said DAS is still trying
to understand how much work AAIS completed at the site.
John McKay, a spokesman for DAS, told the CT Mirror there
was no specific contract between the state and AAIS for the remediation work at
the the former hospital, which is located just off the Berlin Turnpike in
Newington.
Instead, he said, the roughly $1.4 million that AAIS
received was initiated through a “blanket purchase order,” which was also used
to fund cleanup services at other state-owned properties in recent years.
That irregular payment process, according to DAS, was
handled by former state employee Michael Sanders, who died of a drug overdose
in late 2021 shortly after a federal grand jury began requesting records
related to AAIS, the state’s hazardous waste contracts and Connecticut’s school
construction program.
“The project was being overseen by Mike Sanders,” McKay
said.
Prior to his death, Sanders was responsible for managing the
state’s relationship with AAIS and several other companies that were part of an
emergency list of demolition and hazardous waste contractors. The list was
created to offer a streamlined path that would replace the standard bidding
process to address immediate needs, such as removal of asbestos discovered
during public building renovations.
Sanders was also part of the state’s school construction
office that was led by former state deputy budget director Konstantinos
Diamantis, who is at the center of the federal investigation.
This isn’t the first time that Sanders has been publicly
blamed for improperly awarding demolition and abatement contracts for
state-funded building projects.
Diamantis, who stepped down from his position in state
government in late 2021, also pointed the finger at Sanders last month after
local officials in New London accused both men of pressuring the municipality
to hire AAIS for work at New London High School.
It’s unclear if the payments for the Cedarcrest property are
of interest to federal prosecutors. Nobody has been charged to this point in
connection with the federal grand jury investigation, despite numerous
subpoenas being issued to Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration and several school
districts in Connecticut.
Even so, the former hospital has become a focal point in an
ongoing audit that was commissioned by the state last year in the wake of the
federal criminal investigation.
DAS hired Marcum LLP, an independent auditing firm, last
March and paid the company to sample 10% of roughly 321 demolition and
hazardous waste projects that were awarded through the emergency contracting
list that Sanders managed.
At the same time, the state specifically ordered Marcum’s
audit team to examine the payments that were issued for Cedarcrest. Officials
instructed the auditors to determine whether the state was accurately billed
for the work that was performed at the hospital, which officially closed in
2010.
DAS officials told the CT Mirror that they singled out the
Cedarcrest property because the agency wanted to review AAIS’s invoices so that
Marcum could “quantify the work” that had been completed inside several
buildings at the former state hospital site.
But that analysis failed to provide the state with the
answers it was looking for, according to DAS.
“Marcum was not able to quantify the work that had been
done,” McKay said. “DAS continues to review this matter.”
“DAS did not ask Marcum to review other specific projects,”
he added. He did not address why other projects were not subject to the same
level of scrutiny.
According to state officials, the money that AAIS received
for the Cedarcrest project was funneled through the blanket purchase orders
that were used to fund numerous projects that involved asbestos cleanup and
other hazardous material handling.
Financial records obtained from the State Comptroller’s
office show that AAIS made millions of dollars through some of those purchase
orders, but those records do not clearly detail all of the work that was
supposed to be performed for that money.
Some of the jobs assigned to AAIS in those documents are
vaguely described as “asbestos removal services for various locations.”
According to McKay, DAS began its review of the Cedarcrest
property in late 2021 shortly after the Lamont administration was served with
the initial federal subpoena.
He said the agency eventually ordered AAIS to halt its work
at the Cedarcrest property in February 2022 — the same month the federal grand
jury investigation burst into public view.
“DAS construction services undertook a review of the
Cedarcrest project at that time and determined that pausing the work would
allow for further evaluation,” McKay said. “That evaluation revealed that prior
work had been executed without proper authorization and was not done in
conformance with contractual procedures.”
The CT Mirror published a story around the same that
detailed how AAIS and a second hazardous material contractor, BesTech, had
received roughly 98% of the work that DAS commissioned under the emergency
contracting list between 2016 and early 2022.
Following that reporting, local officials in Bristol and
Groton alleged that Sanders and Diamantis pressured them to hire AAIS and
Bestech for several school construction projects, even though other companies
had already offered to do the work for less money.
Since then, state officials have said little publicly about
those contracts or the ongoing audit, which the state paid Marcum more than
$110,000 to complete.
During her confirmation hearing last month, DAS Commissioner
Michelle Gilman told lawmakers that Marcum’s audit of the hazardous waste
contracts could take another four to six weeks to complete.
“We take this audit review very seriously as well. That
review is ongoing,” she said. “We are reviewing the hazmat contracts that were
utilized by schools, by communities, by others, and that review is continuing.”
But Gilman, who was appointed to her leadership post in the
wake of the federal investigation last year, sidestepped many of the other
questions lawmakers asked.
That included questions about why DAS recently ended its
relationship with AAIS and removed the company from the state’s list of
emergency contractors.
The CT Mirror recently reported that AAIS was quietly fired,
but the state refused to explain its reason for that decision.
Republican lawmakers tried to press Gilman on that issue,
but she again refused to elaborate on the state’s decision, arguing it is a
sensitive legal matter.
“What did you learn about AAIS that called for that
termination?” Sen. Henri Martin, R-Bristol, asked Gilman during the hearing.
“Because this is a procurement and contractual matter, I’m
limited as to how much I can share about this issue,” Gilman replied. “But I
can share that we did terminate AAIS under a permissible action.”
She went on to explain that AAIS was “terminated for convenience,”
which she described as a “routine action.”
“For convenience?” Martin said. “Can you elaborate about
what that actually means?”
Gilman then explained that cancelling a contract for
“convenience” means the state can end the business relationship without
entering into a “full discussion” about why the contract was terminated.
“Are you prohibited from telling us why you chose to use
that provision?” Martin asked, appearing visibly frustrated.
Gilman told Martin that she wanted to be more forthcoming
with lawmakers but said her hands were tied.
“I really have to be cautious because it would involve
contracting and legal authority,” Gilman said. “That really is not
disclosable.”
“I hesitate to say that, because I want to be transparent,
but I need to be considerate of our legal obligations and our contractual
obligations to our vendors,” she added.
Lawmakers may still be waiting for answers, but that hasn’t
stopped DAS from making plans to continue the work at the Cedarcrest property.
DAS officials told the CT Mirror the agency has already
hired another consultant to determine how much cleanup still needs to be
performed at the site in order to repurpose the property.
That consultant completed a report in October 2022 and found
that there was still a large amount of asbestos and other hazardous material
inside the main hospital building that needs to be removed before the state can
demolish that structure.
“We’ve conducted an evaluation about what more needs to be
done, and we’re having discussions about expanding the scope to include
additional buildings on the site,” McKay said.
The Cedarcrest site previously included 16 buildings,
according to DAS officials.
Two of those structures have been demolished, and a third
burnt down last November following a suspected arson, according to state police
investigators.
Of the remaining 13 buildings, DAS records show that 10 —
including the main hospital building — either had their interiors inspected for
asbestos or had all or part of the hazardous material removed.
That leaves three other structures that still need to be
analyzed.
DAS officials said they plan to hire contractors for the
remaining work at the site, and this time, they said, the agency intends to
follow the appropriate contracting rules.
That includes putting the work out to bid so multiple
companies can compete for the project.
Expansion of South Norwalk hotel, building demolition approved by Planning and Zoning Commission
NORWALK — With a 120-day demolition delay in place
preventing construction from commencing, plans to expand the hotel on South
Main Street gained zoning approval.
During its Wednesday night meeting, the Planning and Zoning
Commission heard public comment on the proposed expansion and voted unanimously
to approve the plans.
The expansion encompasses 31-35 S. Main St. and will add
nearly 50 rooms to the Marriott SoNo Residence Inn and a possible
conference/banquet room, along with solar panels on the rooftop, according to
the application materials. The plans require the demolition of neighboring
buildings, including what is known as the Udelman building, named after the
store’s original tenants.
Built in 1927, the Udelman building was included in the 1985
boundary increase of the South Main and Washington Streets Historic District of
South Norwalk and is included on the National Register of Historic Places,
according to a historic property evaluation report prepared by a third party
for the hotel developer.
As part of the demolition process, a demolition delay
ordinance can be enacted in connection with buildings older than 50 years, as
is the case with the Udelman building, attorney Liz Suchy with Carmody Torrance
Sandak & Hennessey, who represents the developers, said during the meeting.
“As part of that process, the Historical Commission may, if
it deems appropriate, ask the applicant to appear before it, conduct a hearing
and see if there are any portions of the existing structure that is to be
demolished, if they could somehow be used in the interior of the new structure
or on the exterior, or given to the city for the city to use at some future
date,” Suchy said.
Peer reviews found the building without historic merit and not
worth preserving, for several reasons, Suchy said.
F.D. Rich Co., which owned the hotel and adjacent property,
commissioned the report from Jan Hird Pokorny Associates, a New York City firm
that focuses on the preservation of historic buildings.
“We have submitted through staff report, an evaluation of
the building top to bottom, the component parts the structure, the existing
conditions, and he raised some very serious questions and concerns about the
structure itself,” Suchy said of the report. “The present condition’s hidden by
layers of paint, which conceals a plethora of building deficiencies and
presents a series of problems, from the perspective of architectural
integrity.”
Demolition of the building became a point of contention between the developers and local
preservationists. The matter is to be discussed further by the city’s
Historical Commission as the demolition delay ordinance was enacted by Tod
Bryant, a local historian and founder of the Norwalk Preservation Trust.
Bryant was the sole member of the public to speak during a
public hearing on the hotel's proposed expansion. Although he opposes the plans
as they were submitted, Bryant said he was looking to find a compromise with
the developers.
“We agree expanding the hotel would be good for South
Norwalk, there’s no question about that, but we don’t want it to be done at the
expense of our architectural heritage,” Bryant said.
“We believe there’s a way this addition can be built, if
were set it 10 to 15 feet from the existing façade of the historic building,
that would pretty much preserve the streetscape. The use I saw presented could
be done in the interior of the building with the façade retained,” he
said.
One significant change to the plans made by the P&Z
Commission was to add a mural to the north façade of the building, as South
Norwalk is known for its public and street art. Although the mural is mandated
by Planning and Zoning, the subject matter is up to approval by the Arts
Commission, according to the
city documents.
The addition of the mural was approved in a 5-4 vote by the
commission. Once changes were made to the terms of commission approval, the
plans passed unanimously.
The project had letters of support submitted from 36
entities in the immediate area, including Norwalk Police Chief James Walsh,
said Tom Rich, of F.D. Rich Co. Expanding the hotel will result in further
benefits for Norwalk, Rich said.
“The economic benefits that have flowed from the existing
hotel to date are impressive with over $750,000 in property taxes having been
paid to Norwalk since opening in June of 2019 and close to $2.2 million in room
sales occupancy taxes having been paid to the state of Connecticut during that
same period,” Rich said. “This does not even consider the economic spillover
effect to area businesses and nonprofits such as the nearby Maritime Aquarium.
In the end, robust economic development is the best strategy for historic
preservation.”
65 Senior Apartments OK’d For Stone St.
NORA GRACE-FLOOD
A Branford-based developer won permission to replace four
single-family homes with 65 new apartments in Beaver Hills, following site plan
approval for a project seeking to bring more income-restricted housing for
the area’s elderly.
The City Plan Commission voted unanimously during its latest
online meeting Wednesday night to support a plan put forward by the Queach
Corporation, a development firm run by Michael Giordano, to construct
a new seven-story apartment building along 7 – 17 Stone St.
That new complex, to be called the West Ridge Apartments,
will create 65 apartments ranging in rents set in accordance with 30 percent to
120 percent of the area median income (AMI). Eighty percent of those
apartments, or 52 units in total, will be priced at below-market rents.
The future development site is immediately adjacent to the
current Park Ridge apartment buildings, which include 160 subsidized housing
units for seniors and people with disabilities.
Read more about the development here.
The City Plan Commission’s approval comes soon after the Board of
Alders signed off on a 17-year tax abatement which will freeze the new
Stone Street development’s taxes at $350 per unit per year for each of the 52
below-market-rent units.
The construction is contingent on the demolition of four
single-family homes and the relocation of a fifth historic home to the
right of the property. That preserved house will be converted into
a three-bedroom rental as part of the broader complex. The remaining 64 apartments
will be primarily one-bedrooms, with just two apartments reserved
as two-bedrooms.
The developers will replace the sidewalks along the front of
the property, bring in two bike racks, and build three patio areas around the
complex. A parking lot with 34 spaces will also be paved on
the property.
According to the developers’ site plan application,
demolition is expected to begin in June 2023 and conclude in August.
Construction should take about 14 months.
On Wednesday, commissioners primarily sought clarity on how
that demolition and increase in impervious surfacing would impact the adjacent
wetlands and nearby West River.
Matthew Bruton, the project engineer, explained that run-off
from the property is currently discharged directly into the wetlands located across
from Stone Street. A retaining wall currently exists between Stone Street
and the wetlands and West River. The developers will build two curbside
bioswales on the street-facing corners of the property. The developers will
also install a pipe underneath the left side of the property that will
carry run-off to a catch basin before it’s ultimately discharged into
the wetlands.
While increasing parking and paving throughout the property,
Bruton also highlighted incoming green space — including newly planted trees
and shrubs around the borders of the complex — on the site plan
depicted below.
Commission Chair Leslie Radcliffe applauded the project as
an impressive undertaking that will “provide housing for
a population we don’t always hear about.”
“There’s a lot to be said to be in your latter days and
go live in a nice place, you know… with the birds, the trees, looking
outside and seeing the flora and fauna and the deer and all that.
“It’s a good thing,” she said. “I’m getting mushy
and sentimental, but that’s my right as chair.”
Commissioner Carl Goldfield also spoke in favor of the
project, recalling his time as alder overseeing the area home to the Park Ridge
apartments, also developed and managed by the Giordanos.
As alder, “one of your major functions is to receive
complaints, and elderly people really know how to complain,”
Goldfield said.
“But in all those years I never heard any complaints
about living in those complexes. People just had great things to say about
them. And my observation was that the Giordanos were just wonderful landlords
and you’d be lucky as an elderly person with modest means to be able to live in
one of their buildings.
“I feel strongly, that apart and aside from site plan
considerations, that this is a really good development,”
Goldfield concluded.
Plainville moving forward on former White Oak Construction property
Brian M Johnson
PLAINVILLE - The Plainville Town Council has received an
update at its latest meeting on the ongoing remediation of the former White Oak
Construction property.
The White Oak property, which is adjacent to the Municipal
Center downtown, has sat vacant for 21 years. The remediation and eventual
re-use of the site has long been a goal for town leaders, with both prior town
manager Robert Lee and current town manager Michael Paulhus identifying it as
crucial to downtown revitalization.
Kathy Pugliese, chair of the Plainville Town Council, said
that Manafort Newport Realty, LLC has now been accepted into the state's
Abandoned Brownfield Cleanup (ABC) program, which the town also had to be
accepted into.
"This will enable us to move forward to get the state
grant money and start working on it," Pugliese said. "Tighe &
Bond are completing their assessment of the area and seeing if they have any
more parts of the parcel that they need to investigate further. (Town Attorney)
Tony Mastrianni is finalizing the property title search. Once all of this is
done, the state will release the grant funding that will allow our town to get
reimbursement for costs."