Gold Star Bridge path to be renovated
Kimberly Drelich
The state Department of Transportation plans to widen the
sidewalk across the southbound Gold Star Memorial Bridge between Groton and New
London so it is safer and easier to access for pedestrians and bicyclists.
Tracey Brais, project manager with the DOT, told a room of
more than 30 people in New London City Hall’s Council Chambers Monday evening
that the DOT is excited about the $55 million project and thinks it’s going to
create many improvements for bicyclists and pedestrians across the Thames
River.
Brais and project representatives unveiled the plan at a
public information meeting held Monday evening at City Hall and by Zoom.
Some attendees, while appreciating the proposed project, had
suggestions such as creating more safety improvements in the areas near the
bridge and adding signs for those who use the path. They also had concerns
about the impacts of construction and the reduction of a lane on the southbound
bridge.
Brais, who outlined the project to The Day, said the
existing sidewalk, on the approximately 1-mile-long southbound span, is about
five-feet wide, though it narrows down to about three feet in some areas due to
lights and overhead sign structures. She said the existing path is very narrow
for pedestrians and bicyclists to travel in both directions.
The project calls for widening the path to about 14-feet for
most of the length, and about 11 feet in some areas to accommodate bicycle and
pedestrian traffic in both directions, she said.
The project also calls for widening the sidewalks
approaching the bridge to 10 feet and adding deterrents to prevent mopeds and
ATVs, which use the path even though they are prohibited from doing so, from
accessing it.
On the New London side, the path currently terminates in
Bailey Circle. The DOT plans to construct a new side path ending at Williams
Street, she said.
On the Groton side, the DOT is proposing to install a
roundabout at the intersection at the Interstate 95 on-and-off ramps and Bridge
Street, she said.
One car lane to be eliminated
The sidewalk expansion project will result in the reduction
of one lane on the southbound bridge, she said.
Brais said the southbound span currently has six lanes at
the east end of the bridge and then it narrows down to five lanes. Once
completed, the bridge will be mostly four lanes instead of five lanes as it is
now.
Brais said the DOT did a traffic analysis and found the
proposed change won’t really affect the level of service. She said the bridge’s
original design has extra capacity built-in because there are two lanes from
the Bridge Street on-ramp to I-95 southbound, and the DOT found one lane would
be sufficient, based on current and projected traffic volumes.
The DOT anticipates construction will start in the spring
2028 and be completed in the fall of 2029, she said.
The northbound span of the bridge will be under
rehabilitation at the same time, but the planned rerouting of two northbound
lanes to the southbound span, anticipated to begin in 2026, is expected to be
completed by the spring of 2028.
The DOT also will strengthen steel on the southbound bridge,
with an anticipated project timeline from June 2025 through July 2026, Brais
said.
The sidewalk project is estimated to cost $55 million, to be
paid for with 90% federal funds and 10% state funds, Brais said.
Brais said the DOT has been working with the cities of New
London and Groton to understand their revitalization plans and their plans to
improve bike and pedestrian travel. She said the project will help create
better bicycle and pedestrian connections on both sides of the bridge.
Overall, an estimated 6,500 Groton and New London residents
typically walk or bike to work. She said there’s a lot of opportunity for more
people to start using the path for commuting and recreational purposes if the
state makes it a safer and a better experience.
State Rep. Christine Conley, D-Groton, said she’s very
excited to see improvements to the bridge, but asked for more information about
the construction impacts. She said she and the delegation also would like to
take a look at the traffic study and the impacts of reducing a lane on the
southbound bridge.
Brais said the DOT will post construction schedules on its
website.
Brian Sheffer, a Groton City resident, said in an interview
before the meeting that he primarily commutes by bike to work at Electric Boat
in New London. He said when new pieces of concrete for signs were installed a
few years ago, it made the path narrower in spots. He said if a scooter is
traveling the other way while he is cycling, it can be dangerous.
Sheffer said he typically gets on the bridge on the Groton
side around Bliven Street and Riverview Avenue and avoids the Bridge Street
intersection because of the traffic. He said the roundabout would not entice
him to use that area, and he will continue to access the bridge from where he
does now.
Matt Thomas, a Groton resident, said in an interview before
the meeting that he crosses the bridge on bike multiple times a week, both to
commute to his job in Old Lyme and for recreation. He said the existing path is
“barely adequate” because it’s too narrow.
He said he thinks the improvement project “makes a lot of
sense” and will certainly address the path being too narrow and hopefully also
will make the on and off ramps safer for bicyclists.
According to the presentation, the path will remain closed
for up to 1.5 years during construction but a shuttle to New London will be
provided.
The DOT said people can comment on the sidewalk improvement
project, known as Project No. 0094-0267, and ask questions by July 8 by
emailing DOT.GoldStarBridgeProjects@ct.gov or calling (860) 594-2020.
More information on the projects being planned for the bridge is available at https://portal.ct.gov/dot/bridges/project-pages/gold-star-memorial-bridge
Norwich, New London, Preston seek state funding for major local projects
Claire Bessette
Norwich, New London and Preston are hoping state leaders
will pay attention to southeastern Connecticut in the latest round of grant
requests submitted Friday to the state Community Investment Fund.
Gov. Ned Lamont created the $875 million fund for eligible distressed
municipalities to fund major capital improvements projects and grants for
small-business capital projects, as well as planning grants for future
projects.
In grant requests submitted Friday, Norwich is seeking a
total of $23.3 million in three requests, topped by the $17 million request to
complete the demolition and cleanup of the partially collapsed and abandoned
former Capehart Mill in Greeneville. Norwich last week received approval for
a $4 million state brownfields grant to begin the massive
cleanup project to create a riverfront park.
Norwich also requested $5 million to convert Fontaine Field
on Mahan Drive into an artificial turf multi-use field with a running track and
handicapped access to the Rose City Senior Center next door.
The third Norwich request is for a $250,000 planning grant
for an environmental assessment of the 49-acre former Norwich Hospital property
in Norwich, owned by Thames River Place LLC. Unlike neighboring Preston, which
has nearly completed cleanup of its 393-acre former Norwich Hospital property,
Norwich never took ownership of its portion of the campus. It remains dominated
by decaying buildings and overgrown vegetation.
New London seeks $4.8 million
New London submitted requests for three projects totaling
$4.8 million. The city seeks $3.6 million to expand and renovate the Water
Street parking garage. The project will add 250 more parking spaces on the
structure's east side.
The city is also applying for $950,000 to transform
properties at 157 Green St. ― the former Apostolic Cathedral of Hope ― and 6
Union St. into 29 residential units.
New London is applying for a $250,000 planning grant for a
project to raze and rebuild the senior housing units at Gordon Court, owned and
managed by the city's Housing Authority. The plan calls for demolition of 38
existing units and replacing them with a single 74-unit building.
Preston eyes Poquetanuck Village transformation
Preston town officials hope to use a requested $3 million
CIF grant to continue to transform the Route 2A into a village street, with
measures to slow traffic, improve pedestrian and bicycle access and an
off-street trail connecting the village to the Route 12 former Norwich Hospital
property.
The new request would fund engineering and design planning
for a multi-use trail paralleling Route 2A from Poquetanuck Village to the
Preston Riverwalk on the former Norwich Hospital property. The request includes
design funding for improvements to the Route 2A-12 junction for better
pedestrian access in anticipation of future development.
Town planner Kathy Warzecha said the town was unsuccessful
in its previous CIF request for the trail funding but received state feedback
to improve the application.
Preston is trying to piece together various grants for the
overall Poquetanuck Village project. The town received an initial boost with a
$3 million state Local Transportation Capital Improvements Program grant for
the traffic calming project, and a complementary $400,000 CIF grant for design
and engineering for the project. Another $70,000 grant will pay for a parking
area and kayak launch at Poquetanuck Cove, Warzecha said.
Separate from the new CIF request, Preston has submitted a
grant application for a $4 million Transportation Alternatives grant to
construct the off-road trail that eventually would connect the town senior
housing on Lincoln Park, Preston Community Park, the Tri-Town Trail,
Poquetanuck Cove and Preston Riverwalk.
“Putting all of this together is like a jigsaw puzzle,”
Warzecha said.
Groton sitting out this round
Jon Reiner, director of planning and development services,
said Groton is not applying for a CIF grant this round. The town had previously
applied for a CIF grant for the Pleasant Valley School property and did not get
the grant.
Thames Valley Council for Community Action did receive a $2
million CIF grant for its proposal to expand its childcare center in Groton.
“We are very excited that our project has been selected by
the state as a priority to address childcare needs in the greater Groton area,”
TVCCA Chief Executive Officer Joshua Steele Kelly said, “and we look forward to
continued partnership with the state to obtain additional funding and bring
this new construction to life.”
The town of Groton has received other grants, such as a
Department of Economic and Community Development Community Challenge Grant for
over $6 million. In addition, Groton has received numerous grants through the
National Fish and Wildlife Fund and DEEP focusing on sustainability, resiliency
and preparedness for climate change and extreme storm events.
Anti-data center signs stolen from Waterford lawns, residents say
Daniel Drainville
Waterford ― Several residents who live in the Millstone
Point and Great Neck Road neighborhoods say signs opposing the construction of
a data center have been stolen from their yards.
Resident Liz Pezzi of Race Rock Road in Millstone Point said
her sign and others in at least five other neighborhood yards had their signs
taken. Meanwhile, residents reported graduation signs were untouched.
The data center signs, which state “No data center” imposed
over a red circle with a line through it, are symbolic of some residents’
opposition to a plan by NE Edge to build a 1.2-million-square-foot data center
on the Millstone Power Station site.
The Concerned Citizens of Waterford and East Lyme, a group
that formed last summer to oppose the data center, have distributed the signs
since April. The signs are prevalent in the neighborhood, where residents are
concerned the data project would increase noise, decrease property values and
damage the environment.
Police Lt. David Ferland said Monday the department is
“unaware of any reports of stolen signs.”
But at Millstone Point, one of the neighborhoods nearest to
the power station property, Pezzi and four other residents on Monday said that
their signs were stolen around 11:30 p.m. on June 15, the night after a
neighborhood-wide tag sale.
“When the people who stole the signs came, they would shine
a bright flashlight into the Ring cameras,” she said. “So nobody who had the
Ring camera on the houses they were stolen from could see who it was.”
Dennis and Laurie Sexton, of Millstone Road East, another
road in Millstone Point, said that’s what they saw on their Ring camera, when
they checked the footage the morning after.
They had two signs. One was stolen from heir yard but
another was in their garage. The backup was staked in their yard Monday.
Kathy Pavlick, also of Race Rock Road, said her sign was
stolen, too, as was one in her daughter’s yard on the same street.
Pezzi added that it’s sad that someone would steal the signs
“for no reason,” adding they are free speech.
Meanwhile resident Wendall Turpin, of Great Neck Road, said
signs were taken on his road as well on June 16 or 17.
“They took mine, my neighbors, the guy that lives maybe,
seven houses down,” he said.
Residents whose signs were stolen said they didn’t file any
police reports.
Pezzi, the Sextons and Pavlick said it wasn’t worth the
effort over a sign. Pezzi added she felt like she didn’t have enough
information to file a report.
Resident Bryan Sayles, a member of the concerned citizens
group, said Monday the group will continue tracking the number of stolen signs
and urged whoever is responsible to “stop it immediately.”
Pavlick said she is hoping the thefts “would make people
more galvanized.”
Cleanup underway in Meriden so a 120-year old piano factory can become apartments
MERIDEN — Environmental workers recently began clean up on
the former Aeolian
Organ and Music Co. factory as the first step in a $56 million housing
development for 82 low and moderate-income families.
The
adaptive reuse project will convert a historic player piano factory at 85
Tremont St. into an apartment community and is expected to revitalize
an under-utilized complex in the city's north end. Boston-based Trinity
Financial is the project developer who secured local approvals and state
housing and environmental grants to do a gut renovation of the 120-year-old
factory.
“Trinity Financial is excited to break ground on this
mixed-income, adaptive reuse apartment project, showcasing the city of
Meriden's commitment to affordable housing and community revitalization while
putting a contaminated brownfield site back into productive use,” Trinity's
vice president of development Don Drazen stated in a press release.
Drazen first identified the building as a potentially
transformational project, and approached city officials in 2021. Trinity
secured City Council approval in 2022 to move ahead with the redevelopment
under the city's adaptive reuse overlay zone program that identified old and
underutilized buildings for new development.
Approximately 65 percent of the project's funding will come
from low-income housing tax credit equity and federal and state historic tax
equity. Last month, Trinity closed on $24.5 million from KeyBank, $13.4 million
from the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, $9.5 million from the state
Department of Housing and $4 million from the state Department of Economic and
Community Development, including
$1.5 million in brownfield funding, officials said.
The building is anticipated to have lead and asbestos
contamination. The soil on the property is contaminated with volatile
chlorinated organic solvents which were used to clean the machinery in the
factory, then dumped on the property, according to Trinity representatives.
Among the neighborhood projects linked to this redevelopment
is nearly a $2.5
million upgrade to the North End Field Little League complex on
Britannia Street, which included the construction of two new turf ball fields,
parking and enhancements for drainage and stormwater that were completed
in 2023 and paid for through funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.
The other project, northwest of the existing fields, will
convert two adjacent, overgrown city-owned lots into a small park which will
include a playscape and space for a basketball court.
“We are excited to see the revitalization of 85
Tremont moving forward," said Steven Cardillo, president of the North End
Meriden Neighborhood Association. "This redeveloped building will serve as
an anchor for North Meriden and complement the city’s investments in our
neighborhood athletic fields, sports courts and playgrounds."
KeyBank Community Development Lending and Investment made a
$27 million equity investment and nearly $25 million construction loan to
Trinity’s 85 Tremont project, said Anna Belanger, KeyBank CDLI relationship
manager.
“Together, these initiatives represent a $58.5 million
public-private investment poised to revitalize nearly an entire city block in
North Meriden, fostering a more active, vibrant community,” said Meriden
Economic Development Director Joe Feest. “We have had a great working
relationship with Trinity and look forward to seeing this project completed.”
The 82 units are designed to meet a range of income levels.
Fourteen units will be part of the federal Section 811 program with supportive
services for households earning at or below 25 percent of the area median
income, three units are for households at or below 30 percent AMI, 28 units are
at or below 50 percent AMI, 12 units are at or below 60 percent of AMI, 14
units are at or below 80 percent AMI, and 11 are market-rate apartments.
The units will consist of a mix of one and two bedrooms.
Earlier plans for three bedroom units were shelved by the Planning Department
several months ago.
Amenities will include a community room, children's
playroom, fitness center, and indoor bike storage, all within walking distance
of local amenities and public transportation.
“Investment in affordable housing and community
revitalization allows our Connecticut residents to live in high-quality housing
with affordable rents,” Connecticut Housing Commissioner Seila Mosquera-Bruno
said in prepared remarks. “Public-private partnerships that create more
housing are also a smart approach to leverage finite public dollars and build
key relationships for long-term sustainable collaborations to solve challenges
affecting those that call Connecticut home.”
The building’s exterior will remain intact, while interior
renovations will highlight original features, such as ceiling beams and sliding
metal doors, developers said. Trinity Financial aims to secure Enterprise Green
Communities certification for the project, focusing on sustainability through
energy-efficient upgrades, including a new window system,
high-efficiency HVAC, Energy Star appliances, LED lighting and solar
panels on the roof.
City officials said upon the completion of the field project
last year, it was a necessary revitalization of the local neighborhood which
would be the first stepping stone for additional development.
"I'm excited to see all the games that are going to be
played here," Scarpati said when the fields opened last year. "I'm
excited to see the wins that our students are going to bring home to Meriden.
I'm excited to see these stands filled with parents cheering on their students
and their kids."
The Aeolian Organ and Piano Co. factory was purpose-built in
1887 to manufacture player pianos and organs. After many decades of mergers and
acquisitions, Aeolian was once the largest manufacturer of pianos and organs in
America. The 1910s saw the company move into records and phonographs with the
rise in music recording technology.
Player pianos became increasingly sophisticated during the
years of their popularity. Meriden's Wilcox & White Co. had years of
prosperity from the late 1870s to the First World War.
"After the war, the company lured many famous piano
artists to studios at the piano factory on Cambridge and Griswold streets
to make paper roll recordings," according to a piece by opinion page
editor Jeffery Kurz in 2000.
"The process was intricate and aggressively patented to
protect the company's products from imitators," Kurz wrote.
Among the innovations was the Angelus, a cabinet rolled up
to a piano that contained 88 mechanical fingers that corresponded to the keys
on a piano.
The city rates higher in its percentage of affordable
housing than many other towns in the state, at 16 percent. While the city has
sought to slow or halt the number of affordable housing projects in its
downtown, there is still a need for affordable housing in other parts of the
city. The Tremont Street project is well outside the downtown area and on
several bus lines, officials said.
But the number of two-bedroom or more units now in the
city's development pipeline led to concerns over added stress on the schools
and public services. School officials last year asked city zoning officials to
reconsider variances and zone changes that would lead to more apartments.
Those efforts were thwarted by attorneys and housing
advocates who said any type of housing moratorium would be illegal.
"If they were building 3,000-square-foot homes, nobody
would be calling for a moratorium" land use attorney Dennis Ceneviva said
at the time.
Trinity Financial has developed projects in Massachusetts,
New York and Norwalk. They manage the Rowe Apartment Complex in New Haven
through their subsidiary, Trinity Management.