Lamont celebrates highway project amid industry frustration
Gov. Ned Lamont led a celebration Tuesday of a major highway
project that comes as the construction industry is expressing frustration with
the pace of shovel-ready plans being produced by the state Department of
Transportation.
Lamont and Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto of DOT hosted a
groundbreaking marking the second phase of a three-phase plan for traffic
mitigation and safety measures on the I-91, I-691 and Route 15 interchange in
Meriden.
“Here in Meriden, we call ourselves ‘the crossroads of
Connecticut,’ centrally located,” Mayor Kevin Scarpati said at a Tuesday
morning press conference just off the on-ramp onto Route 15. “But what good is
it to be the crossroads of Connecticut if those roads are congested on a daily
basis?”
The first two phases cost $135 million in state funding and
$200 million in federal funds from President
Biden’s bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The program
in its entirety will cost over $500 million, 80% of which will be covered
federally, Eucalitto said.
The interchange is one of the “worst bottlenecks” in the
state, Eucallito said.
The interchange, which mostly features one-lane, short ramps
on and off the highway, was completed in the 1960s in an era of lower traffic
volumes.
Now, the “mess of spaghetti,” as Eucalitto described it, is
just not cutting it for Connecticut drivers: fender-benders and traffic delays
are all too common.
The project, which features multi-lane ramps, added
auxiliary lanes and sound barrier walls, aims to alleviate backed-up roads and
bridges, which cost the state more than $6 billion annually and $2,300 per
driver in operating costs.
Project labor agreements, which include terms and conditions
for the work’s quality and safety, are another important facet of the project,
said Andrew Inorio, the business manager of the local Laborers Union.
“This is not about a job here today but careers for the next
generation of construction workers here in Connecticut,” Inorio said. “These
men and women will build the roads and bridges that we will all someday drive
on… without their dedication to their crafts, jobs like these don’t get built
to the highest standard of quality.”
The project was originally proposed over a decade ago,
according to Eucallito and Scarpati. However, it was “shelved due to a lack of
funding.”
Biden’s bill was passed in November 2021. Lamont and the
DOT’s project began in October 2023, almost two full years later. During that
time, state Special
Transportation Fund dollars came
pouring in from fuel, sales and mileage taxes. But not all of the
money was spent, causing frustration among construction advocates.
“I have companies coming to me saying ‘I need work to keep
my people busy’,” President of the Connecticut Construction Industries
Association Don Shubert told The Connecticut Mirror. “They got Connecticut
workers, working in New York, working in Massachusetts, working in Rhode
Island. They should be here, working in Connecticut.”
Shubert is an invited guest at every DOT groundbreaking, but
he also is a constant voice demanding the state fully take advantage of the
available federal funding. Three years after passage of the federal
infrastructure law, federal transportation funding has grown over 40%, but
state bonding for matching funds that are needed to use the funding have not
grown commensurately.
Connecticut ranked 50th among the states in spending funds
from the Biden infrastructure program in its first two years, Shubert said.
He also said the industry was unhappy with the state’s use
of $500 million, slightly more than half the reserve in the Special
Transportation Fund, to pay down bonding debt.
Eucalitto said the state is aggressively seeking and using
federal funds — and the result is evident in highway projects around the state.
“We’ve never left any federal funds on the table. We’ve
spent every federal dollar we get. And I think if you drive around, people are
getting frustrated about how much construction we have going on,” Eucalitto
said.
Those projects include reconstruction of the Gold Star
bridge carrying I-95 over the Thames River. The rebuilding of the I-84/Route 8
mixmaster in Waterbury will finish this year.
“So folks from Waterbury will be happy about that,”
Eucalitto said. “But … every corner of the state has projects, major projects
underway.”
$500 million of work begins at one of CT's worst interchanges: 'Everyone hates driving through here'
MERIDEN — One of the worst traffic
bottlenecks in Connecticut is on its way out.
That was the promise Tuesday from a delegation of federal,
state and local officials as they broke ground on a long-awaited highway project to
partially untangle the web of interstates, state highways and off-ramps that
have given Meriden the nickname “Crossroads of Connecticut.”
Located roughly near the geographic center of the state, the
merger of three highways — Interstates 91 and 691, as well as state Route
15 — forms a sprawling interchange that carries an average of 260,000
vehicles every day.
During rush hour, traffic slows to a crawl along the
outdated, single-lane ramps that move cars from one highway to the next.
Officials say that the complex, weaving lane structure contributes to a higher
rate of crashes. Traffic jams along one particularly notorious segment — Exit
17 on I-91 South — routinely backs up more than a mile onto the
interstate.
“What good is being at the crossroads, if those roads are
congested on a daily basis?” asked Meriden Mayor Kevin Scarpati.
Tuesday’s groundbreaking was largely ceremonial, as work on
the $500 million reconstruction project actually began
late last year. Officials including Gov. Ned Lamont, Federal Highway
Administrator Shailen Bhatt and Connecticut Department of Transportation
Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto each tossed shovels full of dirt in the air to
applause, while unionized workers employed on the project looked
on.
Actual work on the project is broken down into three phases,
of which the first two are underway. The third and final phase is in design,
with a scheduled completion date in 2029.
“It’s a big project, it goes on a long time,” Lamont
acknowledged, before offering an up-beat message centered on the
news that UConn men's basketball coach Dan Hurley had turned down a
job offer to lead the NBA Lakers team in Los Angeles.
The end result of the project, the governor joked, would
“make this state where everyone wants to stick around, just like Dan
Hurley.”
When viewed from above, the interchange forms the shape of
an X where I-91 and Route 15 come together and run parallel to each other
before splitting apart. Atop the “X,” I-691 reaches its terminus across both
highways, forming a second web of ramps heading in all directions.
In order to ease congestion, workers will widen I-91 by a
single lane in the northbound direction as it enters a steep uphill climb. The
project will also widen several existing ramps to two lanes and remove Exit 17
on I-91 north altogether, rerouting its traffic onto a new two-lane ramp at
Exit 16, which will connect to both Route 15 and East Main Street.
Longer acceleration and deceleration lanes will also give
drivers more time to merge into traffic and reduce weaving that is responsible
for many crashes, officials said.
“Everyone hates driving through here, including those of us
at ConnDOT,” Eucalitto said. “I drive through here every single day on my way
to and from work, and I can attest how frustrating it is, and how dangerous it
is at times.”
While the initial, $85 million phase of the project was
entirely state funded, Eucalitto said that the federal government is providing
up to 80 percent of the funding for the last two phases through the passage of
Congress' Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law.
That law, which passed in 2021, was supported by all seven
members of Connecticut's congressional delegation. Democratic U.S. Rep. Jahana
Hayes, who represents Meriden, credited President Joe Biden for signing the
bill during Tuesday's groundbreaking, saying he "stopped making
infrastructure week a tagline or a presser, and made it a law."
While the project promises to reduce congestion over the
long term, the years of roadwork that lay ahead will result in periodic lane
closures and detours according to DOT. That has raised concerns
from some business owners in the area of East Main Street over the
impact to local traffic.
Speaking to reporters and the public on Tuesday, Eucalitto
advised drivers to remain patient and slow down while in construction
zones. Residents can also sign up for construction alerts through the
project's website.
I-95 in CT is among America's most congested roads. Here's why there's no 'easy solution.'
In March 2004, a tanker truck carrying 12,000 gallons of
fuel collided with another vehicle and caught fire on Interstate 95, melting the
steel support beams of a newly constructed bridge
over Howard Avenue in Bridgeport and halting traffic in both
directions for days.
History repeated itself in May – this time under
an I-95 overpass in Norwalk – when a fuel
tanker collided with a truck and a passenger car and caught fire. The
resulting inferno destroyed the overhead bridge, closing
the highway in both directions for days.
Highway-closing accidents are nothing new on the I-95
corridor between Greenwich and New Haven, a 48-mile stretch of interstate built
in the late 1950s and designed to handle less than half of today’s daily volume
of about 150,000 vehicles.
The 2023 INRIX
Global Traffic Scorecard ranked the southbound portion of the Stamford
urban area – defined as the section between Westport and Greenwich – as
the worst
in the U.S. for time lost due to congestion in both directions in the
Stamford area was ranked 13th worst.
While the tanker truck accident in May will likely be blamed
on the drivers and not highway design, I-95 in Connecticut remains one of the
most dangerous roadways in the Northeast in terms of accident frequency and
rush hour congestion. The corridor is also one
of the most studied sections of roadway, and one of the most elusive in
terms of solutions.
“The traffic volumes are clearly more than it was designed
to handle,” said James Cameron, founder of the Commuter Action Group and a
transportation columnist whose work appears regularly in the CT Mirror.
“One problem: too much local traffic,” Cameron said, which,
he added, is aggravated by the dozens of exits along the highway leading into,
and out of, towns and cities.
“The average distance traveled on I-95 in Connecticut is
just 11 miles,” Cameron said. “It's an interstate highway, not a local
shortcut. If we had tolls, that ‘shortcut’ would come at a modest cost and
would persuade people to take Route 1, meaning less traffic on I-95 for those
paying tolls.”
Tolls were removed in Connecticut after a 1983 crash in
which a truck with brake failure slammed into vehicles in line to pay tolls in
Stratford, killing seven people. Opposition from a variety of groups, including
truckers and politicians from both parties who viewed tolls as an unfair burden
and unwanted tax, has consistently blocked
efforts to revive tolls.
Highway fixes underway
Samaia Hernandez, a spokesperson for the state Department of
Transportation, agreed I-95 is overly congested.
“I-95 is the most congested stretch of highway in
Connecticut and DOT is committed to a comprehensive, multimodal strategy to
reduce congestion,” Hernandez said. “That strategy involves restoring and
enhancing existing infrastructure, including the newly constructed two-lane
interchange in Stratford, the new exit 27a in Bridgeport, and the
multi-million-dollar repavement project currently underway along I-95.”
Hernandez added: “it also involves record-level investments
to the busiest commuter rail line in the nation [Metro-North] and expanding bus
service to make first-and last-mile connections. Additionally, CTDOT has
awarded millions in grants to municipalities along I-95 for major improvement
projects to ease connections around the area. We’re also going to be
constructing an auxiliary lane in Stamford between exits 6 and 7 that will
alleviate congestion.”
State Sen. Christine Cohen, D-Guilford and chairwoman of the
legislature’s Transportation Committee, said traffic safety is a major concern
and highlighted by a recent uptick in major accidents along I-95.
Cohen said several recently passed bills are a start towards
promoting and enhancing safety on roadways across the state.
“With wrong-way driving countermeasures being enacted, as
well as increased speed and distracted driving enforcement and awareness, we
are implementing strong, proven approaches to prevent traffic fatalities,”
Cohen said.
Many studies
The Connecticut
Crash Data Repository shows a steady drumbeat of accidents over the
years along I-95 between Greenwich and New Haven, the highest numbers in the
state.
Between Jan 1, 2021 and April 30, 2024, the CCDR reported
13,877 crashes involving injury as of June 4 in 11 towns along the I-95
corridor to New Haven, with 32 resulting in fatal injuries. Norwalk had the
most accidents at 1,747 during the period, followed by Stamford, 1,603;
Greenwich,1,454; and Fairfield, 1,512.
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Over the years, the I-95 corridor has been studied numerous
times and the conclusions are generally similar: the roadway is overused and
that contributes to accidents and time lost waiting in traffic jams.
A 2019 traffic study commissioned by the state DOT noted the
corridor “has some of the most severe traffic congestion in the nation,” adding
“20 minutes of delay are being experienced on average for a trip between New
Haven and Greenwich, with 18 minutes of that delay occurring between Bridgeport
and Stamford.”
A 2016 DOT commissioned study intended to justify tolls
concluded the corridor was “heavily saturated throughout the day and has many
operational issues due to closely spaced interchanges.” The report added
widening the highway is insufficient and warned the state cannot “build your
way out of congestion.”
Former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy revived the idea of reinstating
tolls to cover the cost of his proposed $100 billion plan to fix I-95, other
highway hotspots across the state and bolster rail travel. But the idea quickly
crashed and burned against opposition
in the Legislature led by Republicans and joined by a select number of majority
Democrats. The state’s current governor, Ned Lamont, has said he wants
nothing to do with tolls.
Some of Malloy’s unrealized plans included major I-95
widening projects, improved exit approaches to ease congestion and higher
priced tolls on new commuter lanes to divert flow during peak hours, a concept
called “congestion pricing.”
More studies on the way
Hernandez, the DOT spokeswoman, said three “major planning
and environmental linkage,” or “PEL,” studies are now underway to find
solutions to improve highway safety and mobility along the Greenwich to New
Haven corridor.
“The Greenwich and Fairfield/Bridgeport studies are in their
early stages and data is still being collected to support the analyses of
traffic conditions, safety, and environmental resources,” Hernandez said. “When
completed, these PEL studies will provide comprehensive transportation
recommendations and offer both long-term and early action projects that will
improve safety and mobility.”
The new approach, she explained, represents “a collaborative
and integrated approach to transportation decision-making that considers
benefits and impacts of proposed transportation system improvements to the
environment, community, and economy during the transportation planning
process.”
Cameron, who has seen his share of I-95 studies, wasn’t
impressed with the latest DOT initiative.
“Why do we keep ‘studying’ problems instead of fixing them?”
Cameron wrote in a recent column. “Why do we still pay consultants millions of
dollars, over and over, to look at the same issues while we avoid spending that
money to change the conditions that create them?”
The answer, Cameron noted, is simple.
“We keep hoping there’s an easy solution … that some savvy
consultant will find the missing link, shout ‘Ahah, we’ve found the answer, and
we can fix it,”’ he said during an interview. “But we should know that’s not
going to happen. If the solutions were easy, we’d have found them long ago.”
Cameron said the only realistic solution is moving more
commuters onto Metro-North trains and stepped-up law enforcement on the
highway.
“We need more troopers enforcing speed limits and traffic
rules, preventing accidents like the one in Norwalk,” Cameron said. “The
weigh/inspection station in Greenwich should be open 24-7 to keep unsafe trucks
off the highway. But most of all, get people out of their cars and onto the
train which parallels 95”
These 7 major road construction projects across CT could affect travel this summer
The return of balmy summer temperatures also marks the start
of road construction season throughout Connecticut.
As of Monday, the Connecticut Department of Transportation
was engaged in 180 construction projects in all corners of the state, according
to an online
database that is updated regularly by the agency. Hundreds of other
projects are in the design phase prior to construction. Much of that work
is being fueled by Congress' Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law, which provided more than $350 billion for federal
highway projects through 2026.
"That money that's coming to us is turning directly
into projects here in Connecticut," said Josh Morgan, a DOT spokesman,
adding an admonition for drivers. "Be patient, understand that work is
happening and we want the folks who are out there to get home safe at the end
of the day."
While roadwork will be visible in every part of the state
this summer, the seven projects listed below should be of particular interest
to readers due to their size and ability to cause congestion and detours to
travel plans. For the latest information on road closures, drivers can check
out DOT's website and sign up for
travel alerts.
One project that curious residents will not notice on this
list is the replacement of the Interstate 95 overpass in Norwalk that was destroyed
by a tanker truck fire in May. While crews may be seen "poking
around," the area, according to Morgan major construction work is not
expected to start this summer.
Interstate 691-91 Interchange
Work on the complex and congested series of interchanges connecting I-91, I-691 and Connecticut Route 15 — also known as the Wilbur Cross Parkway — began in December, and is currently scheduled to last until 2029.
In addition to building additional lanes of traffic to
accommodate the roughly 260,000 vehicles that traverse the area daily, the
project aims to reconfigure some of the interchanges to improve safety and
solve some of the notorious bottlenecks on I-91, including the southbound Exit
17, where traffic can back up by as much as a mile.
Both the first and second phases of the project are
currently in construction, including bridge work, highway widening and the
construction of new entrance and exit ramps. A third project segment is
currently in the design phase.
Location: Meriden, Wallingford
Cost: $500 million
East Lyme Interchange
Residents in eastern Connecticut and visitors to the
region’s casinos are likely familiar with the work currently taking place to
construct a new I-95 interchange with Connecticut Route 161 in East Lyme. The
project, which began last spring, involves the construction of a new bridge
carrying the interstate over local traffic, new exit and entrance ramps, wider
shoulders and additional travel lanes between Exits 74 and 75.
In May, DOT workers closed the
southbound I-95 entrance ramp near Exit 75 in order to build a
retaining wall. The ramp is expected to remain closed until June 30. In
addition, a notification on the project’s website states that nightly lane
closures will occasionally be in effect on Sundays through Thursday. Work on
the project is scheduled to be completed in 2027.
Location: East Lyme
Cost: $234 million
Mixmaster Completion
After nearly six years of work and nearly a quarter-billion
dollars spent, workers will be putting the finishing touches on DOT’s Waterbury
Mixmaster rehabilitation project over the next several weeks, according to
Morgan, the DOT spokesman. The aim of the project was to repair various
components of the bridges and ramps connecting I-84 and Route 8 in Waterbury,
in order to extend the life of the “mixmaster” interchange another 25
years.
With the project due to reach its final conclusion in
October, Morgan said that the DOT will shift its focus to its “New Mix” program, which will come
up with a long-term plan for the interchange that first opened in 1968. “We
need to know what we’re going to do in 20 years, to determine how we’re going
to deconstruct that [interchange] and what the area’s going to look like,” he
said.
Also this summer, crews will continue a separate project
replacing highway signs and renumbering
exits along Route 8 from Bridgeport to Winsted.
Location: Waterbury
Cost: $212 million
Merritt Parkway Improvements
Workers have spent the last year resurfacing the Merritt
Parkway in both directions in Norwalk and Westport, in addition to roadside
landscaping and restoration of the historic bridges that pass over the parkway.
That work is moving south this summer, as crews continue the project between
Exit 37 in New Canaan and Exit 40B in Norwalk.
The latest phase of the project will include restoration
work on four bridges: South Avenue, White Oak Shade Road, Marvin Ridge Road and
Comstock Hill Avenue.
Most of the regular work — and associated lane closures —
will take place overnight from Monday to Friday to avoid causing delays,
according to the DOT. The project is scheduled to be completed by Oct.
31.
Location: Norwalk, New Canaan
Cost: $77 million
I-95 Median Reconstruction
Part of the state’s ongoing improvement project along a
2-mile stretch of I-95 in Norwalk and Westport involved swapping out an older
bridge over Saugatuck Avenue for a brand new one over
the course of a single weekend last fall.
Nothing that complex or disruptive is planned for this
summer, as crews will continue constructing a new median between the northbound
and southbound sections of highway, as well as milling, paving and other
improvements to on-and-off ramps at exits 16 and 17. Some lane closures can be
expected at night, according to the project’s website. The project is slated
for completion on Nov. 1.
Location: Norwalk, Westport
Cost: $140 million
Route 9 Improvements
The reconfiguration of on-ramps connecting Route 17 with
Route 9 near downtown Middletown will continue this summer, along with
occasional lane shifts and closures. With an estimated completion date in 2026,
the project will eliminate the stop-controlled entrance to Route 9 while
constructing a longer acceleration lane onto the highway.
A related project, the removal of traffic signals along
Route 9, is currently in the design phase and is expected to cost an additional
$77.6 million to complete.
Location: Middletown
Cost: $79 million
I-95 Improvements, East of Groton
For those heading out of Connecticut on their way to Boston or the Rhode Island beaches, be prepared to see some DOT road work all the way to the state line.
Crews began the process of resurfacing both the northbound
and southbound lanes of I-95 between Groton and Hopkinton, R.I. last spring,
and their work is expected to continue through the summer of 2026. Additional
improvements from the project will include an upgraded guard rail system and
new lighting.
Location: Groton, Stonington, North Stonington.
Cost: $47 million
State gives Cheshire land to allow for more development near new retail center
Austin Mirmina
CHESHIRE — The town is getting another
plot of state-owned land to be used for potential development across
from the sprawling
mixed-use complex currently under
construction.
The state is giving Cheshire about 2.5 acres of a roughly
seven-acre parcel at 1669 Highland Avenue, also called route 10, near the
future home of Stone
Bridge Crossing, according to a bill Gov.
Ned Lamont recently signed.
Andrew Martelli, Cheshire's economic development director,
said the 2.5 acres will combine with the adjoining 58-acre parcel off
Interstate 691 that the state conveyed to the town in 2021. Officials hope
to market the property for development, but if the town is unable to sell it,
ownership of the 58-acre and 2.5-acre parcels would revert back to the
state in 2026 and 2027, respectively, the bills state.
The 2.5 acres, which the state has not yet conveyed, will
not be built upon, Martelli said. Rather, it will open up the the developable
area of the bigger tract, which he said contains wetlands and has a
"tricky topography."
Combining the two pieces of land also will make the property
more attractive to developers, Town Manager Sean Kimball has said.
With both parcels soon to be in Cheshire's possession,
the Town Council's Planning Committee will begin drafting a request for
proposals in the coming weeks, officials said.
Ultimately, Martelli said, how the property ends up being
used will depend upon the proposals the town receives.
"Somebody might submit a commercial development,
somebody might submit a mixed-use, somebody might submit a manufacturing (or) a
warehouse distribution," he said. "There’s a lot of different things
you could do at that site."
Martelli said he expects there will be "a lot of
interest" in the property because of its highway access, proximity to
Stone Bridge Crossing and the town's central location in Connecticut.
Proceeds from any sale of the property would go to the
state. But the town's grand list would reap an annual benefit from anything
developed on the site, helping offset some of the costs of town projects,
such as the construction
of two new elementary schools.
Residents who live near Stone Bridge Crossing said they
were unhappy with the transformation of that section of Highland Avenue from a
thoroughfare into a bustling commercial destination. They said they
mostly worried about the traffic that would result.
"Everywhere you look in this town, it's build, build,
build," Gary Nyberg said. "They're ruining the town, and I'm not
the only one that feels that way. I'm furious. We're going to move
eventually."
Town Council member Greg Wolff said he did not think
the new mixed-use complex and any future developments on Highland Avenue would
infringe upon Cheshire's character and small-town feel.
"That's always been scrub land," Wolff said of the
formerly vacant property where Stone Bridge Crossing will sit. "It's not
like that was cornfields and greenhouses that were plowed under to do this.
There’s nothing that was lost from that area that I feel was indicative of what
Cheshire is."
With major projects in the queue, Enfield could finally find its economic development ‘stride’
With several large-scale development proposals in the works,
the town of Enfield could be in store for an economic resurgence that leads to
grand-list growth and spurs additional activity.
Four major projects would bring a combination of housing,
recreation and mass transit to the town of about 42,000 residents, while
repurposing properties whose uses are becoming obsolete.
The proposed $250 million Enfield Square Mall redevelopment
is the largest planned project with the greatest potential economic impact,
said Donald Poland, senior vice president of urban planning at East
Hartford commercial real estate advisory firm Goman+York.
Poland helped draft Enfield’s plan of conservation and
development and is currently working to update town zoning regulations.
Nebraska-based Woodsonia Real Estate Group Inc. recently
announced plans to buy the 570,000-square-foot mall, which is 85% vacant, and
turn it into a mixed-use development with retail, housing and recreation.
The purchase agreement, the details of which were not
disclosed, is contingent on approvals from the current mall owner, New
York-based Namdar Realty Group.
The proposed “Enfield Marketplace” project would create 450
residential units, two hotels, and retail and restaurant space.
Also moving through the land-use process is a plan to turn
the former MassMutual office campus into a large-scale recreational facility
with fields, hotels and restaurants. Efforts are also underway to build a new
Hartford Line train station in town, and convert a religious campus into senior
housing.
“Malls, large corporate parks, religious facilities, they’re
all obsolete, and they have to find a way to repurpose,” Poland said.
Enfield has suffered some economic setbacks in recent years,
including from corporate relocations. MassMutual left its sprawling Enfield
campus to consolidate its local operations in Springfield, Mass.
Toymaker Lego Group by the end of 2026 is relocating its
North American headquarters and 740 employees to Boston from Enfield, where it
had been located for a half-century.
Efforts to redevelop large and obsolete real estate parcels
have been slow-moving, while the town is also facing budgetary pressures that
recently led to education-related cuts, including the elimination of nearly 130
school system positions.
Despite that, Enfield’s grand list, or the value of its
taxable property, has gradually increased over the past decade to $3.7 billion
in 2022, up 30.4% from 2013.
And with several major projects on tap, the town could be
“finding its stride,” Poland said.
A mix of new uses
Fast Track Realty LLC has submitted plans for a
multibuilding sports complex, called All Sports Village, at 85 and 100 Bright
Meadow Blvd. It would have indoor and outdoor fields and courts, a hotel,
family entertainment center and restaurants and bars on nearly 70 acres.
If approved, the development will be located at the vacant
MassMutual office complex site, which has 430,000 square feet of mostly office
space that will be partially torn down; some fields will be built over existing
parking lots.
Andy Borgia, of Fast Track Realty, said it’s a complex
project and his team is continuing to work through land-use approvals. It has
won inland wetlands approval and is now moving to the planning and zoning
process.
Once completed, the development will create hundreds of jobs
and generate economic growth for the area through taxes and potential new
developments around the sports complex, Borgia said.
Aaron Marcavitch, Enfield’s director of economic and
community development, said a main draw for the project will be the hotel and
restaurants, which will have “a ton of impact on visitors as well as job
creation and attracting new residents.”
He said there is a big focus in the state on tourism through
sports and attractions.
“The town is favorable to anything that’s going to bring in
a really great project, to keep us on the map and show some great progress,”
Marcavitch said.
Enfield train station
Enfield also has a new train station project on tap, with
construction targeted to begin in the spring of 2025. The state Department of
Transportation-led project is in the design phase with a targeted completion
date of 2027.
The $45 million train station, funded through state bonding
and federal grants, will be the newest stop on the CTrail Hartford Line,
connecting riders from Amtrak and Metro-North lines.
Other towns with new train stations — like New Britain and
Berlin — have seen tens of millions of dollars in adjacent public or private
development projects, from new roads, sidewalks and infrastructure to mixed-use
housing and retail complexes.
Enfield is hoping to attract similar transit-oriented
development, with the goal of creating a more vibrant, “live, work, play” feel
in town, officials said.
More than $3 million in funding will support public
streetscape and utility improvements around the Enfield station, including
upgrades to sidewalks, roadways, lighting and parking, Marcavitch said.
Additionally, he said the nearby Connecticut River is a
massively underused resource in Enfield, and he’s hoping the planned
development projects can spur revitalization along the waterfront.
“We’ll try to unlock dollars, to get out there and rally for
these projects,” he said. “Many parcels are owned by the town, or involve the
town, so leadership is really hoping these will move the needle.”
Paving the way for housing
A senior housing project conceptualized two years ago would
redevelop the Felician Sisters’ Our Lady of the Angels Convent campus, which
sits on nearly 30 acres at 1297 Enfield St.
An initial zone change proposed by Boston-based The
Community Builders, which would have allowed more than 300 housing units
on-site, faced opposition from local residents concerned about the project’s
scale and was rejected by the town.
However, this past April, the Enfield Planning and Zoning
Commission made an amendment allowing for elderly housing in the convent area
via special permit approval.
A new redevelopment plan, which hasn’t officially been
submitted to town land-use boards, will scale down the original concept by
calling for 45 units reserved for lower-income residents ages 62 and older.
Proponents of the new plan said it would bring much-needed
senior housing to Enfield and find a suitable reuse of the convent campus.
Right track
Poland, of Goman+York, said each project has its benefits,
but one clearly has the greatest potential for economic impact and smart reuse.
“At the end of the day, the mall is the standout site,” he
said. “It’s past its prime and underperforming, it’s in a highly visible area
and will be an anchor to the community with its potential for housing and
critical mass.”
Drew Snyder, president of Woodsonia, said traditional malls
have “a broken business model” and are struggling to compete with large online
retailers like Amazon.
Large malls are often centrally located and prime for
mixed-use redevelopment, Snyder said.
However, the project, which is only in the design phase, is
far from a sure bet. The redevelopment hinges on at least $20 million in state
funding to help pay for construction. It will also require numerous government
approvals.
The town has been eyeing a mixed-use redevelopment of the
mall since at last 2018, Marcavitch said.
“So, the idea of housing, retail, walkability, maybe hotels,
restaurants, having an improved mix, better circulation, better connection, is
right on target,” he said.
The town supports Woodsonia’s redevelopment proposal, and
will seek funding from the state Department of Economic and Community
Development’s Community Investment Fund to help make the project a reality. The
town has also approved a local property tax break, giving the mall site a $7.3
million tax assessment for 10 years along with a credit enhancement agreement.
“That’s the best and most viable option for that site,”
Poland said of the redevelopment proposal. “Time and time again, with retail,
whether it’s malls or strip plazas, big box retail, they are scaling back on
the amount of retail; rightsizing is a common strategy.”
These four projects alone won’t completely transform
Enfield, Poland said, but they will put the town on the right track, with a
focus on multifamily development and creating a more vibrant, walkable
community.
It took 3 votes, but Hartford City Council OKs CCMC pedestrian bridge
After defeating an amendment and a motion to postpone the
vote, the Hartford City Council passed a resolution Monday night granting air
rights for a pedestrian bridge over Washington Street.
The resolution, which was approved along party lines, allows
Connecticut Children’s Medical Center (CCMC) to construct a bridge connecting
the $280 million, eight-story wing of the hospital currently under construction
with a parking garage to be constructed across the street by LAZ Parking.
Both projects were previously approved by the city’s
Planning & Zoning Commission, but because the bridge would cross over
Washington Street the city needed to grant air rights for it, as well as grant
a sidewalk easement for a bus turn-in lane that will require relocating the
existing public sidewalk onto property controlled by Hartford Hospital and
CCMC.
In April, the commission
rejected a resolution to grant the air rights and easement on a 3-2
vote with one abstention. The rejection meant the commission did not recommend
granting the air rights and sidewalk easement to the city council.
Because of that vote, the council could approve the
resolution only by a supermajority, meaning that at least six of the nine
members needed to vote in favor of it.
After a motion to approve the resolution was made and
seconded Monday night, Councilman John Q. Gale, of The Hartford Party, made a
motion to amend it.
His amendment would have required that, if construction did
not start on a building on the northwest corner of Lincoln and Washington
Streets within one year of the completion of the new CCMC wing and parking
garage, “then the title to said land shall be transferred to the city of
Hartford.”
After the motion was seconded, Gale explained that CCMC had
met with representatives of the Frog Hollow Neighborhood Revitalization Zone
(NRZ) before construction on the new hospital wing and garage began. He said
CCMC promised to build “a multi-use, multi-story building” on the lot at the
northwest corner of Lincoln and Washington Streets, which it owns, once the
hospital and garage projects were completed.
“They made that promise to the Frog Hollow NRZ in writing;
you've all seen the writing,” Gale said. “It was signed by the president of
CCMC, along with (former) Mayor Luke Bonin, who assisted in that negotiation at
the time.”
Because of that promise, he added, the Frog Hollow NRZ sent
a letter supporting the pedestrian bridge to the Planning & Zoning
Commission.
Gale then cited three occasions in which other developers had made promises to
the council but have yet to deliver on them, including one involving LAZ
Parking.
“So I come to this council to say we need to support our
neighborhood groups,” he said. “We need to tell developers — and in this case
I'm calling CCMC a developer — that we want some security for their promises.”
Councilman Joshua Michtom of the Working Families Party said
he didn’t know whether the amendment was “the best way to ensure that CCMC and
their partners follow through with what they’ve promised,” but said he would
support it because the city “should not operate on promises.”
“I just think it is irresponsible of this body, as
representatives of the city's fiscal interests and representatives of the
people's desires for the neighborhood, not to get something that is
enforceable,” Mitchom said. “That is just not how governments or big companies
operate, and it leaves us at the risk again and again and again of getting
rooked.”
Councilman Alexander Thomas, also a member of the Working
Families Party, said he also supported the amendment even though he is “very
much pro bridge.”
Council President Shirley Surgeon, a Democrat, said she
could not support the amendment because while it involved the same developer it
would link two different pieces of property and involved two different
contracts. She then asked Corporation Counsel Jonathan Harding whether doing so
would be legal.
Harding said he did not have “all of the contracts in front
of me,” but said the deals had already been negotiated and that he wasn’t sure
any resolution passed by the council “could forcibly reopen contracts that are
in full force.” He added that the “other components of this construction
project are not a component of this resolution in front of us.”
Ultimately, the amendment failed, with all six council
Democrats voting against it.
Gale then proposed a motion to postpone voting on the
resolution to the next council meeting in two weeks, which would allow the city
to meet with CCMC officials.
“It will send a message to CCMC to come to the table and
let's talk,” he said. “I think it would potentially produce a result that would
satisfy everybody.”
That motion also failed, with only Gale and Mitchom voting
in favor.
Gale made one last attempt to sway the Democrats on the
council, explaining that if just one of them voted against the proposal it
would fail, but that it could be raised again for reconsideration at the next
council meeting by anyone who had cast a no vote.
“So if one (Democratic) council member votes no on this, it
isn't dead, it can come back,” he said.
Mitchom supported Gale, saying a no vote would send a
message.
“We will send a broader message to other organizations, to
other developers, that the era of us rolling over in the hopes of some
development without any concrete guarantees is over,” he said, adding, “that
will serve the city well in the long term.”
Their efforts fell short, however, with all six Democrats
voting in favor of the resolution.
CCMC did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
$82M bonding for Clemente School upgrade nixed in Waterbury
WATERBURY – The Board of Aldermen on Monday decided against
moving forward with bonding $82 million for the rehabilitation and expansion of
Roberto Clemente International Dual Language School to accommodate a
kindergarten-through-eighth-grade model.
The school at 116 Beecher Ave., which teaches English and
native speakers of other languages in the same classroom, now serves K-3. It
will teach K-4 next school year and then add a new grade each year to get to
K-8. The goal is to ensure students become biliterate and bilingual.
Mayor Paul K. Pernerewski Jr. asked the board to withdraw
the bond request for $82 million and explore other options next year that
include potentially building a new dual language school, and purchasing the
closed Sts. Peter and Paul church and rectory nearby to make space for a
district pre-kindergarten program.
“I feel very strongly that this school is very important,”
the mayor said. “I think an expansion is needed, and the question is how best
to effectuate that and take the opportunity to look at a pre-K there. Our
students are coming into kindergarten not prepared. They need to have some
command of letters and numbers, and socialization skills. A lot of them are
coming in not knowing these things.”
Board of Aldermen President Michael DiGiovancarlo said there
is unanimous consent that the cost is too high for the rehabilitation and
addition to the school.
“We thought we should visit every option possible to make
sure if we are going to spend that money, we put in the right school and we
build it the right way,” he said. “There is no need to rush it.”
The board also learned the state reimbursement rate for
renovating and expanding a school is 60% compared to 75% for building a new
school, Board of Education Vice President Elizabeth C. Brown said.
“Because we are exploding in terms of our population, we do
have an urgency for space, but we need to make sure the campus we choose to
invest those kinds of dollars has all the assets we like,” she said, noting
there are about 200 students at Roberto Clemente with 300 families on the
waiting list.
Alderman Minority Leader Rubin Rodriguez said, “My concern
is the price tag for $82 million,” adding the city would have had to come up
with $33.1 million.
If the aldermen had approved a hearing and bonding for the
project, the Board of Education would have needed to apply to the state
Department of Administrative Services by the end of June. That timeline was
tight, Pernerewski said, so delaying it a year gives everyone more time. The
mayor also said with Clemente growing every year, North End Middle School could
handle the overspill in the meantime.