Roadwork to close busy ramps in two CT cities this week. One is at an often snarled area.
Drivers may encounter roadwork early this week as road
projects begin in two Connecticut cities.
The East Main Street on-ramp to Route 15 North, Interstate
91 North, and Interstate 691 West in Meriden will be closed continuously to all
traffic starting Monday and it will last several weeks, according to the Connecticut Department of
Transportation.
Roadwork reconstruction requires the East Main Street ramp
closures, according to the DOT. Traffic signage will guide motorist through the
work zone.
According to the Department of Transportation, there may be
modifications or extensions to this schedule due to weather delays or
unforeseen conditions. This is part of the I-91/I-691/Route 15 Interchange
Improvements project.
The area around the interchange is often backed up
significantly. The $185 million interchange project was awarded to O&G
Industries and is scheduled to be completed Nov. 30, 2028, according to DOT.
In Hartford, the Morgan Street on-ramp to Interstate 84
East will
be closed starting Tuesday at 7 p.m. until 5 a.m., according to the
DOT. The project, performed by State Forces, will replace manhole structures.
Traffic will be detoured. The work may be modified or delayed during unforeseen
conditions and bad weather.
In Avon, there will be a virtual
public information meeting in February regarding the replacement of a
bridge that carries Route 10 between Talcott Notch Road and Old Farms Road
intersections on Feb. 4, 2026 at 6:30 p.m.
“The purpose of the meeting is to present additional
Complete Streets elements introduced to the project that will ensure safety
improvements for pedestrians and bicyclists on Route 10 between the Talcott
Notch Road and Old Farms Road intersections,” the Connecticut DOT’s Francisco
Fadu said. “We encourage the public to attend this meeting to share their
feedback with the CTDOT project team to incorporate into the design.”
The project, which includes slope easements and drainage, is
scheduled to begin in the spring of 2027, and the cost is approximately $7
million. The DOT saID 80% of the project will be paid in federal funds and 20%
will be paid with state funds.
The public information
meeting is being held to allow the local community to comment or ask
questions. A question-and-answer session will follow the presentation.
Those with limited internet access can listen to the meeting
by calling 877-853-5257 and entering Meeting ID 857 4982 9658. Those with
hearing and/or speech disabilities should dial 711 for Telecommunications Relay
Services.
The public can submit comments and questions during the
two-week public comment period following the meeting to
DOTProject0004-0136@ct.gov or all 860-594-2020, or Francisco Fadul at
860-594-2078 of by email at Francisco.Fadul@ct.gov. The deadline for submitted
comments is Feb. 18, 2026.
Bridgeport had hired contractor to raze Cherry St. buildings. Now city and developer reach a truce.
BRIDGEPORT — Cherry Street Lofts developer Gary Flocco
and city officials have brokered at least a temporary truce over the latter’s
efforts to demolish blighted buildings intended for the residential
complex’s long-delayed next phase.
“We’ve come to a settlement,” Flocco said about a Monday
morning status conference between the parties and a state Superior Court
judge.
In September he had filed
a lawsuit to thwart the teardown.
And Thomas Gaudett, Mayor Joe Ganim’s chief
administrative officer, also confirmed a deal had been struck to keep the
structures at 62, 72 and 80 Cherry St. and 1325 Railroad Ave. standing and
hopefully finally move their renovation forward.
Over the next 90 days Flocco is to wrap those properties
with netting and also pay over half a million in overdue property taxes. The
tax debt must be satisfied before he receives the necessary municipal
construction permits.
Gaudett said their agreement does not lay out a timeframe
for Flocco to begin rehabilitating the buildings into an additional 138 housing
units to add to Cherry Street Lofts' existing 158 lower-cost apartments.
“We don’t have a hard date in there about when they’ll put a
shovel in the ground,” he said. “We’re not there yet.”
Flocco called it a win for both sides.
“It’s saving the city $4 million to $5 million of
(demolition) work they would have to do,” he continued. “We’re preserving
a building (and) most importantly we’ll be adding another 138 affordable units
to the community.”
The next status conference in court is scheduled for Jan.
15.
Flocco at one time was hailed for being at the forefront of
efforts to revitalize Connecticut’s largest municipality, salvaging factory
buildings on the outskirts of downtown between the railroad tracks and
Interstate 95. Cherry
Street Lofts opened in 2018 and the complex also hosts a charter
school.
Then in 2021
a ceremonial groundbreaking was held for the next phase. Ganim
attended, calling the project “transformative,” as did Gov. Ned Lamont. The
state has committed $2.2 million to the site’s environmental cleanup.
But persistent legal and financial issues kept Flocco
from breaking ground and the properties deteriorated, creating a more
adversarial dynamic between himself and the city.
By spring 2024 Ganim’s administration had formally condemned
62, 72 and 80 Cherry St. and 1325 Railroad Ave. and taken other initial steps
to tear them down. Flocco successfully
asked for more time to get his affairs in order and proceed with the
renovations.
Still seeing no progress as of this past summer, the city
advertised for bids from interested demolition contractors for the
job, picking Total Wrecking & Environmental out of New York. Ganim’s
office even scheduled a press conference to promote the teardown.
In response in late September Flocco’s limited liability
corporation, Hancock Avenue Partners, went to court and temporarily blocked the
demolition. Since that time the two sides have been trying to come to terms.
In a late September interview Flocco on the one hand
said the city had been “fair with us” but
also expressed frustration with Ganim.
“All of a sudden now when we’re so close to getting our
funding, he’s doing this? It just doesn’t make any sense,” Flocco had
said.
On Tuesday Gaudett emphasized, “We need to deal with the
fact the buildings don’t look great, especially from I-95, and unsafe
conditions exist there.” He said the properties are not in danger of collapsing
but loose debris could fall onto the sidewalk.
He said besides wrapping the structures in netting to help
cover them up and look more appealing, the developer must also take steps to
fortify the four addresses in question. Flocco said that latter work would need
to be done regardless before his contractors can enter the premises to begin
the actual renovations to make them habitable.
“We start with stabilization and remediation of
contamination and we go into regular construction,” Flocco explained. “All
told, 24 months (of work) once we begin.”
Gaudett said the city is aware Flocco is “talking with
different lenders” and would not have fought the wrecking ball in court without
having “a really strong interest” in completing the next phase of Cherry Street
Lofts.
“We’re cautiously optimistic,” Gaudett said. “If this whole
thing falls apart and they can’t close on loans and pay off on the city’s
taxes, then the project’s not going to move forward and the city will pursue
other avenues to deal with this property.”
Construction on Fitch athletic field improvements slated to begin in early 2027
Kimberly Drelich
Groton — Now that voters have approved a $14.3 million
project to improve athletic facilities at Robert E. Fitch High School, the town
will begin looking for a consultant to design the project with plans to begin
construction in 2027.
The town is developing a Request for Qualifications for
consultants and plans early next year to advertise and receive qualification
submittals, according to a tentative timeline provided by Town Manager John
Burt.
The town then plans to review and interview the most
qualified consultants, develop a scope of services and negotiate consultant
fees, according to the schedule. The six-month design and permitting process is
slated to begin in May 2026.
The town then would advertise for bids, review bids and
award the construction contract, with the yearlong construction slated to begin
in February 2027 and wrap up in January 2028.
Last month, residents voted 3,917-1,758, to approve the
$14.38 million bonding proposal, with any leftover funds allowed to be used for
improvements at Sutton Park, Groton Middle School and the former Claude Chester
Elementary School.
"I was overjoyed with the results of the
referendum," said Frank Norosky, the Athletic Fields Task Force chairman.
He said the task force has been working on addressing the town's shortage of
athletic fields for the past five years, with some members working on the issue
for nearly two decades.
The stadium at Fitch is outdated and in poor condition, and
the seating is not handicapped compliant, Burt has said.
The project calls for more accessible parking and walkways
to the field, a new eight-lane track to replace the existing six-lane track,
and a new synthetic multi-purpose field to replace the existing grass field
that only hosts football, said Chad Frost, landscape architect and principal
with Mystic-based Kent + Frost Landscape Architecture, which is working on the
project.
The project also includes a new concession building,
restrooms, ticketing area, press box, scoreboard and lights, and the renovation
of a practice field, he said.
"We're very excited that it passed," Frost said.
"It's been something the town has been working towards for a very long
time, and it's great to see how well the residents supported the referendum
measure."
Frost said the next steps will be to work out all the
details of the design, such as the type of track surface, the light locations,
electrical design and the stormwater treatment system.
Norosky said the new multi-use field will allow many more
high-school sports teams to use it and free up fields for youth organizations,
as some high school teams were using other fields in town.
Norosky said the task force has proposed three additional
phases of improvements for fields in town, with the second phase calling for
multi-purpose fields and improvements at the Claude Chester site and Groton
Middle School softball field improvements. The goal would be to hold a
referendum every year for the next three years, but that decision is up to the
Town Council.
Burt said the next step will be for the next Town Council to
discuss how next to proceed.
Stamford zoning officials approve 196-unit apartment plan on former Gen Re site
Stamford’s Zoning Board on Monday unanimously approved a
proposal to convert a former Gen Re office building on Long Ridge Road into a
196-unit apartment complex.
The application, submitted by 120 Long Ridge LLC, calls for
redeveloping the 302,000-square-foot building at 120 Long Ridge Road into a mix
of 23 studio apartments, 64 one-bedroom units and 109 two-bedroom units. The
LLC is controlled by two entities whose principals are Carl and Paul Kuehner,
chairman and CEO, respectively, of Stamford developer Building and Land
Technology.
A separate housing proposal for the adjacent 20.3-acre
vacant parcel at 120-C Long Ridge Road is still under review. In that
application, 120-C Long Ridge LLC and Toll Northeast V Corp., a subsidiary of
national homebuilder Toll Brothers, are seeking to construct 102 for-sale
units.
Toll Northeast is under contract to purchase the land from
120-C Long Ridge LLC, which is also controlled by companies tied to the
Kuehners.
The planned development would feature 44 two-story carriage
homes and 58 three-story townhomes, each with three or four bedrooms and garage
space. Amenities would include a clubhouse with a fitness center, club room,
flex space, bike storage and restrooms, along with an outdoor pool.