NEWINGTON — Hundreds of drivers, passengers, bicyclists and
pedestrians die every year in crashes in work zones nationwide, including three
such fatalities in Connecticut last year.
And in 2020, there were nearly 900 accidents in work zones
with four fatalities in the state, according to the University of
Connecticut’s CT Crash Data Repository.
As construction season begins each spring, the industry
honors those killed and raises awareness of work zone accidents and deaths.
This year, the annual National Work Zone Awareness Week runs from April 11
through April 15.
“In 2020, there were 774 fatal work zone crashes across the
nation, resulting in 857 deaths,” DOT Commissioner Joe Giulietti said at the
kickoff event at DOT headquarters Tuesday morning. “Out of the 857 fatalities,
117 were work zone workers.”
Work zone workers include DOT staff doing the construction,
police officers and state troopers monitoring and ensuring the safety of the
work zone and tow truck drivers assisting at the work sites.
In Connecticut DOT’s history, 37 workers have been killed on
the job in work zone accidents. A memorial featuring ribbon-wrapped orange
construction cones is in the DOT lobby year-round as a constant reminder of the
risks that workers face daily.
While many drivers view the orange cones and barrels
signifying construction as a nuisance, since January 2020, there have been
1,650 crashes in work zones in Connecticut, involving 3,273 vehicles and 4,167
people, according to UConn data.
Early data from the UConn’s crash repository shows that in
2021 there were 748 crashes in work zones resulting in three deaths.
“With the approach of the highway and roadway construction
season, now is that time. We have to remind everyone of the importance of
paying attention to the approach and drive through work zones so that motorists
and our roadway workers are safe,” Giulietti said. “Maybe the number of crashes
went down, but the horrific crashes are up.”
Connecticut’s DOT has a committee dedicated to raising
awareness about work zone safety. It has organized the week’s events since
1999, according to DOT.
During the awareness week kickoff event, Giuletti read a
proclamation from Gov. Ned Lamont, who was unable to attend since recently
contracting COVID-19.
Those in attendance included Amy Jackson-Grove, Connecticut
division administrator for the Federal Highway Administration; Mike Ellesio,
director of fleet operations for AAA Northeast; and Naugatuck Police Officer
Danielle Durrette with K-9 officer Indy.
For construction workers and police officers stationed at
highway work sites, the roads are their offices, said Vincent Stetson, director
of public works in South Windsor.
“Imagine looking up from your work to see a minivan
traveling through the work zone, with the driver never looking up from their
phone or realizing they never hit a flagger. That is enough to cause very
frayed nerves among the crew members,” Stetson said.
“When an impaired drivers goes barreling through the work
zone, 15-pound traffic barrels go from being helpful tools to projectiles
hurtling through the air toward our employees,” he said.
Of the nation’s 857 fatal work zone crashes, 37 percent
involved speeding, and 170 pedestrians or bicyclists were killed, according to
the Federal Highway Administration.
Stetson and DOT road workers offered tips on how to ensure a
safe drive through work zones.
Texting, using social media, speeding and not obeying the
orange signs leading up to construction zone are key factors in causing many of
accidents, Stetson said.
“Traffic jams become even more dangerous when road rage
engages two strangers that cannot seem to merge into one lane in the work
zone,” he said. “These are not just numbers on a spreadsheet, they are
funerals, children that no longer have fathers or mothers, and spouses that
must figure out how to have a future now on their own.”
Smaller events and campaigns will take place this week to
encourage drivers to recognize work zones and to be patient during delays.
On Wednesday, DOT and organizations around the country will
participate in Go Orange Day, by wearing orange in support of work zone safety,
according to a DOT statement. The public is encouraged to join in the campaign
by posting online with the hashtags #NWZAW #ObeyTheOrange and #GoOrange4Safety.
At noon Friday, DOT encourages all residents to join the
nation for a moment of silence to honor and remember people killed in work zone
crashes.
“Do not value the like button on your Facebook or Instagram
feed more than your fellow humans working in the roadways,” Stetson said in
closing. “You will have the thanks of a child, spouse, brother or sister that
has their family member come home safely as your reward.”
Winsted gets $1.8 million grant for street improvements, other projects
WINSTED — A grant of $1.8 million, part of the state’s
Department of Economic & Community Development’s Communities Challenge
Grant program, was recently awarded to Winsted.
“These funds have been awarded in a specific effort to
continue revitalizing Winsted’s Main Street, (which) has seen a great deal of
growth and success in recent years,” said Town Manager Josh Kelly.
The grant, called the “Winsted Pedestrian Experience
Transformation,” will include $800,000 for sidewalk replacements downtown;
$829,604 for repaving the Bridge Street intersection; $70,500 for brownfield
remediation; $20,000 for signs on Main Street; $80,000 for panels for a walking
tour; and $18.750 for murals and other public art.
The total award is $1,818,854, plus $1.2 million in private
and local funding, for a total of $3 million in the downtown corridor, Kelly
said.
For the brownfield remediation, Winsted and Miller Crossing
Willow will “adaptively remediate and reuse the property on 35 Willow St. to
house new businesses/offices,” according to Kelly.
“The grant review process was highly competitive, with 52
total applications and requests totaling over $200 million,” Kelly said.
Kelly said only 12 communities received an award, and only
$45 million was awarded in total. Joining Winchester as award recipients are
East Hartford, Hartford, Killingly, Mansfield, Middletown, New Haven, New
London, Norwalk, Norwich, Stamford and Windsor. Winchester is the smallest
community to receive funding, he said.
State Rep. Jay Case, R-Winsted, said he wrote a letter in
support of Winsted getting this grant earlier in the year.
“Winchester receiving this award shows that our town is
putting its best foot forward in its grant applications, we’re applying for and
receiving every last cent of state and federal money that we can, and we’re
doing everything within our power to make sure Winchester and Winsted continue
their upward trajectory,” Kelly said.
Winsted applied twice for the Communities Challenge Grant,
“in an effort to give (the town) better odds of receiving at least some
funding,” according to Kelly. The second application was for water main
replacement under North Main Street and to replace the dam at Tatros Pond.
Kelly’s
proposed $18.3 million road and infrastructure plan is still being
discussed by the Board of Selectmen, and is intended to repair roads in five
areas of town as well as drainage around Highland Lake and purchase a new
vehicle for the Winsted Fire Department. A referendum on the bonding for the
projects is tentatively scheduled for May 28, following a town meeting with the
Board of Selectmen.
Funding for the grant is facilitated by the Department of
Economic and Community Development and is intended to help municipalities
upgrade essential infrastructure and business-related redevelopment
initiatives.
Bridgeport library board, contractor at odds over $500K cost overruns for new branch
BRIDGEPORT — The new East End library branch has finally
opened after a few years’ worth of delays.
But that milestone accomplishment is marred by an ongoing
dispute involving $500,000 in alleged cost overruns between the developer,
Ashlar Construction, and the city’s library board. The matter is in the hands
of the municipal law department.
“They say, ‘We owe them.’ We say, ‘We don’t,’” said City
Attorney R. Christopher Meyer. “We’re trying to analyze the whole situation and
see if there’s something we can work out so that the city is not overcharged
and that the contractor’s paid correctly.”
Owned by East End native Anthony Stewart, who made a
successful career out of town and has
in recent years returned to help revitalize his old neighborhood, Ashlar
was chosen in 2018 to renovate and expand the shuttered Newfield library on
Central Avenue. The original completion date was around late 2019 or early
2020.
But that projected dragged on, with
the Newfield building open to the public earlier this month.
Over the years the budget also grew. The library board hired
Ashlar to do the work for $6.2 million. But the branch, according to Stewart,
wound up being $1.9 million over budget — $1.4 million of that for
subcontractors, which the board has paid, plus $500,000 for Ashlar.
Over the years the budget also grew. The library board hired
Ashlar to do the work for $6.2 million. But the branch, according to Stewart,
wound up being $1.9 million over budget — $1.4 million of that for
subcontractors, which the board has paid, plus $500,000 for Ashlar.
“We had a contract for a ‘guaranteed price,’” Jim O’Donnell,
the library board’s chairman, said this week, referring to the initial $6.2
million. “We paid in excess of that price and we don’t believe any further
amounts are due. But it’s being reviewed by the city (law department) and
they’ll make the recommendations.”
“This is a half million dollars in ‘cost,’” Stewart said
this week. “Not in profit. ... This is a half million in cost of me buying
stuff, having people there doing work.”
And, he continued, even at around $8 million the city got
more than its money’s worth for the “beautiful” new East End building when
compared to another ongoing library project along upper East Main Street near
Beardsley Park.
The tensions between the board and Ashlar over the rising
price tag were evident in the minutes of a May 2021 library board meeting. At
that time O’Donnell sought to dispel “rumors” in the East End that the Newfield
project was held up because library officials were withholding the $1.4 million
from Ashlar’s subcontractors.
“We had a contract for a ‘guaranteed price,’” Jim O’Donnell,
the library board’s chairman, said this week, referring to the initial $6.2
million. “We paid in excess of that price and we don’t believe any further
amounts are due. But it’s being reviewed by the city (law department) and
they’ll make the recommendations.”
“This is a half million dollars in ‘cost,’” Stewart said
this week. “Not in profit. ... This is a half million in cost of me buying
stuff, having people there doing work.”
And, he continued, even at around $8 million the city got
more than its money’s worth for the “beautiful” new East End building when
compared to another ongoing library project along upper East Main Street near
Beardsley Park.
The tensions between the board and Ashlar over the rising
price tag were evident in the minutes of a May 2021 library board meeting. At
that time O’Donnell sought to dispel “rumors” in the East End that the Newfield
project was held up because library officials were withholding the $1.4 million
from Ashlar’s subcontractors.
“He really worked hand-in-glove with the library staff,” she
said. “He was wonderful.”
Complicating the current situation further is the fact
Stewart, the library board and City Hall must, despite the Newfield dispute,
maintain other business relationships.
Ashlar was chosen in 2018 by the city to redevelop a
dilapidated commercial block adjacent to the Newfield branch and build a
long-awaited grocery store there. Stewart has
dubbed that also-delayed project Honey Locust Square, and will be providing
some on-site parking there for the library.
Stewart has also been
negotiating with the city to build housing and retail at the old,
municipally-owned AGI Rubber site at 141 Stratford Ave. on the edge of downtown.
“I went over budget and they’re playing hardball,” Stewart
said of Newfield. “I’m hoping cooler heads will prevail. That’s why I’m not
making a big stink. I’m quietly trying to keep going and do the other projects.
But it’s still a half million. It’s a big deal to me. I counted on it.”
CBIA, trade groups urge use of federal funds to cover unemployment debt
Industry associations and small business groups are calling
on state officials to steer federal pandemic relief funding to cover
Connecticut’s unemployment debt as an alternative to raising taxes on
employers.
In a statement released by the Connecticut Business &
Industry Association and signed by organizations such as the Connecticut
Restaurant Association, Connecticut Food Association and Connecticut Retail Merchants
Association, the petitioners said the burden of the state’s unemployment debt —
which rose dramatically as residents were thrown out of work by the COVID-19
pandemic in 2020 — should not placed back on business owners and operators.
“It took six years of higher unemployment taxes on employers
to pay off federal loans following the 2008-2010 recession and we can’t hold
that debt over small businesses again,” said CBIA President and CEO Chris
DiPentima. “State and federal unemployment taxes will jump 22% by 2026, money
better invested by employers in addressing the labor force crisis, the biggest
threat to Connecticut’s economic recovery.”
According to the CBIA, the state borrowed $888 million from
the federal government to cover pandemic-driven unemployment compensation
benefit claims after the state unemployment trust fund became insolvent.
About $425 million has been repaid, the group said, with
employers paying $300 million and federal relief funds covering $125 million,
in addition to $26 million in interest payments.
Employers are currently being held responsible for the
remaining $463 million loan balance, CBIA said, and face four years of tax
hikes, starting later this year, to cover those repayments.
CBIA and state trade groups have called for months to shift
the burden of unemployment debt off of businesses, arguing higher taxes will
only compound the problems employers are already facing, including inflation,
supply chain issues and a continuing labor shortage. Those challenges have been
particularly acute for brick-and-mortar retailers, which struggled to stay
afloat even before the disruption of the pandemic, and restaurants, which saw
revenues dry up as customers avoided traditional indoor dining for months.
Chewy backing away from $135M Windsor distribution center
Pet products retailer Chewy is backing away from plans for a
$135 million fulfillment center in Windsor.
Even so, the developers that lined up to erect the giant
e-commerce company’s planned 750,000-square-foot building said they are going
to proceed with construction anyway.
The logistics market is so hot that representatives from
Winstanley Enterprises and NorthPoint Development said they will build a
distribution center in the Great Pond Village mixed-use development district on
a speculative basis.
“The commitment from Chewy was placed on hold, but the
Winstanley/NorthPoint team is very confident in the market and therefore are
marching forward with building the warehouse,” Winstanley spokesperson Matthew
Watkins wrote in an email to the Hartford Business Journal. “They feel that the
tenant demand will be there.”
Winstanley and ABB Group — owner of the former Combustion
Engineering nuclear-boiler production and testing facilities that once occupied
the Great Pond site — are the master developers of the 625-acre Great Pond
district, which is targeted for large-scale residential and industrial
development.
Winstanley teamed with NorthPoint on the distribution center
because the Montana-based developer has repeatedly built for Chewy.
Winstanley Principal Adam Winstanley said the plan is to
break ground on the distribution center project in June or July. It is also
possible that Chewy might revisit plans to inhabit the space, he said.
Windsor’s Town Council, on Feb. 7, granted Chewy a tax
abatement and building fee waivers worth about $3.1 million.
Jim Burke, who recently retired as Windsor’s economic
development director, said Chewy communicated to the town it is not prepared to
move forward but didn’t go into specifics.
Chewy and Windsor Town Manager Peter Souza would have had
six months to sign a deal based on the conditions agreed to Feb. 7, Burke said.
In theory, this gives the company a window to return to the project.
Attempts to reach a Chewy spokesperson were not successful.
Windsor Town Planner Eric Barz said the development still
needs site plan approval. He anticipates design changes based on Chewy’s
withdrawal.
“Chewy is on the fence,” Barz said. “[The developers] are
going to build the warehouse regardless of whether Chewy occupies it or not. I
think they are still holding out hope Chewy might pull the trigger.”
Demolish historic part of Farmington High School? Here’s why that’s a question.
As Farmington residents are surveyed about what to do with
the historic section of the existing high school, a retired community leader is
suggesting it should become the new town hall.
Instead of demolishing the oldest section of the sprawling
high school, the town should remodel it, Bea Stockwell told the town council in
a letter last week.
Combining municipal offices and school administrative
offices in that space would solve several problems in one move, Stockwell
wrote.
“As a former chairman of the Board of Education and the Town
Council, I have had the unique opportunity of working on ‘both sides of the
fence’! The way to make government work efficiently and in harmony is to put
them together,” Stockwell wrote.
Her suggestion is among numerous ideas that a special
committee will consider this year as Farmington prepares to raze its high
school and build a modern replacement.
The current high school is a sprawling patchwork of
additions and enlargements built over many decades, and taxpayers agreed last
year to build a replacement alongside it for up to $135.6 million. The town
will put in as much as $110 million, with the state expected to contribute
$26.3 million.
That plan envisions demolishing a dozen separate sections of
the building constructed or remodeled between 1952 and 2003.
But there has been no decision about the original 1928
portion, which is a high-profile feature of town to passing motorists on Route
4. It stands at the top of an embankment, and its brick facade and cupola
dominate the landscape.
Estimates last year were about $10 million to fully
modernize it. Some residents support demolishing it along with the other 12
sections, but others are pressing to reuse it for other town needs and to
preserve an iconic part of Farmington’s history.
The ad hoc committee studying what to do with it has sent a
survey to all Farmington households to get public opinion.
“We’ve been getting a good response. There are about 700
replies already in — the survey company says we have a legitimate number, but
we’re hoping to get more,” said C.J. Thomas, town council chairman. ‘We’re just
waiting to see what the public thinks.”
The survey, administered by the Center for Research &
Public Policy, asks residents whether they’d prefer to keep the 1928 section or
demolish it.
Some of the options are to use it for the regional probate
court, or for consolidating town social services and recreation offices.
“The probate court needs more space, and our recreation
department and human services offices are spread through town,” Thomas said.
The survey notes that the town might be able to use federal
American Rescue Plan Act funds to pay for part of the renovation, and asks
residents if that would change what they think about whether to tear it down
instead.
The survey also asks about relocating town hall offices
there, and possibly keeping the 1952 and 1978 sections of the high school to
provide more community gym space, a recreation center and storage.
That plan could also generate new community meeting space,
event space and room for nonprofits, art groups or possibly business
incubators, according to the town.
Thomas noted that the council needs to reach a decision by
early next year at the latest. The plan and zoning commission in late March
approved the site plan for the new high school, and construction is to begin
this fall.
That will require running drainage systems and other
infrastructure work on the 1928 property, Thomas said, so contractors need to
know if it is being razed or retained.
“Keeping it would be a big project but could help a lot of
needs throughout the town,” Thomas said.