Public meeting to be held next week on $32.8M rehab of Mohegan-Pequot Bridge
Daniel Drainville
Montville ― The state Department of Transportation will hold
a hybrid public information meeting next week where it will present its plans
for a $32.8 million rehabilitation of the Mohegan-Pequot Bridge.
The meeting will take place Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the
Montville Public Safety Building at 911 Norwich-New London Turnpike.
Participants can also join on Zoom.
Registration is required to access the meeting on Zoom.
Anyone wishing to register can do so at https://portal.ct.gov/DOTMontville0085-0147.
According to a September release from the department, the
meeting will feature a presentation on the project, followed by a
question-and-answer session where people will be able to comment and ask
questions about the project. The meeting will be recorded, and uploaded to
the department’s
YouTube page for later viewing.
“We encourage the public to attend this meeting to share
their feedback with the CTDOT project team to incorporate into the design,”
Project Manager James Barrows II said in a statement.
Mohegan-Pequot Bridge rehabilitation project
Mohegan-Pequot Bridge is a two-lane, steel girder bridge
that spans the Thames River. It connects Montville and Preston via Route 2A.
According to Barrows, the project, which is expected to
begin in spring 2028, will address “existing deterioration” on the bridge, and
extend the service life for “another 20 years or more.”
DOT Communications Director Josh Morgan added the project
will involve repairing critical steel components of the bridge to make sure
they remain in “a state of good repair,” while milling and paving the road to
make a smooth travel surface.
Morgan called it a “standard bridge rehabilitation project.”
He said the project does not include any changes to the
travel lanes or shoulders on the span.
The $32.8 million cost is being funded 80% by the federal
government and 20% by the state, according to DOT.
The construction will be staged, Morgan said, meaning the
work will be done in sections with particular lanes closed at different times.
“This would not be a full closure or detour type of
project,” he said.
Morgan said the rehabilitation is part of regularly
scheduled, ongoing maintenance to the bridge and also part of a five-year
capital plan that includes projects from around the state. The DOT inspects
bridges every two years, he said.
“We forecast out projects to make repairs to keep structures
in a state of good repair,” he said.
Members of the public who do not attend the meeting can
submit comments and questions up to two weeks after the meeting, by emailing
them to DOTProject0085-0147@ct.gov, or calling (860) 594-2020.
Preston First Selectwoman Sandra Allyn-Gauthier said
officials from her town and from Montville attended a meeting with the DOT in
August in which the department provided them with information on the plans.
“So what they’re really doing next is getting public input,”
she said.
Allyn-Gauthier said the DOT is not adding anything to the
bridge, but rather performing “preventative maintenance” to ensure that the
bridge can continue to operate safely for a long time.
She said the bridge is in fair condition and once work
begins, the DOT will provide updates for the affected towns.
Greenwich's North Street Bridge replacement will be done sooner but cost more, officials say
GREENWICH — The North Street Bridge is on track to be replaced
next summer, but doing the job on a shorter
timeline is going to cost up to $700,000 more than originally
expected.
The Department of Public Works originally projected it would
cost $3 million to replace the century-old bridge over at least 18 months, but
officials drastically shortened
the timeline to just 10 months after residents bemoaned the prospect
of facing a year-long traffic jam, among other
concerns.
The new, shorter plan requires completely closing the road to traffic for up to 12 weeks next summer. Nearly all of the $3.7 million cost is expected to be reimbursed to the town through a state grant.
“In order to accomplish this modified design approach, DPW
is anticipating additional costs,” officials wrote
in a letter to the Board of Estimate and Taxation, the town’s finance
authority.
The extra $700,000 cost has three components. First is
$200,000 to hire police officers to work side jobs directing traffic, next is
an extra $300,000 to cover longer construction working hours and finally is a
$200,000 incentive for contractors to finish the job quicker.
DPW asked the BET budget committee for the extra
$700,000 on Nov. 13. The request was approved by the budget committee, but it
still needs authorization from the full BET and the Representative Town
Meeting.
Officials originally planned to leave the bridge open to
alternating one-way traffic, but that plan was scrapped after residents
expressed a number of concerns, including traffic, timelines, flooding and
safety.
Work is now scheduled to begin in March. The first phase,
from March to June, will keep the bridge open to traffic with some intermittent
disruptions as crews do pre-work, like relocating utilities. The second phase,
from June to August, will see the bridge torn down and replaced. Drivers will
need to take a detour during this phase as there will be no bridge.
The third and final phase, from September to December, will
have the bridge reopened to traffic, with some disruptions as crews complete
final restoration of the structure and roadway.
The bridge is small, originally built in 1909, over West
Brothers Brook between Cotswood Road and Macpherson Drive in central Greenwich.
The new bridge will be two feet higher and longer — to span
West Brother Brook below. The current opening beneath the bridge is about 11.5
feet long, but the new span beneath the bridge will be about 32 feet long. The
roadway will also be two feet wider.
The original $3 million projection will be covered by a
grant from the state government and DPW officials anticipate that $500,000 of
the extra $700,000 will also be reimbursed by the state grant. The $200,000
speed incentive will not be available for reimbursement from the state, town
officials said.
The contractor, who has yet to be selected, will be eligible
for the full $200,000 incentive if the project is finished 10 days faster than
expected.
The incentive payment will shrink by $20,000 each day the
project encroaches into that 10-day window. So, for example, if the project
finishes 9 days ahead of schedule, the contractor will be awarded $180,000.
“If they get it done on August 21 and reopen the road, then
they would get the full $200,000 and that coincides to when school reopens for
all the schools in the fall,” deputy commissioner of DPW Jim Michel told the
BET budget committee on Nov. 13.
BET members also voted to add a condition to the funding,
which will require DPW to come back to the BET with bid information before the
extra money is released.
Harry Fisher, chair of the BET, said the board needs to
apply extra scrutiny of the condition because of the unique and consequential
nature of the project.
"This one's so different with an accelerated program
and incentive payment," he said. "It's a good signal to the market
that this is just a different animal."
Some nearby residents remain concerned
about flooding on West Brothers Brook and want to see DPW address it.
Michel said the department has, in its budget request for next year, included
"significant budget line item for improvements of drainage." Town
officials will set the budget, and decide what projects to include or cut,
early next year.
New Fairfield’s old Consolidated School reduced to rubble; future use of site remains unclear
NEW FAIRFIELD — Following some setbacks and delays, the old
Consolidated School has finally been reduced to rubble.
Demolition of the former elementary school commenced Oct.
30, following the approval of a $600,000 construction project budget transfer to
address a shortfall in the Consolidated Early Learning Academy building project
budget and allow for abatement and demolition at the old Consolidated site.
New Fairfield’s selectmen and finance boards approved the
transfer during an Aug. 12 special joint meeting with the Permanent Building
Committee. Delays with the bus lot proposal for the site, as well as increased
building and abatement costs, were cited as reasons for the deficiency in the
CELA project budget at the meeting.
The old Consolidated School — which served students in
preschool through second grade — was replaced with the Consolidated Early
Learning Academy, a 43,000-square-foot addition to Meeting House Hill School
that opened at the start of the 2022-23 school year.
The $29.2 million Consolidated Early Learning Academy
construction project was approved by taxpayers in October 2019 — along
with $84.2 million for a new high school — with some costs offset by state
funding.
With abatement of the old Consolidated School site complete,
about two-thirds of the building had been knocked down as of Wednesday, Joe
Vetro from O&G Industries said during the PBC’s Nov. 13 meeting.
“They’ve been using a water tanker for dust control and that
type of thing. They’ve been doing a very good job out there,”
Vetro said. The rest of the former school building was expected to
come down by the end of the week, he said.
First Selectwoman Melissa Lindsey told Hearst Connecticut
Media that no decisions or plans have yet been made for the site’s future use.
Meriden gets $1.4 million state grant for new soccer fields at Columbus Park
Christian Metzger
MERIDEN — The state has awarded the city $1.4 million
for two new soccer fields at Columbus Park, making way for
MidState Medical Center to develop land currently home to grass soccer fields.
To resolve capacity issues at the 156-bed hospital over the past
several years and make room for an expansion, MidState paid $1.7 million
to break a 99-year lease with the city that allowed the
public to use the two grass soccer fields on the property.
The $4 million Meriden Soccer Athletic Complex project
involves tearing out two existing softball fields at Columbus Park, located at
208 Lewis Ave., and replacing them with two all-turf soccer fields. With the
combined $3.1 million from the hospital and the state, the town only needed to
invest $1 million to complete the project, which is expected to open to the
public next year.
The state money was provided through the Community
Investment Fund. While previously denied, the town received the money upon
reapplication.
Mayor Kevin Scarpati said at a press conference Friday at
Columbus Park, “Not only is this going to deliver a state-of-the-art facility
for our youth by redoing the fields behind us to all-turf fields and revamping
this entire park to benefit year-round sports for our kids in our
neighborhoods, but it’s also going to give an opportunity right across the
street at Hartford HealthCare Midstate Medical Center to offer quite the
expansion at their facility.”
The Columbus Park project is the latest in recent park
renovations, including two
baseball fields installed at North End Field last year and a new
playscape in Columbus Park adjacent to John Barry Elementary.
Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said at the press conference that
Meriden's application rose to the top due to the mix of private and city
funding involved and the economic benefit Meriden would receive through the
hospital expansion.
Officials also touted the project for fulfilling the growing
needs of soccer players in Meriden and surrounding communities, as the existing
softball fields have fallen into disuse as interest in the sport has decreased.
State Rep. Michael Quinn, D-Meriden, said it was sad to see
the fields go, as he played on them years ago. However, he was excited to see
the opportunities the new sports complex would bring.
“The first year we played, we actually won our championship
on this field," he said, "but interests change. At one time, Meriden
softball was the largest league in the country, and now, unfortunately, it’s
just a fraction of what it used to be. But soccer is what the kids want to
play, and we’re so glad to add to those soccer opportunities here in
Meriden.”
The project hasn’t been without controversy. When it was first put forward, representatives
of the Hawks Fútbol Club, the Mexican Soccer League and the Meriden Amateur
Softball Association were upset that their input on the project's development
was not sought, especially since they use the current field.
Councilor Sonya Jelks, Democratic majority leader, opposed
the project on the same grounds and questioned why other locations weren’t
considered.
“We have over 25 parks in this city," she said during a
Council meeting in May. "I don't know why that particular one is the one
that was decided to be the one that was going to handle all of the soccer
traffic. My concern is that kids who live in urban districts don't have a lot
of green space. They may live in a multifamily home or a high-rise and don't
get a chance to put their feet in grass.”
Other councilors who were initially opposed to the project
later came around, saying that the benefit of MidState's expansion and the
revenue it brings to the town would be a boon overall to Meriden.
Councilor Joseph Scaramuzzo, who sits on the board of the
Meriden Soccer Club, initially was against it, considering the club had
invested $100,000 in improvements to the fields, which they believed would be
used in the long-term.
“When this first came out, (the club’s) first reaction was
‘go pound sand; we want to keep our fields.’ But then, as they discussed it and
discussed it internally, the right thing for the city is to increase the grand
list,” he said.
Bysiewicz added, “The fact that this project allows
Hartford HealthCare to continue to expand their footprint in Meriden is good
for people who live in this area who will be able to access its expanded
services, but it will also, hopefully, mean more jobs and more economic
activity in the city of Meriden and this whole area."