Removal of Exit 21 from I-84 East in Waterbury pushed back as Mixmaster project faces delay
Paul Hughes
WATERBURY — The design phase for the first project of
the "New Mix" program to
reconstruct the network of bridges and elevated ramps of the
so-called Mixmaster interchange of Interstate 84 and Route 8 is nearing
completion.
The designs for the removal of the Exit 21 off-ramp from
I-84 eastbound and related work are 90% complete, and the state Department of
Transportation expects to advertise the construction contract in the final
quarter of 2025, DOT spokesperson Josh Morgan said.
The DOT had initially anticipated construction to commence
in 2025, but the start of work has been delayed a year as state transportation
officials consulted Waterbury officials, city residents and other stakeholders
on incorporating community, economic and environmental goals into the project
planning.
"We're not going to start construction until sometime
in 2026," Morgan said.
He said the DOT expects completion of the Exit 21 project
will take two construction seasons to complete.
The New Mix is the DOT's long-term project to reconstruct
and modernize
the Mixmaster interchange following the completion last year of a
two-year, $223.7 million rehabilitation project to extend its service life 25
years. The junction of I-84 and Route 8 got its nickname because it is a
complex maze of elevated highway ramps and bridges.
When the Mixmaster opened in 1968, the
interchange was considered innovative because the stacked bridges
allowed the crossroads of I-84 and Route 8 over the Naugatuck River to be
constructed in a smaller footprint. It originally had a life span of 50 years.
The Mixmaster was designed to accommodate approximately
100,000 motor vehicle trips a day, but that number has nearly doubled to
190,000 vehicle trips per day. By 2045, the DOT is expecting the number of
daily trips to approach 225,000. The wear and tear from all that use required
multiple major rehabilitation projects over the years.
Workers replaced decks on 21 spans on Route 8 southbound,
and 36 spans on Route northbound, which also included a temporary bypass and
U-turn. Major structural repairs consisted of strengthening the girders,
columns and beams to address fatigue and corrosion. Work on I-84 eastbound
and westbound included deck patching, paving and joint installation, steel
repairs and strengthening, painting and substructure repairs and the
installation of sign support structures.
The DOT has determined that continued rehabilitation will be
unable to prolong the Mixmaster's structural lifespan and to address
operational and safety standards that have evolved since the interchange was
originally designed and constructed in the 1960s, including sight distance,
sharpness of curves, lane alignment, standard shoulders, spacing of
interchanges, and left-hand entrances and exits. Planning for the safe
maintenance of traffic flow during replacement also presents engineering
challenges.
Through the New Mix program, the DOT proposes to create a
long-term plan for improving the safety and functionality of the interchange,
reducing the amount of time commuters spend stuck in traffic,
complementing Waterbury's economic and community goals, and serving the
state's transportation needs for decades.
The DOT effort involves analyzing and weighing various
rehabilitation and replacement options to develop actionable, phased plan.
Transportation officials envision developing a mix of near-term,
intermediate and long-term projects.
The removal of the Exit 21 off-ramp from I-84 eastbound
was the first project to be selected. Its purpose is to improve safety, traffic
operations, and air quality by reducing congestion on I-84 Eastbound in the
vicinity of Exits 19 through 22. It is also intended to improve traffic
conditions on city streets.
The latest plans call for the Exit 21 off-ramp form
eastbound I-84 to be removed and the auxiliary lane will be extended to allow
more merge and diverge distance for drivers entering and existing I-84 in the
vicinity of Exit 22. The on-ramp from I-84 eastbound from Meadow Street will
remain open. The Exit 22 off-ramp will be repainted to two lanes to accommodate
the anticipated increase in traffic due to the removal of the Exit 21 off-ramp.
Plans for the local road network include new traffic
signals with improved signal timing and phasing and street and urban design
improvements to benefit pedestrians and bicyclists, including possibly
installing ADA-compliant crosswalks, new sidewalks, decorative plantings, and
signage to help help people find destinations in the city.
The DOT said benefits of the Exit 21 project include reduced
travel times on I-84 eastbound in the vicinity of exits 19 to 22, improved
safety, reduced congestion and improved air quality, greater safety for
bicyclists and pedestrians on city streets, and a more welcoming environment.
Dan Haar: Tolls making a comeback in CT? Not soon — but pressure will build under Trump
It has been one of the few moments of levity for the
deep-blue state of Connecticut steering its way through Trump's America.
Gov. Ned
Lamont, whose 2019 tolls plan amounted to a high-speed tire blowout at the
start of his first term, declared a new champion of tolls:
President Donald Trump.
Lamont, in his
Feb. 5 budget speech to lawmakers, described a memo from the U.S.
Department of Transportation, "notifying us that all road and bridge grant
making will be subject to some revised economic principles."
The federal department will give
priority to states with "user-pay models," Lamont told the
Capitol crowd. "AKA tolls. You can't make this stuff up."
The yucks included Lamont and the rest of us making fun of
the ridiculous U.S. DOT policy favoring states with "marriage and birth
rates higher than the national average," as the Jan. 29 memo
from Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy does clearly say.
Connecticut, as most of us know, falls short on those two activities.
"So my children, hurry up and get married, go forth and
procreate, and your community may get a new bridge," Lamont quipped.
We do have baby bonds for low-income families but we're not
going to set up marriage booths on the Berlin Turnpike just to pull in a few
hundred million bucks from the feds for highway work.
How about tolls? Would we do it, really?
We remain the last state touching the Atlantic Ocean without
electronic levies for passenger vehicles on any of our highways. The idea
always made sense financially, as well over half the dollars collected in this
small state would come from out-of-state travelers.
We're flush with cash now and don't need the extra revenue.
But as Garrett Eucalitto, Lamont's transportation commissioner, told me
Tuesday, that won't last many more years. Besides, we're diverting
enormous sums from the state sales tax — $879 million this year — to shore up
the state transportation fund.
And now, if Trump and his transportation chief dangle huge
rewards for setting up "user-pay models," or worse, take away money
if we don't set up tolls, would we? Could we?
Not anytime soon. "Been there, done that," Lamont
told me Tuesday. I pressed. "No," he replied.
'That's tolls, isn't it?'
How about in a few years? Eucalitto, a strong supporter of
user fees in transportation systems, weighed in. "Short-term, I don’t
think anyone wants to have the conversation," he said. "Long-term,
everything has to be on the table."
Of course, user fees can mean a lot of things. Lamont, one
of two Democratic governors who attended Trump's inauguration last
month, sees an inconsistency in the Republican U.S.
president fighting the new, $9 levy for cars crossing into midtown or
downtown Manhattan.
"It’s ironic, he’s going after Kathy Hochul in New
York for congestion pricing. That’s tolls, isn’t it?" Lamont asked,
referring to Gov. Hochul, the force behind Manhattan congestion pricing.
The U.S. DOT has issued no further public guidance on what
it meant in the Jan. 29 memos and in fact, Connecticut never even received
those notices directly.
Whatever the feds intend, we can forgive Lamont for
rearing back at the
idea of another tolls battle. He rolled out an ambitious plan just weeks
after taking office six years ago. He battled hard all that spring in the
legislature and amended the details a couple of times.
But with every Republican opposed and Democrats not in the
mood to raise an unpopular tax, the levy never came to a vote. Lamont's
approval rating dipped below the Mendoza line of 30 percent.
He tried again briefly in early 2020. That died
even before COVID-19 hit. Then Lamont performed masterfully in the pandemic
and has been one of the nation's most popular governors ever since.
The money will not add up
Okay, so a Lamont-led tolls redux isn't happening. Still, as
Eucalitto explained, the numbers say we will have to do something in a few
years, if not sooner. Here's how the numbers shake out:
Connecticut's 5-year capital plan for state roads, highways,
transit systems and facilities such as train stations totals $16.3 billion.
Under a guaranteed formula, the Feds have supplied $1.1 billion a year under
the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a signature achievement of
former President Joe Biden, up from a bit more than $700 million a year.
That landmark act also sent $2 billion of matching money to
Connecticut in competitive grants for projects such as the Gold Star Bridge in
New London-Groton, the Walk Bridge for trains over the Norwalk River, that
mess of an interchange in Meriden and more goodies.
"We have over 50 electric buses in the system right
now," Eucalitto told me, in Stamford, New Haven and at UConn.
For the rest and for some regular operations, Connecticut
relies on gasoline taxes for about $850 million a year; the sales tax transfer;
and assorted other taxes and fees. All the federal money helped, as did a
paydown of some debt, which reduced payments.
"It staved off the state having to address
transportation funding for a few more years," Eucalitto said.
How about more grant money from the $100 million up for
grabs in the federal infrastructure bill? Not likely. "We set a target of
getting 1 percent of those grants and we’ve blown past that," the
commissioner told me.
If anything, Connecticut could lose money under the formula
payouts. A second memo from Duffy, the U.S. secretary, makes
it clear that Trump wants to see "local compliance or cooperation
with immigration enforcement," along with elimination of all references to
climate change, greenhouse gases, gender identity, racial equity, environmental
justice and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) goals.
'It’s going to be brought up again'
The governor in 2027, whether it's Lamont's third term
(he'll announce a decision on running in the late spring) or someone else, will
need to deal with depleting transportation money.
Eucalitto, as president of the American Association of State
Highway Transportation Officials, is in constant dialogue with his counterparts
and spoke with Duffy at an event earlier this month about ways to pay for
highways and mass transit.
"I definitely think it’s going to be brought up
again," Eucalitto said of tolls. "The governors and legislatures have
had this discussion over the last decade. ... I’m a firm believer in the user
fee model, where if you use a system, you should pay for it."
Based on his talk with Duffy, Eucalitto believes we're safe
on the baseline formula. "That’s been a bedrock for well over 100
years," he told me. Bedrock? I uttered two words:
"birthright citizenship."
The point is, one way or another we'll need to reckon with
some way to pay for transportation. Tolls make the most sense but,
in another irony, Connecticut Republicans have opposed them mightily even
though the GOP in other states welcomes highway charges. "It doesn’t
always make sense," Eucalitto said.
Former House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz was in office during
the tolls debate of 2019 and earlier under former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. He was
a skeptic at first but the numbers persuaded him we had no choice.
"I haven't changed my opinion on tolls,"
Aresimowicz, now a lobbyist, told me Tuesday.
We're in the minority in Connecticut. But that might change
in 2027.
Construction of Danbury rehab hospital 6 months behind schedule due to 'extenuating circumstances'
DANBURY — A new
rehab hospital that planned to open this spring on the city’s west
side has requested a six-month extension due to what it called “extenuating
circumstances not entirely within” its control that pushed back the project’s
expected construction completion date.
Encompass Health is
building the 40-bed, $39 million facility, the greater Danbury region's first
rehabilitation hospital, on a 13-acre site located in the Reserve,
near the New York border. The hospital stated in a Jan. 28 application to the
state Office of Health Strategy that the extension of time was needed because
the project required “extensive sitework” before construction could begin on
the building itself.
The extensive sitework “included several months of clearing,
blasting, cutting, and constructing a retaining wall on the eastern side of the
property,” the hospital’s application stated. “... [C]onstruction has
progressed considerably over the course of the last seven months. Absent any
unanticipated delays, the Applicant expects to complete construction of the
Rehab Hospital in August of 2025 and admit its first patient in September of
2025.”
The current deadline on the Certificate
of Need that was originally granted by OHS is April 19. The extension
would push that deadline back to Oct. 19.
Encompass’s application stated that the hospital “has worked
diligently to complete the project.”
“However, with a project of this magnitude, the processes of
design, permitting, and construction take a considerable amount of time and are
extenuating circumstances not entirely within the Applicant’s control,” the
application stated. “As a result, the Applicant requires a modest amount of
additional time to complete construction, secure a license from the Department
of Public Health, and begin admitting patients.”
OHS issued a public notice on Feb. 3 that it will take
action on the extension request following a 30-day period, until March 5, for
public comment. The notification said OHS would hold a public hearing on the
request if three or more individuals or an individual representing an entity of
five or more people submit a request for such a hearing.
OHS originally approved Encompass’s Certificate of Need
application in April 2023, nearly three years after the hospital submitted its
application. Encompass purchased the 13-acre Reserve property in March 2023.
The city gave the project a local
approval in 2021.
“Purchase of the real property prior to the issuance of a
CON, at the Applicant’s expense and risk, was necessary so that the ability to
acquire the property was not lost due to a protracted CON process,” Encompass’s
latest application stated.
Encompass needed to design the project and obtain land use
and other approvals and permits from Danbury before construction could
begin.
“All such permits were received by late May of 2024, and
sitework commenced in early June of 2024,” Encompass said.
Encompass’s application stated it “has spent considerable
time, money, and other resources to move this project forward. The Applicant
remains fully committed to completing the Rehab Hospital and bringing this
level of inpatient rehabilitation care to the State of Connecticut in a
freestanding setting. The Applicant continues to take concrete and measurable
steps towards project completion and is confident in its ability to open the
Rehab Hospital by September of 2025.”
According to previous reports, the rehabilitation facility
would serve people who have suffered strokes, heart attacks, and neurological
ailments by providing physical rehabilitation, occupational therapy, and speech
therapy.
Kathy Hochul does apparent about-face on natural gas as NYC utility signals major rate hikes
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has approved permits to expand
capacity on a major bi-state pipeline despite years of pushing green policies
like bans on natural gas use in new construction.
The Hochul administration signed off on permits to expand
capacity in the Iroquois Pipeline – a crucial 414-mile route from St. Lawrence
County -- near the border with Cornwall, Ontario, – running down the
Adirondacks, through western Connecticut, under Long Island Sound and forking
toward Commack, Long Island, or Hunts Point, Bronx.
That move comes as the state Department of Environmental
Conservation admitted the approvals are "inconsistent with" statewide
greenhouse gas emissions limits imposed in recent years, according to the New
York Post.
Hochul said this week that just as she is trying to institute $500 "inflation refunds" for
middle-to-low income families, that money is going "right out the
door" to Consolidated Edison (ConED).
ConEd, the main utility provider in New York City and the Hudson Valley, is planning to implement 11.5% increases in electric rates and 13% increases in gas rates – amounting to about $500 per year – unless the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) steps in, according to FOX-5.
The PSC is already under pressure from Hochul to audit the
salaries of ConED executives amid chatter about the rate hikes. Hochul’s
actions come after years of crackdowns on fossil fuel production and
consumption by New York Democrats.
In 2019, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the Climate
Leadership & Community Protection Act from then-Sen. Todd Kaminsky, D-Long
Beach, which moved the state away from fossil fuels and established a net-zero
goal by 2040.
Two years later, the state shuttered the massive Indian
Point nuclear energy production facility on the Hudson River opposite
Haverstraw.
Cuomo said at the time that he had been concerned for years
about the safety of the plant. "It does not belong on the Hudson River and
in close proximity to the most densely populated area in the country... This is
a victory for the health and safety of New Yorkers, and moves us a big step
closer to reaching our aggressive clean energy goals."
Albany Democrats, led by Hochul, have since banned furnaces
and gas heating in new construction.
The governor also announced a "cap and invest" program to force Big Oil to
invest in green energy by paying for emissions. According to the Post, a report
from the PSC also indicated ConED and fellow utility National Grid were also
"barely able to provide adequate [energy] supply" during a recent
Arctic storm that brought temperatures near 0 degrees Fahrenheit to the Empire
State.
As for Hochul’s efforts to audit ConED, Republicans agreed the rate hikes are and have been outrageous, but that particular move would not help.
"Natural gas is a proven, reliable source of energy and
vital for consumers in the Northeast," said State Assembly Minority Leader
Will Barclay. "The green dreams of environmental extremists are
meaningless if people can’t heat their homes in mid-February. It’s incredible
to see radical liberals protest a necessary measure that allows New Yorkers to
stay warm in the winter. But reliability, affordability, and common sense have
never been priorities of New York’s climate cult."
State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, R-Niagara Falls,
added the news proves Hochul's policies are not practical.
"Their slogan is ‘Do as we say, not as we do’," he
said. "Unfortunately New Yorkers don’t have the same luxury as the
governor when it comes to ignoring these ridiculous laws. Instead they
are leaving our once great state. We need new energy policies and that will
only happen with a new governor."
Additionally, the state’s natural-gas-rich Southern Tier – a
200-mile area roughly running from Jamestown to Hancock along the Pennsylvania
border – has been affected by a statewide ban on fracking, which state
lawmakers representing the area have fought yet-unsuccessfully to undo.
This, even as communities just a few miles southward in
Pennsylvania continue to extract natural gas from the same Marcellus Shale
Range on their side of the line.
Hochul added to the ban by further prohibiting a new, safer
form of fracking using carbon dioxide instead of liquids.
While former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf enacted a moratorium
on state parkland fracking, there has been no fracking activity to speak of
along the NY-17 corridor for many years.
After then-Gov. David Paterson announced the state’s
original fracking moratorium in 2008 – later becoming an outright ban under
Cuomo – some Southern Tier villages whose economies depended on energy
production considered trying to
"secede" to Pennsylvania.
Fox News Digital reached out to Hochul for comment but did
not receive a response by press time.
In comments to Fox News Digital, a ConED spokesman said the
approval of Hochul's permits are a "step toward enhancing the reliability
of our gas supply from interstate pipelines to help us meet the energy needs of
our 1.1 million gas customers, even as they choose cleaner technologies for
heating."
"Con Edison has a responsibility to continue to safely
and efficiently deliver the nation’s most reliable power while complying with
state laws and regulations. That means investing to keep our grid resilient in
the face of increasingly severe weather, supporting the state’s clean energy
goals, and supporting the workforce we need to conduct ongoing maintenance and
swiftly respond to customer service calls."
As for calls to audit ConED's executive salaries and more,
the spokesman said the PSC regularly checks their books and the utility always
cooperates.
"Con Edison operates one of the most complex energy
systems in the world and that requires hiring and retaining a management
workforce at the highest caliber to drive our nation-leading reliability and
deliver on New York’s clean energy goals," the spokesman said.
"We benchmark our executive salaries with other
utilities and general industries in the metropolitan area. Our compensation
structure ties management pay to performance on several metrics, including
safety, reliability and customer experience."