Portion of Flanders Road to be rebuilt as part of I-95 reconstruction
Jack Lakowosky
East Lyme — Flanders Road commuters might have to visit the
car wash more often, as a portion of the road will soon be fully reconstructed
as part of the $156 million Interstate 95 Exit 74 interchange project.
Starting in mid-April the road will be gravel for 500 feet
from the intersection with Frontage Road to the entrance of Walgreens, said
Andrew Millovitsch, project engineer with the state Department of
Transportation.
Officials expect the work to finish May 1.
Millovitsch said based on road conditions, the work could
extend to the Flanders Four Corners intersection.
Drivers are asked to reduce speed in the work zone, which is
part of the effort to widen Flanders, also known as Route 161. Crews have
already widened part of Route 161, from Industrial Park Road to King Arthur
Drive. Drivers are advised that the work, which will raise the height of the
road about two feet in some locations, will be done at night.
Route 161 northbound will eventually be joined with a new
road, New Frontage Road, in front of Cash True Value Home Center, with a new
four-lane approach consisting of two exclusive left-turn lanes and two through
lanes. The southbound approach to this intersection will consist of two through
lanes and exclusive turn lanes, according to state information.
In order to widen 161, the I-95 bridges over the road must
be replaced. The northbound side of the bridge was recently demolished, work
that temporarily closed Route 161.
Crews Thursday were working outside Daddy's Noodle Bar,
which is getting its own signal directing drivers onto Flanders Road.
This is all part of the third of four stages in a project
meant to make travel safer between Exits 74 and 75, an area with a high number
of traffic accidents and 80,000 drivers a day, said project Resident Engineer
Robert Obey. Recently concrete barriers were installed to guide drivers into
two, 11-foot-wide lanes with 1-foot shoulders compared to the typical 12-foot
travel lanes with 3- to 4-foot shoulders, a configuration that will last a
while longer.
Between the north and southbound lanes crews are readying
the highway for another upcoming change, when southbound traffic will shift to
what is now the median from the Route 1 overpass to a location beyond Costco.
Obey said one of the biggest improvements, which comes later
in the project, is a new dedicated right-turn lane onto a new Exit 74
northbound on-ramp, eliminating the need for Flanders commuters traveling
southbound to take the hairpin left turn onto I-95 north near Starbucks, Obey
says. That configuration severely backs up Flanders Road.
That new on-ramp will curve around a new commuter lot, Obey
said, and will neighbor the new northbound off-ramp that lands drivers in front
of the Flanders Road Burger King.
Obey said the main goal of the project is improving
visibility and sightlines. To that end, the height on the south side of the
bridge will be raised 14 feet and on the north side, it's dropping 10 feet.
Obey said the changes to the highway are some of the most significant of his
35-year career.
The project cost has risen from the original estimate of
$150 million, after officials needed more supplies than expected, Millovitsch
said. He added it's "amazing" that after two years the large project
has only increased in cost by $6 million.
"More than a construction job"
Obey said any major roadway or highway project requires
balancing public safety and inconvenience.
"None of it matters if there's a major accident or a
fatality," Obey said. "Our job is always to make sure we're operating
in the safest way."
"It's not just a construction job," he added.
"My wife goes to Costco, our friends and families use these roads. That's
why it's important to us."
And sometimes a project requires traffic control measures
that may irk drivers. That's why, Millovitsch said, these projects need some
cultural engineering, too.
"We're in the Northeast, everyone hustles and
bustles," he said, pointing out that when the project started, both cars
and trucks often flew by workers on the highway at 80 miles per hour.
Officials piloted a enforcement program last year that
significantly reduced speeding.
Obey said the number of people who signed up for updates and
alerts about the project, 22,000, surprised him.
"It caught us off-guard how involved people were,"
he said.
Large Simsbury roadwork project set to begin as Aquarion Water starts water main replacement
SIMSBURY — When the weather gets warm, construction season
heats up.
And more than a half dozen Simsbury streets
and the motorists who use them will be subjected to the offshoots of
construction season with slow-downs and detours beginning Tuesday and lasting
into October.
Aquarion Water Co. will be initiating a water
main replacement project that will cover just short of 8,000 feet of pipe. The
affected roadways will be Katherine Lane, Windham Drive, Valley View Road, Bob
White Way, High Hill Circle, Richard Road, Branch Brook Road and Cornfield
Road.
Aquarion officials said the work is part of an ongoing
program to improve the company's water distribution system, with Aquarion
representatives planning to work closely with residents and businesses to
minimize any disruptions.
During construction, residents should expect minor traffic
delays and possible detours between 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Compass Enterprises Inc. of Simsbury will serve as the
contractor for the project, Aquarion officials said.
Peter Fazekas, Aquarion's director of corporate
communications, offered several suggestions for motorists and pedestrians. They
include following reduced speed limits in the construction zone and any other
posted signs; preparing for changes in traffic patterns, lane shifts and the
presence of workers and equipment in the roadway; obeying flaggers directing
traffic through the construction zone; maintaining a safe distance between
vehicles; being aware the roadway may be uneven due to temporary patches and/or
steel plates; practicing situational awareness by keeping heads up and phones
down; and if walking near the construction zone, ensuring pets are leashed and
children are supervised.
In an effort to keep motorists and residents informed about
scheduled and unscheduled work, Aquarion uses the Everbridge
notification system to call affected customers. Customers are
encouraged customers to
sign up in advance online for the free service.
For project-related questions, contact Project
Manager Brianna Paolillo at 203-362-3070. For service or
water-related issues, contact Aquarion customer service at 800-732-9678.
Yearlong road work project to start in Greenwich's Glenville neighborhood next week
GREENWICH — After years of planning, Greenwich will finally
start a major project to upgrade Glenville Road this week.
This project, known as the “Glenville
Corridor,” will make changes to the roads and sidewalks between the
intersection of Glenville Street and Glen Ridge Road and the intersection of
Glenville Road and Weaver Street.
The project area spans about 1,500 feet, from the future
home of DeCicco and Sons, past Glenville Pizza to the Shell gas station on
the corner at Weaver Street.
Work is scheduled to begin on Monday and it is expected to
take a full year to complete, according to the Department of Public Works.
Crews will be widening parts of the road, upgrading traffic
signals, filling slopes in some areas, adding sidewalks, adding stamped
concrete pedestrian crossings, adding a traffic signal at the intersection of
Glenville Road and Pemberwick Road and more.
“This major infrastructure project will reduce congestion,
improve air quality, and enhance safety for motorists, bicyclists, and
pedestrians traveling along the Glenville Corridor,” DPW wrote in an
announcement.
This project has been in
the works since 2016, when Greenwich was first awarded grant money to fix
the roadway.
The project got into more serious
planning by 2019, but the COVID-19 pandemic struck and altered the
town’s timeline, in part because construction costs increased the price of the
project. Neighbors also objected to some elements of the design, specifically
a loss
of trees.
The work was supposed
to begin last year, but it was delayed after bids
came in too high. State legislators helped secure
additional funds from the state government, which administers federal
grant monies, and put the town on course to start the work this spring.
“The Glenville Corridor is a heavily traveled commuter
route, providing access to major highways and local schools,” DPW wrote. “These
improvements will help ease traffic flow and create a safer, more efficient
roadway for the entire community.”
Visit
the town website for additional information, as well as project
updates when they are available.
Torrington High School spring sports prepared for many road games as construction continues
Peter Wallace
TORRINGTON – In a world of modern miracles, the
multi-million-dollar, multi-year construction of Torrington’s new high
school/middle school almost literally under the feet of its faculty, students,
coaches and athletes is a local version demanding attention in its clockwork
operation.
Budding engineers, architects, construction workers…and
athletic directors couldn’t get a more hands-on education in four years of
college.
Torrington athletic director Mike McKenna is one of a myriad
of heroes he’s happy to name in making it possible, but the dawn of a new
sports season makes him a key to another season’s success in a difficult
situation.
“It’s controlled chaos,” he chuckles from a storage-room
office that will become a cafeteria storage room when “the envy of every
other school in the area” is complete, somewhere around next October.
Meanwhile, former playing fields are rubble, tennis courts
are gone and the state-of-the-art Robert Frost Sports Complex with its turf
football/soccer playing field and track are almost unreachable in the midst of
earth moving tasks in the construction of additional turf fields for softball
and baseball in the school’s back yard.
For McKenna, the true miracle is the cooperation he
constantly shares with the school’s administration, Parks and Rec Department
and outside companies to keep the balls literally rolling.
“I haven’t heard one complaint from coaches or athletes,”
says McKenna. “Their only questions are ‘Where do I go?’ ‘What do I do?’.
For many people, the task of providing those answers would
be ulcer-producing or worse.
“I haven’t had a heart attack yet,” he laughs, noting that
the Covid year was far worse for logistics.
“Then, you never knew what was going to happen the next day.
Three kids on a team would show up with symptoms and we’d have to reschedule.
This time, we have more control of it.”
To a point. Cooperation, lots of it, is still the key.
Last season, the boys and girls basketball teams were on the
road for the final 14 games of their regular seasons while O&G, the prime
contractor, began work on the school’s new gym.
This season, while Fuessenich Park and Romanello Field
remain home options for baseball and softball games and practices, thanks to
the Park Department, McKenna cites 73 away games for all the spring teams,
scheduled between April 1 and May 29.
Getting there is the main problem.
“Mary Bussetti and Justine Lunberg, among others, have done
backflips for us in Torrington’s branch of All-Star Transportation, the school
bus company,” McKenna says. “The reality is they just don’t have enough buses.
Nevertheless, it’s come down to just four dates when they can’t help.
“We have two small buses of our own, but, while we’re
trying to get another driver certified, Michelle Matrascia is our only driver.
“Winter was easier because the games were at night. Now,
with afternoon games, we’re on the same schedule as the rest of the students.
“In some cases, the administration has allowed us to get
kids out of their last classes of the day to accommodate the buses. In others,
a bus will drop one team off and come back for another.
“I’m telling coaches they’ll have to wait 15 or 20 minutes
sometimes. Nobody gripes.”
Meanwhile, Torrington high school and middle school students
are settling into their new school while the rumble of progress continues
outside, thanks to the clockwork planning of O&G engineers and Torrington
directors Ed Arum and Mario Longobucco and many others.
Student athletes will continue to hit balls out of a park,
set new track and field records and win tennis sets thanks to Mike McKenna and
many, many others.
“It’s going to be a beautiful facility,” says McKenna, happy
for now to have a storage room he can use for an office to help keep it all
moving…like clockwork.
Former Briarwood College campus in Southington may become senior housing
SOUTHINGTON— The former
Briarwood College property may soon be transformed into a new senior
development if the zone change is approved by the Planning and Zoning
Commission.
The project will have 150 age-restricted housing units
spread out among seven buildings on site at 2279 Mount Vernon Road. The mix of
studio and one-bedroom apartments will range between 350 and 1,000 square feet,
Severino Bovino, an engineer and vice president of Southington-based Kratzert,
Jones & Associates Inc. said at the recent meeting.
He added a new pool area would be included along with six
acres of land dedicated to open space.
The impacts on the surrounding environment should be
minimal, as no new building construction is planned, said Johnny
Grunblatt, a representative of New Haven-based PGX Holdings LLC.
Bovino said all roads and facilities would be maintained by
the property owner on site and the project would be served by the 311 parking
spaces that are presently there.
The site has been vacant since the for-profit school,
Lincoln College of New England, closed in 2018, citing enrollment and financial
difficulties. It had been founded as Briarwood College in 1966.
PGX Holdings bought the property in 2021 for $3.5 million,
according to earlier stories.
There were a multitude of different options for the 32-acre
campus over the years including 83 age-restricted ranch homes and medical
offices in 2020. Other ideas were a family center, day therapy and a school.
Over the years, the campus has been listed for $6 million to $9.5 million.
PGX Holdings LLC submitted an application on Feb. 18 to
change the zone from R-40 to ARCHZ, ultimately going from a residential zone to
allowing for an age restricted development for those aged 55 and over.
Once the zone change is approved PGX will return before the
PZC for a site plan review/approval. And go before the Southington Zoning Board
of Appeals as well to get a variance that will allow for part of the facility
to be used as rented space.
Meriden City Manager proposes $36 million in capital improvements that excludes senior center
MERIDEN — City Manager Brian Daniels proposed a $36
million capital improvement plan for fiscal year 2026 that falls nearly $1
million under the city’s spending cap and is $20 million less than the current
year.
“We have kept it extremely tight,” Daniels recently told
members of the City Council Finance Committee.
Daniels added that funds from the American Rescue Plan Act
helped offset additional costs. Funding for the Board of Education, Harbor
Brook flood control work and enterprise funds for water and sewer were exempt
from the spending cap calculation.
The 2026 expenditure represents a $36 million commitment for
capital improvement spending and calls for $4.5
million in net city costs when grants are factored. The cap is 2.5% of
the prior year’s general fund revenue or $5,071,555.
More than 70% of the costs cover seven projects over several
years, Daniels said. The capital improvement budget contains the funds
allocated for all capital projects in a given year.
Of the $36 million, $5.8 million will go toward continuing
the West Main Street bridge replacements, $5.4 million for almost a mile of a
critical sewer main replacement, $4.4 million of annual road resurfacing, $3
million to replace a Carpenter Avenue water storage tank cover, $2.9 million
for required lead service line inventory, $2.4 million to replace a ladder
truck within 3 to 4 years and $2 million to finish the Edison Middle
School roof.
The funds aren’t spent until the projects are authorized and
ready to begin.
The capital improvement plan eliminated $25 million included
in fiscal year 2025 for a senior center. The proposed senior
center at 116 Cook Ave. has been delayed until at least 2027.
City Councilor Dan Brunet questioned the exclusions from the
spending cap and whether the numbers represented a true picture of the city’s
obligations.
“It seems like there are so many things excluded, I’m not
sure where we’re going with this,” Brunet said. Some of this “was included in
the cap. Our debt service has gone up every year.”
Brunet said the city’s debt service has increased to 7% for
the past several years and called for consistency in calculating the city’s
debt.
Daniels said that regardless of where the expenditures fall
within the budget, they still need to be paid. For instance, a police cruiser
or firetruck may not appear in the capital improvement budget, but it will show
up in the police or fire budget line. A school boiler replacement could show up
in the Board of Education budget.
He said he and Finance Director Kevin McNabola would prepare
a more thorough review of the prior calculations and projections.
Department heads from the public works and facilities
departments presented the numbers behind the requests. The Meriden Public
Library also requested $20,000 to repair window leaks in a portion of the
library that was not part of a 2023
$13 million renovation.
Library board members faced some backlash on the request.
“It’s an embarrassment,” said City Councilor Bob
Williams.
Of the $233,072,991 total spending plan, 3.88% comes from
increases in seven categories of expenses over which the city and the Board of
Education have no control, Daniels recently told city councilors.
Those drivers include $2.6 million in city and BOE health
insurance increases, $2.1 million more in salaries and benefits and $1.3
million in debt service on 2024's bonds.
Hearings on Daniels' $233 million budget proposal will
continue through March before a public hearing set for 5:30 p.m. on April
14.
Park or artwalk? Business owner proposes art tourism site for Capehart Mill: What happens now?
The City of Norwich wants to turn the Capehart
Mill site into a public park. However, a developer who owns an adjacent
property, the former Atlantic Packaging site, says the city
will miss out on an economic opportunity if that is done.
Evan Blum wants to buy and merge the Capehart Mill site with
his property to develop it into an art tourism site with an artwalk among the
ruins, multiple restaurants, a marketplace, a theater, a smaller park space,
and space for a solar panel manufacturer. This plan includes the
Shawmut Diner building he brought to Norwich in August.
But Norwich officials are not interested in Blum's
plan.
On Feb. 3, The Norwich City Council approved
the city's purchase of the Capehart Mill property from A Foot of Fifth
for $1. A Foot of Fifth would then pay the city $800,000 "to offset sums
owed as a consequence of any liens or encumbrances."
The sale closed on Thursday, March 27, according to Norwich
Community Development Corporation President Kevin Brown.
Blum's primary business is Demolition Depot and
Irreplaceable Artifacts in New York, which reclaims antiques and
architectural features from demolition sites to sell to wealthy clients and
film and TV productions. With his clientele, he estimates his plans to
redevelop the Norwich site could bring in 5,000 to 10,000 visitors a week, create
hundreds of jobs, and spur further investment in Norwich.
Blum and Brown have met to discuss his current property and
the future of the Capehart property. Blum said showed Brown a book full of
ruins that have been turned into attractions and gave him the artwalk pitch.
Brown declined Blum’s plan, Blum said.
Blum's idea is unique, but not effectively planned, Brown
said.
"If he came to me with a viable solution, and had a
compelling ask, I'd be the first one to work with him," Brown said.
Brown and other city officials are also concerned about
Brum's plan because of the condition of his property, the former Atlantic
Packaging site.
"We've not said no to him on these ideas he's floated
on Facebook and in other places, but I don't know if he has the means to do
it," Building Official Dan Coley said.
With Irreplaceable Artifacts, Blum hasn't taken the steps to
get the permits to convert it from a factory to a storage building. The
warehouse's sprinkler system isn't running "which is a major problem when
you have that much stuff inside there," said Coley.
The Shawmut Diner building is also sagging, Coley
said.
"When we've talked to him, he's a nice guy, but he
hasn't followed through with anything we've asked him," he said.
Blum’s complaints about the city’s plans
Blum claims they hadn't given him a fair shot at explaining
the plan. So now he is seeking public support for his plan, so the City of
Norwich will talk with him about his plan. If this effort doesn’t work, he’ll
consider moving his redevelopment efforts elsewhere.
Norwich is a distressed area, which Blum argues the city
isn't doing enough to revitalize. A strong commitment to the arts and private
investment has revitalized cities from San Francisco to New Orleans, he said.
Blum insists Norwich’s park plan wouldn't do anything about
the drug and crime problems in Greeneville, and would devalue his property.
What is the state of the Capehart Mill site in Norwich?
Blum said he has worked on his concept for years including
contacting the owner of the long-abandoned property.
Blum said he got the owners to do some maintenance on the
property. The fires,
which were arson, stopped at that point. The Norwich Fire Marshal was
about to indict Foot of Fifth because of the fires that kept happening.
Blum and Foot of Fifth had planned over a year ago to give
the property to Blum and provide $800,000 if he indemnified them, Blum said.
Despite Blum paying attorneys $6,000 to draft a contract,
which only needed the signatures, Blum claims Brown “stole” the property from
him by approaching Foot of Fifth himself, after Blum brought the Shawmut Diner
building to Norwich.
“I could do it for a lot less money than they’re getting
from the taxpayers, and they can return some of the money from the government
for another project,” he said.
The City of Norwich has long been interested in improving
the Capehart Mill property, regardless of what Blum does or doesn't do, Brown
said.
Why Evan Blum thinks Capehart Mill can be saved
While the City of Norwich claims the mill can’t be salvaged,
Blum insists it can still be fixed. The ruins could be turned into an
attraction, like Bannerman Castle in New York, Blum said.
The Uncas Leap Heritage Site in Norwich uses a stabilized
ruin, so it could be possible to do the same thing for part of the Capehart
Mill. However, much of the building is too delicate or dangerous to save, as
new collapses were found during Coley's visit to the property last week.
Brown says Greeneville deserves an unobstructed view of the
Shetucket River. Brown expects the park in Greeneville to be similar to Red
McKeon Park in Occum, in that it is well-kept and appreciated by the
neighborhood.