Manchester starts Spruce Street upgrades, new park to complement apartments planned at former school
MANCHESTER — Work has begun on Spruce
Street enhancements that will complement the
41 apartments planned for the
former Nathan Hale School.
Manchester will
construct a neighborhood pocket park at 140 Spruce St., currently a parking lot
next to the
historic Nathan Hale School building at 160 Spruce St. targeted for
redevelopment by Farmington-based
developer Parker Benjamin.
The pocket park will include a small spray pad, pavilions,
tables and benches available to the general public. The town will also build a
new playground and basketball court on the Nathan Hale grounds, along a new
walkway connecting Cottage and Spruce streets.
Spruce Street will get pedestrian-level lighting, new
landscaping and fencing and a widened sidewalk that will provide additional
space to the Spruce Street Farmers Market. A stamped concrete speed table will
be built on the road in front of the school building as a traffic-calming
measure.
Town Engineer Jeff LaMalva said construction began in April
and is scheduled for completion by the end of August, with minor impacts to
traffic expected during the portion of the work within the road. The farmers
market should not be affected by the work, LaMalva said, as construction will
not be active during the events.
The project also includes a 17-stall public parking lot to
be built at 163 Spruce St., across the street from Nathan Hale School. An
existing gazebo will remain but be moved further back on the property.
Construction on the lot is anticipated to begin in August, with completion
expected by October.
The $2.3 million project is funded primarily by American
Rescue Plan Act funds, with the parking lot portion paid for with Community
Development Block Grant funding.
Though available to the general public, the enhancements
would be in the immediate area of the Nathan Hale building, for which the
town's Planning and Zoning Commission approved a 41-unit apartment retrofit in
March.
Nathan Hale School closed in 2012, with community groups and
town functions utilizing the space intermittently in the years since. In 2014,
the Board of Directors voted to find a new permanent use for the three-story,
circa-1922 building, conducting an economic feasibility study the following
year. Elected officials formed a Repurposing Committee in 2019, later
downsized to a Repurposing Task Force in 2022.
Parker Benjamin approached the town in October 2023 with a
plan to retrofit the Nathan Hale building and the Board of Directors authorized
the town manager to negotiate a sale of the property to the developer in March
2024.
Final plans for the property include a variety of unit
styles and a number of amenities to be made available to the public, such as a
"banquet hall" and indoor recreation space.
One year later: How CT overcame a fiery I-95 crash that ruined an overpass
NORWALK — One year ago, all
traffic on
Interstate
95, one
of the busiest highways in the country, was halted in the heart
of Norwalk.
“I remember that day as if it were yesterday. At 5:30 in the
morning of May 2, nearly a year ago, I got the call that there was a crash
involving a tractor-trailer, a fuel truck, and another vehicle on I-95 in
Norwalk, and that the vehicles burst into flames,” recalled Mayor Harry
Rilling. “The truck, which was hauling gasoline, caught fire under the
Fairfield Avenue overpass, causing both directions of I-95 to temporarily
close.”
This fiery collision made national news, as for three
days, I-95 traffic
between New York City and Boston was choked while crews worked to clear the
way. Within 80
hours, the damaged overpass was removed, and all lanes reopened,
relieving the congestion but leaving Norwalk residents without a vital
connection to the busy Route 1 corridor with no bridge over that section of
highway.
Over the next seven months, Connecticut Department of
Transportation crews worked to install
a new bridge while keeping traffic flowing along the major highway.
“We rose to the occasion, and the new Fairfield Avenue
bridge is a symbol of how, even in the face of adversity, we can rebuild faster
and stronger,” said Garrett Eucalitto, Connecticut DOT commissioner.
Norwalk's I-95 bridge fire
Before and after shot of the Fairfield Avenue bridge that
was damaged in a fire on May 2, 2024.
On that busy spring morning a year ago, a fire cloud
fueled by 8,500 gallons of gasoline engulfed a stretch of the southbound lanes
and the Fairfield Avenue overpass, leaving a charred black stain.
Fire-retardant foam provided by the local industrial chemical company King
Industries was used to help put out the flames.
“I still say, nearly one year later, that it’s remarkable
that there were no injuries or fatalities,” Rilling said. “The reason why it
wasn’t much worse is because of the incredible response from our Norwalk Fire
Department and Norwalk Police Department, who were on the scene within minutes,
putting out the fire and redirecting traffic.”
With the 5:30 a.m. crash, thousands
of commuters’ Thursday morning routes were interrupted.
While passenger cars were able to utilize the Merritt
Parkway, tractor-trailers and larger passenger vehicles relied on I-95 to
connect to the rest of Connecticut.
“Traffic throughout the city was very challenging to
navigate that day, as hundreds and hundreds of cars were being rerouted through
Norwalk, causing traffic jams all over town,” Rilling added. “I want to once
again thank our residents and business owners for being so patient and
understanding during that disruption.”
Impact on Norwalk
The Fairfield Avenue bridge is a vital connection for
locals, connecting South Norwalk to the retail hubs on Route 1.
State DOT almost immediately determined that the fire
compromised the overpass and that it
needed to be demolished.
“The quick and efficient demolition of the bridge was
achieved in part by the hard work of CT DOT crews, contractors, emergency
responders, utility workers, and our federal partners,” Eucalitto said.
Crews and machines from other highway projects were diverted
to Norwalk, but to take
down the bridge, they needed steel cutters. The craned steel cutters were
in Elmont, New York, and were delayed in traffic caused by the accident. It
took 80 hours of round-the-clock work to reopen the highway.
“The recovery effort was also remarkable,” Rilling said.
Damaged support beams
The support beams in the middle of the highway were damaged
by the fire and had to be replaced.
Following a speedy demolition, Norwalk
was left with a hole in its road network. Rilling said CT DOT and Gov. Ned
Lamont didn’t hesitate in undertaking the replacement.
“I’m immensely proud of the great work of everyone who made
this happen, which shows what can be accomplished when state government,
contractors, and local leaders all collaborate with a sense of urgency and
purpose,” Lamont said this week. “This was an extraordinary effort under
immense pressure, and everyone delivered.”
Rilling said the speed and success of the overpass
replacement is a testament to the partnership between the state, city,
and local groups who helped manage the crisis safely and efficiently.
Fairfield Avenue bridge construction
CDOT crews worked for seven months to replace the Fairfield
Avenue overpass.
Connecticut DOT crews kept lanes open while working
alongside highway traffic for months to reinstate the bridge.
“The CT DOT Construction Team is incredibly proud of the
work we accomplished, coordinating with so many groups in a timely and
effective manner to get the job done,” said Mike Rosenblatt, CT DOT
construction engineer. “There were many moving parts and entities involved, and
we all knew this project had to get done on time.”
In the aftermath of the fire and demolition of the Fairfield
Avenue bridge, leaders promised the bridge would be done within a year. That
promise was met well ahead
of schedule.
“A year after the Fairfield Avenue bridge fire and collapse
in Norwalk, not only has a new bridge been rebuilt, but it was completed ahead
of schedule and under budget,” Lamont noted.
Today, the scars of the accident are gone, and traffic flows
under and over the bridge as if it never happened.
Stamford Zoning Board approves plans for a warehouse at former WWE site
STAMFORD — The Stamford Zoning
Board gave final approvals for plans for a
warehouse and "flex industrial" building at the site of the
former World Wrestling Entertainment studio on Hamilton Avenue.
The Zoning Board reviewed some modifications to
the initial proposal to construct a 112,757 square-foot structure at
the former broadcast studio at 120 Hamilton Ave., which was once used for
wrestling promotions and shows by the WWE.
Attorney William Hennessey said more work had been done
on the landscape plan since the concept was first proposed.
Landscape architect Matt Popp told the board that additional
trees would be planted on the northeast and southwest sections of the property,
and additional fencing was also being added to meet neighborhood concerns.
Hennessey said the development team had met with the city's
traffic bureau, and improvements would be forthcoming at Hamilton Avenue and
Lawn Avenue, especially to improve pedestrian safety there with a raised
crosswalk and other upgrades. The developers were paying $50,000 to the city
for that work, he said, and he said the traffic-calming measures there
"will produce satisfactory results."
"I'm happy with the addition of the fence and extra
plantings," said Zoning Board member Rosanne McManus.
The tenants at the planned operation have not been signed
yet, Hennessey said.
If a tenant that generates a significant amount of traffic
leases space at the site, the operation require more review by the traffic
bureau and the Zoning Board, board members agreed.
Asked about nighttime deliveries, Hennessey said, "We
don't anticipate this being a nighttime operation," though it was hard to
predict what kinds of tenants would be using the facility at this point. He
said the aim was to be "a good citizen."
The Zoning Board added a condition, as part of its
approval, that "no idling" signs be placed around the warehouse, and
motorists would be advised that engines cannot idle for more than three
minutes.
Hennessey said the new building would yield more
landscaping, new sidewalks, improvements to drainage in the area and pedestrian
upgrades, as well as more tax revenue and jobs.
The Zoning Board gave unanimous approval. The project was
previously authorized
by the Planning Board.
The developers behind the planned construction are
the V20 Group based in Darien, under the leadership of Joe and Jon
Vaccaro.
New Haven wraps construction on final Farmington Canal Trail phase ahead of May opening
NEW HAVEN — After more
than a decade of planning, New Haven has nearly concluded the fourth and final
phase of its section of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail that
stretches toward downtown.
Mayor Justin Elicker said the path should open in May, with
only some electrical work yet remaining.
"Other than that, things are in a good place," he
said.
The trail will provide more transit options for cyclists,
scooter users and pedestrians away from roads with cars, buses and trucks, he
said.
The newly completed section of the trail includes a tunnel
beneath Temple Street and Whitney Avenue before rising to street level on
Orange Street and Olive Street, continuing to Water Street and Brewery Streets
and Long Wharf Drive.
The project received approval in 2019 and was slated for
completion in 2021, but the city's date of expected finish was continually
pushed back.
Elicker said the trail fits into a wider
strategy of creating accessibility for more modes of transportation; the
newly finished section of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail is an
advantage to people seeking to go downtown where it's more dense than other
parts of the trail, he said.