CT Port Authority leaders updated on State Pier repair dispute
John Penney
Old Saybrook — Connecticut Port Authority officials on
Tuesday said they’re still negotiating with the construction manager of the
$311 million State Pier reconstruction project on who will cover potentially
millions of dollars in repair costs at the offshore wind component staging
area.
The ongoing dispute with Kiewit was one of several State
Pier-related issues discussed at a Board of Directors’ meeting that also
touched on the possible closure of a Groton fuel terminal and the addition of
an emission-reduction device that will allow docked vessels to connect to the
local power grid.
The board met in executive session for an update on talks
with Kiewit regarding two construction flaws that arose late last year: a
problem at the south end of the New London pier where
substandard soil fill appears to have been used on a transportation
corridor, and a retaining, or “toe,” wall, that was built at the wrong angle.
No action was taken after the closed-door meeting. Board
Chairman Paul Whitescarver, who last year told lawmakers the repairs would cost
several million dollars to address, again said Tuesday that Kiewit, as overseer
of the project, bears responsibility for making the repairs.
“The authority is not responsible for those costs,” said
Whitescarver, who added the pier issues have not affected the loading and
off-loading of wind turbine parts at the site.
Why that exit on Interstate 84 is closing. And for how long amid summer traffic.
The Connecticut
Department of Transportation says the Interstate 84 exit won’t reopen
until late July.
That’s not great news for motorists who want to get to East
Hartford. (Yes, there’s a detour).
The CTDOT says
“bridge rehabilitation activities” will be performed on Bridge No. 02380, at
I-84 eastbound, Exit 56 in East Hartford.
The project is scheduled to start on Tuesday, May 27, 2025,
and will not be completed until Sunday, July 27, 2025, according to the agency.
“The project consists of pin and hanger rehabilitation on
various bridges throughout Greater Hartford,” according to DOT.
The work was awarded to Rotha Contracting Company, Inc. at
a cost of $5.4 million in 2022, and is scheduled to be completed on July 2,
2026, according to DOT. The agency said the project is administered by
the Bureau of Engineering and Construction, Office of Construction, in Rocky
Hill.
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Here’s the detour:
Exit 56 on I-84 Eastbound will be closed starting Tuesday,
May 27, 2025, to Sunday July 27, 2025;
Traffic will be detoured to Exit 58 on I-84 Eastbound;
Motorists should turn left onto Roberts Street, then turn
right to access I-84 Westbound to Exit 56, Governor Street;
Traffic control signing patterns and detour signage will
guide motorists through the work zone and detour.
“Motorists should be aware that modifications or extensions
to this schedule may become necessary due to weather delays or other unforeseen
conditions,” according to DOT. “Motorists are advised to maintain a safe speed
when driving in this area.”
It’s not the only
big road work going on this spring and summer.
There are about 545 active capital projects planned for this
year on state highways, bridges and roads.
Two hundred of the projects are in the planning phase and
171 are under construction.
“It’s going to be a busy construction season,” state
Department of Transportation Communications Director Josh Morgan has said. “We
have a lot of major projects that are in the middle of the process and years
two, three and four is when that really picks up.”
The DOT also recently noted that it has begun construction
on the Dutch
Point Viaduct rehabilitation project on Interstate 91 southbound in
Hartford. That means detours to access the highway. (We tried it; it takes
getting used to)
The viaduct is an 1,800-foot-long elevated bridge structure
that carries three lanes of Interstate 91 southbound over the Connecticut
Southern Railroad and the I-91 northbound ramps to and from Whitehead
Highway in Hartford, according to the DOT. It is near the Connecticut Convention Center and
the Colt Armory.
Among its busy schedule for work on state roads, the
Connecticut Department of Transportation also is planning some Interstate 91 ramp
work.
The DOT also said it is developing plans to realign the
Interstate 91 north and south ramps at Exit 24 in Rocky Hill.
Waterbury sets new date for hearing on massive affordable housing development
WATERBURY — The City Planning Commission has rescheduled a
hearing on a
63-lot affordable housing development that a local nonprofit developer
is proposing to build on the city's border with Prospect.
The Planning Commission was unable to convene a scheduled
hearing last Wednesday on the special exception application for the
proposed Forest Hills development due to a lack of a quorum.
Waterbury-based NEST has partnered with Meriden-based
Carabetta Development on the "workforce housing" project on
a mostly wooded 30-acre property off the northern side of Route 69. NEST is a
nonprofit community development organization dedicated to expanding home
ownership opportunities and revitalizing neighborhood.
City Planner Robert Nerney said Forest Hills is the largest
housing development to be proposed in Waterbury in recent years. It is also the
largest housing development that NEST has proposed since its founding as
Neighborhood Housing Services of Waterbury in 1980.
The plans for Forest Hills call for the construction of 63
single-family homes consisting of 27 two-bedroom homes and 36 three-bedroom
homes, a community center with a kitchen, gathering space, and game and fitness
rooms, and walking trails. There will be five designs for the
"contemporary farmhouse residences" that NEST and Carabetta
Development propose to build.
If approved, the two- and three-bedroom homes in the Forest
Hills development will be priced between 80% and 120% of the area median income
to be affordable for working people, according to NEST.
The 30-acre development site is on the northern side of
Route 69, and it is bordered by Bateswood Drive on the west and and Greenwood
Road to the east in Prospect. City-owned open space parcels and the Reidville
Industrial Park occupy lands to the north of the site in Waterbury.
NEST has negotiated a sales agreement with the owner of the
property, Sunrise Farm LLC, and NEST and Carabetta Development will develop the
affordable housing project. NEST will also offer housing education and
counseling to home buyers.
The bulk of the parcel is vacant and undeveloped, and a
majority of the property is wooded, according to the application. It was
previously mined for sand and gravel. There is a small equestrian paddock in
the front southwestern corner of the property.
NEST is seeking approval for a special exception for the
Forest Hills project under the city's zoning regulations for residential campus
developments.
The Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission approved a
wetlands permit for the project at its April 2 meeting.
Because the proposed development site is within 500 feet of
the Prospect town line, state law required referrals to Prospect's Inland
Wetlands and Watercourses Commission and Planning and Zoning Commission.
Norwalk break grounds on $1.3M project to improve safety on 5-leg intersection on Hospital Hill
NORWALK — As construction begins this week on a streetscape
improvement project, city officials said they hope to see a safer
intersection on Hospital
Hill by the end of 2025.
“This is a project that has been in the works for some time,
and we’re very excited to get started,” Norwalk Mayor Harry
Rilling said Monday morning at the groundbreaking for the
construction project.
The $1.3 million project is focused on improving the safety
of the five-leg
intersection of Stuart Avenue, Stevens Street and Magnolia Avenue, which
the city determined was the third most dangerous intersection in Norwalk.
“Too often drivers are confused about the flow of traffic in
this intersection,” Laoise King, deputy commissioner of the Connecticut
Department of Transportation, said at Monday’s groundbreaking.
In addition to drivers often traveling in the wrong way, the
intersection has been the site of several reported accidents, three of which
involved pedestrians, according to the city’s Department
of Transportation, Mobility and Parking.
The improvements planned for “this outdated and confusing
intersection” will include replacing “a dangerous five-way intersection with
two intersections” as well as installing high visibility crosswalks and
creating better access to nearby Norwalk Hospital, among other improvements,
King said.
The Department
of Transportation, Mobility and Parking, which is managing the streetscape
improvement project, also plans to create a clear path for traffic using
stop signs and to adjust parking by adding a 13-space lot between Stuart
and Magnolia Avenues and parallel parking along one side of Stevens Street.
The project aims to enhance the neighborhood’s streetscape
design and beautify its public space as well as improve parking and increase
safety.
The city received
a $800,000 grant for the improvement project in November 2023 from the
DOT's Community Connectivity Grant Program. Along with supporting Norwalk’s
recently adopted Complete Streets legislation, the grant will help
transform the Hospital Hill district and business community by enhancing its
economic development, pedestrian accessibility and overall aesthetics,
officials said.
A small crowd of state and city officials as well as project
advocates gathered in front of the intersection for the Monday
groundbreaking ceremony, with renderings of the Hospital Hill project on
display.
Colonna Concrete, a Woodbridge-based construction company,
is expected to start work on Tuesday and to complete the project by the end of
the year, according to KC Bushka, who works for Norwalk’s Department of
Transportation, Mobility and Parking.
A traffic management plan will be in place during
construction, and detour signs will be placed in the neighborhood to redirect
traffic, Bushka said. The Department of Transportation, Mobility and Parking
met with businesses on Hospital Hill to keep them informed of the plans, he
said.
Jay Habansky,
head of Norwalk’s Department of Economic and Community Development, thanked
officials for their “continued investment in improving the quality of life
in Norwalk.” Jim Travers, director of Norwalk’s Transportation, Mobility and
Parking, also credited “the impact that comes from Community Connectivity
grants.”
“This project is going to be a reality,” said Josh
Goldstein, a member of Norwalk’s Common Council. “It’s policy going into
action.”
Plainville will vote on these projects on June 3
Brian M. Johnson
PLAINVILLE – Residents will have the opportunity to vote on
multiple public works projects, including the creation of a new Public Works
Department, during an all-day referendum June 3 at the Plainville Firehouse.
The referendum will be held between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. at the
firehouse at 77 W. Main St.
Town Council Chair Chris Wazorko said the five items, which
include town and Board of Education capital projects, will be “budget neutral.”
“I myself, the council and town administration encourage
people to get out and vote, and to vote yes,” he said. “These are all projects
that we need to get done but that we’ve put off for a number of years.”
Wazorko said the town won’t have to raise any taxes or
increase spending if the referendum passes.
“It is a budget neutral referendum,” he said. “The budget
can absorb the costs.”
The referendum questions include the following:
– Shall the Town of Plainville appropriate $3,175,896 for
construction of the Shuttle Meadow Road pump station rehabilitation project and
authorize the issue of bonds and notes to finance the portion of the
appropriation not defrayed from grants?
– Shall the Town of Plainville appropriate $6 million for
the road and related improvements program and authorize the issue of bonds and
notes in the same amount to finance the appropriation?
– Shall the Town of Plainville appropriate $1 million for
the acquisition of a new public works facility and authorize the issue of bonds
and notes in the same amount to finance the appropriation?
– Shall the Town of Plainville appropriate $1 million for
Board of Education mechanical improvements and authorize the issue of bonds and
notes in the same amount to finance the appropriation?
– Shall the Town of Plainville appropriate $1 million for
town mechanical improvements and authorize the issue of bonds and notes in the
same amount to finance the appropriation?
Combining Public Works and Roadways departments
Wazorko said the town is looking to have its Public Works
Department and Roadways Department consolidated into one new building.
He said this will save the town money in the long run versus
renovating both existing facilities.
“I talked to a lot of people about this and nobody remembers
why the two departments were separated to begin with,” Wazorko said. “Most
towns have both of those departments operating under the same roof.”
If approved, the new building will be located on a parcel of
land on Camp Street owned by Aiudi Construction. It will replace two
50-year-old buildings.
Pump station
In the case of the Shuttle Meadow Road pump station, the
town is looking to replace existing pumps and motors with submersible style
pumps, within a new precast wet well and valve vault, according to the town.
They are also looking to replace the existing control and
generator building with a new pre-engineered and fabricated electrical
building.
The project would include all new electrical pump controls,
instrumentation, a generator, modifications to the existing wet well and
targeted demolition of existing components and site work, according to the
town.
The town anticipates receiving a $3.18 million loan from the
State of Connecticut’s Clean Water Fund Program to cover the cost. The loan
would be repaid over a 20-year term at an interest rate of 2% for this project.
Roads and ‘mechanical improvements’
The referendum includes two questions to approve $1 million
for “mechanical improvements” in the schools, and another $1 million for town
facilities.
At Plainville High School, the school funds would pay to
replace the emergency generator, upkeep the pool and replace the pool room
heater, replace the rooftop units ocer the technology education classrooms, and
rehab the press box at Tinty Field, according to the town.
The school funds would also go towards repointing brick at
Toffolon and Linden Schools.
The $1 million for the town would fund replacement of the
HVAC systems at the Plainville Public Library, Plainville Senior Center and
Plainville Fire House. It woudl also go towards replacing the library roof,
according to the town.
The $6 million for road projects would pay for rehab and
reconstruction of roads, milling and repaving, chip sealing, restoration or
installation of sidewalks, landscaping restoration and drainage improvements,
according to the town.