City officials said the energy company will be “expanding its natural gas distribution

system” in the area of Redstone Hill and Rogers Road.

The project will begin Monday and is slated to be complete around Aug. 9, the mayor’s office said in a statement.

Work will be performed by NPL Construction and generally be done on weekdays, from 7 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. It will also occasionally take place on Saturdays as well. The work will also be dependent on weather conditions.

“There may be minor traffic delays during construction, however roads will remain open for

mail delivery, emergency vehicles, and local traffic at all times,” Mayor Ellen Zoppo-

Sassu said in a statement. “Temporary ‘No Parking’ signs will be posted as needed during construction.”

City officials have directed any questions or concerns about the project to Eversource Gas

Construction Supervisor Chris Tralli, who can be reached at 860-302-6024, or Jesse Arsenault, NPL Construction superintendent, who can be reached at 203-673-8508.

 Middletown pays $2.6M for riverfront properties; housing, mixed-use development eyed

Marr Pilon 

iddletown’s long-held desire to open up a significant section of its waterfront to new development has taken another step forward with the $2.6 million purchase of nine acres of underutilized industrial land along the Connecticut River.

The common council voted unanimously on Monday to approve the acquisition of four properties from Martin Smith of Waterhouse Development.

Smith had won approval in 2016 to redevelop the largest of the four parcels, 225 River Road, which is home to the former Jackson Corrugated Container Corp. property, into a condominium community. However, the project never materialized.

Joseph Samolis, the city’s director of planning, conservation and development, said Thursday the city intends to hold the newly acquired parcels for future development.

It will likely be another 12 to 18 months before further plans are hatched, as the city is close to hiring a consultant to produce a conceptual vision for the broader southern riverfront area known as South Cove, bordered by Silver Street to the south, Eastern Drive to the east, Union Street to the west.

“These parcels specifically are some of the only sites outside of the floodplain immediately adjacent to the river, which makes it really ideal for future development,” Samolis told councilors.

That means housing and mixed-use are both potential options for the parcels, he said.

Middletown’s redevelopment efforts for the area around River Road have progressed over the past two years thanks to the rerouting of city sewage from an aging pumping station along the riverbank to a new facility in neighboring Cromwell, as well as city voters’ approval last November of a $55 million borrowing for various infrastructure projects, $5 million of which was reserved for riverfront land acquisitions.

Roughly $2.4 million of those acquisition funds now remain and Samolis said the city is looking to spend more of it soon. One possibility is a smaller parcel located just to the west of the Corrugated Container property at the corner of River Road and Walnut, he said.

Samolis is aiming to have a purchase proposal for that  in front of the common council in May. He said that once the master plan is in place the city will tackle zoning changes, ultimately hoping to leverage zoning updates and the city-owned properties to entice a master developer for a significant portion of the riverfront area.

Whether to develop or preserve Simsbury land where Martin Luther King Jr. once worked will go to a vote after more than two decades of debate

Don Stacom

After more than two decades of debate, abandoned plans and false starts, Simsbury is on the verge of deciding whether 288 acres of former tobacco fields will be set aside as open space and athletic fields.

More than 1,000 residents signed petitions to force a May 4 referendum in a brief, hastily organized campaign that includes accusations that the finance board was refusing to let taxpayers vote the deal up or down.

If voters approve on May 4, Simsbury will put about $2.2 million toward a $6 million purchase of the land, part of a farm where Martin Luther King Jr. worked in his youth.

Griffin Industrial Realty, the owner, had fought for years for permission to create a massive subdivision with an affordable housing component, but never went ahead with the project. Instead, Griffin changed course and last year negotiated to sell to the Trust for Public Land in a complex $6 million deal that includes a patchwork of state agriculture, historic and open space preservation grants along with the town money.

Simsbury leaders this month got into an uncommonly harsh dispute over whether to go forward, ending with a fast-paced petition drive last weekend to meet a Monday deadline. With backing from the Simsbury Land Trust, the Simsbury Grange and the board of selectmen, volunteers fanned out to popular stores and restaurants to get signatures.

“We needed at least 953 signatures and we received more than 1,800!,” First Selectman Eric Wellman proclaimed afterward on Facebook. “Reasonable people can disagree on whether the town should acquire this parcel, but I am so pleased that our residents will have the opportunity to vote.”

Earlier in the month, the finance board took up the idea in its annual budget review and decided not to include it. Some finance board members warned there are already too many public works and education projects in the pipeline now, and funding Meadowood would postpone them.

When selectmen convened the next night, some were furious.

The finance board’s move implied voters are “too stupid” to make the decision,” Selectman Sean Askham said.

“I don’t recall a time when the board of finance not only refused to send on a signature project from the board of selectmen, but refused to even go on the record. That move is usually a cowardice move because folks are looking to avoid being accountable for a decision,” Askham said.

“They made a choice to take away the right of the citizens to vote,” Selectman Mike Paine.

If the referendum passes and the sale goes through, the Trust for Public Land, a California-based nonprofit, would get title to the property — with restrictions. The state would get an easement for recreational access for 138 acres, including connectivity to the McLean Game Refuge and new walking trails. Another 117 acres, including the former tobacco sheds on Hoskins Road, would be reserved as farmland, and 24 would be set aside for future town athletic fields.

A little more than 4 acres, including the three historic barns that face Firetown Road, would be used for historic preservation and a Martin Luther King Jr. interpretive display, according to the Trust for Public Land.

The Trust for Public Land has raised more than $400,000 toward surveys, research and other expenses connected with the transfer.

It’s unclear how Griffin would proceed if the deal falls through. The company went to court more than a decade ago to get zoning approval for 296 homes on the site, including 88 intended for affordable housing. But the land required extensive environmental remediation because of fertilizer chemicals, and Griffin never moved forward with the housing project after it was approved.

Simsbury is among the affluent Connecticut suburbs that affordable housing advocates have targeted for new development. But Desegregate CT, a prime force in that effort, takes no position on individual projects, and said Thursday it had no comment on Meadowood.

Simsbury Grange President Susan Masino said preserving the land is the goal.

“I 100% support affordable housing, and there are many ways that can be done. But a critical network of open space is also essential. This land is not the right place for multiple reasons,” she said.

She noted that the 88 proposed affordable housing units were expected to run $280,000 each.

“That is more money than 33% of the housing in Simsbury, so that is not helping people who really need housing,” she said. “Most important, there is no guarantee what will be built. Multiple experts have said affordable housing is highly unlikely in the end because it is not the most profitable option.”

 

Highway, Rail Upgrades in Massachusetts Could Result from Biden's Plan

On March 31, President Biden outlined a proposal for a $2.25 trillion "American Jobs Plan," a sweeping stimulus package designed to rebuild the nation's infrastructure, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and "promote affordable access to opportunity."

The plan includes more than $115 billion for roads and bridges, along with spending $85 billion for transit services and $80 billion on intercity rail.

Many details remain to be worked out through negotiations and debates in Congress, but here is a quick look at what that kind of money could buy for Massachusetts:

Safe Street Program Prioritized by Highway Funds

The White House said that it will use the funding to prioritize basic repair of existing roads and bridges, and that any road improvements will be focused on "safety, resilience and all users in mind."

In Massachusetts, highway monies are often "flexed" to finance trails and complete streets projects. The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization, which disburses funds for most large transportation projects in the greater metro area, is currently updating its five-year budget, and several projects that are unlikely to make the cut in this year's round of funding could be well-positioned to see construction if new federal funds become available, according to StreetBlogs Mass.

Among those projects that could get a new life due to the Biden plan include:

The building of the first phase of the Belmont Community Path from Belmont Center to Alewife Station,

A 2-mi. extension of the Marblehead Rail Trail through Swampscott,

A reconstruction of Washington Street in Brookline that would also include new sidewalks and protected bike lanes from Brookline Village to Beacon Street,

Another rebuilding effort in Lynn along Western Avenue north of the Lynn Common, which could lead to additional bus-priority infrastructure for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA) 424, 434, and 450 buses.

Biden's proposal also would set aside $20 billion in highway funds "to improve road safety for all users, including increases to existing safety programs and a new Safe Streets for All program to fund state and local ‘vision zero' plans," according to a White House fact sheet.

There also is the possibility of a new $20 billion program that would reconnect those U.S. neighborhoods that suffered destruction from 20th-century highway projects. Locally, StreetBlogs Mass noted that has the potential to boost large projects like the proposed demolition of the obsolete McGrath Highway in Somerville, or the still-to-be-drafted design for Morrissey Boulevard on the Dorchester waterfront.

New England Could Get New Amtrak Services

Biden's proposal includes $80 billion "to address Amtrak's repair backlog, modernize the high-traffic Northeast Corridor (and) improve existing corridors and connect new city pairs."

Shortly after the White House released its proposal, Amtrak issued a fact sheet and accompanying map outlining new routes and services that it could implement along the entire Northeast Corridor from Boston to Washington. In addition, the Downeaster line to Maine, the Hartford Line between Springfield and New Haven, Conn., and the Vermonter line north of Springfield also could receive "enhancements."

The Amtrak map included the much-studied East-West route, which, under the company's proposal, would be extended from Pittsfield to Albany, N.Y., as well as a new service to New Hampshire, and an extension of Vermonter service to Montreal. The latter idea has long been in the planning stages but is contingent on the construction of a new U.S.-Canada border checkpoint inside Montreal's train station.

Ben Heckscher, a co-founder of Trains in the Valley, an organization of Pioneer Valley rail advocates, told StreetBlogs Mass that running trains all the way to Albany, a metropolitan area of 1.2 million people, could add significant benefits to the proposed east-west rail service between Boston, Springfield and Pittsfield.

"At some level, the wild card here is still [the Massachusetts Department of Transportation]," he said. "They've never been very excited, from our perspective, about getting east-west rail implemented."

Transit Funds Could Boost Rail Electrification

Biden's bill also would allocate $80 billion "to modernize existing transit and help agencies expand their systems to meet rider demand," according to the White House's info sheet.

That would represent a major increase in federal investment – more than 40 times what the federal government budgeted last year to help transit agencies finance their expansions.

As far as providing the funds for the electrification of transit rail lines, much of Biden's proposed $174 billion in spending for electric vehicles will go toward electric car subsidies. However, a sizable chunk of the White House's proposed electric vehicle funding also would go to transit agencies to help electrify public vehicles.

Electrifying the commuter rail network could have profound effects on transit ridership and transportation emissions in New England, according to the MBTA's formal analysis of capital improvements to the commuter rail system, noted StreetBlogs Mass.