CT Construction Digest Friday May 2, 2025
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.