Electric Boat Oct 2, 2020

Key Exit Ramp Closes for a Year in Connecticut as Mixmaster Project Continues

The Mixmaster is the nickname of the Connecticut Route 8/Interstate 84 interchange in Waterbury, a series of 10 bridges that intertwine in the city and the Naugatuck Valley.

It's also one of the state's most important interchanges as 200,000 cars and trucks travel the array of roadways every day.

The complexities of the 50-year-old elevated, double-decked, high-speed interchange, with left- and right-hand entrance and exit ramps over city streets and the Naugatuck River, make it unique in Connecticut. The number of vehicles traveling through the interchange each day is triple the amount of traffic it first carried when it was constructed in the 1960s.

So, in 2018, the state decided the time had come for a major $153 million repair and rehabilitation project on the Mixmaster.

That was the good news for motorists that regularly navigate the old interchange.

The downside for drivers, at least in the short term, is that on Sept. 25, the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) closed the ramp at Exit 33 that leads cars and trucks from Route 8 northbound to I-84 westbound for the next year.

The state agency noted on its website's Mixmaster project page that the 12-month-long closure is necessary to complete rehabilitation work to a bridge that conveys traffic from Route 8 to I-84.

Chicago-based Walsh Construction Co. is performing the rehab of the Mixmaster interchange in Waterbury. The contractor and its crews are two years into fixing the interchange, one that has noticeably aged since it was first built in the '60s.

The overall Mixmaster project consists of upgrades to numerous bridges located within the Route 8 and I-84 Interchange. The CTDOT wants to preserve and provide a 25-year service life to the structures and to ensure their structural integrity. Walsh Construction's crews have been making deck repairs and replacements, as well as repairs to the steel, substructures, joints and other improvements to the bridges and overpasses.

In an effort to facilitate the repairs while providing safe and efficient passage for all motorists, the contractor built a temporary bypass consisting of three temporary bridges (two over the Naugatuck River and one over Freight Street) to carry Route 8 Northbound traffic through the interchange. To construct the bypass, southbound Riverside Street, west of Route 8, was converted from a one-way road into a bi-directional street. Northbound Riverside Street is closed to local traffic, as is I-84 westbound Exit 32 to Riverside Street northbound.

The newest work will impact drivers coming north to Waterbury from places like Naugatuck and Ansonia from Route 8 who would normally take Exit 33 to I-84 to head to places like Southbury, Woodbury and Danbury.

Kenny Stanco, the project liaison of Waterbury Mayor Neil O'Leary, told WTHN-TV that the rehab project is important in keeping the Mixmaster safe for the next 25 years.

"It's going to be a much smoother, safer ride for drivers," Stanco said. "When this project is done, you're going to see new pavement, new parapets — those are the walls on the side of the highway on the bridges. You're also going to see new railings, new signs and markings on the streets."

He added that 80 percent of the funds to rehab the Mixmaster project will come from the federal government, with the remaining 20 percent to be provided by the state.

Stanco reported that the entire overall Rt. 8/I-84 Mixmaster project should be finished in the spring of 2022.

As for the closure of the Exit 33 ramp, he hopes drivers will be patient in the name of progress and a safer Mixmaster.

CTDOT Outlines Plans for Nearly $4B in Capital Projects

Norwalk Hour  Connecticut's roads and railroad lines are used every year by its approximately 3.6 million residents and millions more out-of-state workers and travelers. To keep up with the wear and tear, the state Department of Transportation (CDOT) is constantly working on maintenance and improvement projects.

The most important of those initiatives are outlined every four years in the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). The CTDOT recently took public comments on the draft version of the latest STIP, to cover the years 2021 to 2024.

The 223 projects listed in the new STIP would cumulatively be funded with approximately $3.9 billion, roughly $3.2 billion in federal money, about $684 million from the state and some $17 million from municipalities.

About 60 percent of the funds would be used for highway and bridge projects, while the other 40 percent would go toward rail, bus and ride-share programs.

Connecticut's eight Metropolitan Planning Organizations and two Rural Councils of Governments contribute to the STIP's development.

"The list of projects is wide and encompassing," said state Sen. Carlo Leone, of Stamford, co-chairman of the state Legislature's Transportation Committee.

Among them are several marquee initiatives planned across the state in the next four years.

Interstate 95 Corridor

On I-95, those projects include:

• About $345 million would be earmarked for renovations of the Gold Star Memorial Bridge, which carries the freeway over the Thames River, between New London and Groton. The work would involve structural steel repairs and upgrades, as well as replacement of the deck for the older, northbound structure. Crews have already completed the southbound structure,
• $180 million for work in Greenwich and Stamford that would include pavement improvements and bridge renovations. On the southbound side of Exit 3 in Greenwich, there would be a minor widening of the roadway to increase the length of the existing deceleration lane to improve safety and alleviate congestion,
• At Exit 74 in East Lyme, $142 million will go toward improvements, including replacing the highway's bridge over Connecticut Route 161 to address its poor condition and accommodate a widening on Rt. 161,
• Another $70 million for upgrades in Norwalk and Westport. About 2 mi. of I-95 in those towns would be rebuilt between the Norwalk and Saugatuck rivers. The existing bridge over

Route 33 at Exit 17 would be replaced using "accelerated construction" and minor work would be carried out on the Westport bridges over Franklin Street and over the Saugatuck River to maintain a "state of good repair" for those structures.

Other Road and Rail Projects Part of STIP

The CTDOT also plans to make upgrades to the Merritt Parkway/Rt. 15 in Norwalk and New Canaan that would total about $53 million and include bridge improvements and resurfacing.

The state transportation agency intends to work on a key bridge along the Metro-North Railroad. Replacement of the four-track Walk Bridge in Norwalk arguably represents the most ambitious rail project supported by the STIP.

Scheduled to start in mid-2021 and take about four to five years to complete, the undertaking has an estimated total cost of $511 million.

Built in 1896, the 564-ft.-long swing bridge is one of the oldest movable bridges in the region.

"The Walk Bridge has outlived its intended lifespan and experienced repeated operational failures in recent years," reads an excerpt on the CTDOT website. "It is vulnerable to damage from storm surges and high winds and requires replacement."

The STIP also makes eight-figure allocations for improvements to several other rail bridges in Norwalk, including $60 million for the East Avenue bridge, $50 million for the Fort Point Street bridge and $15 million for the Osborne Avenue bridge.

Additional rail projects include New Haven line signal-system replacements, allotments that would total more than $140 million. In addition, there is an annual program to renovate stations on the New Haven line.

Some more major projects planned in the next four years would include $65 million for the removal of traffic signals on Rt. 9 in Middletown, about $38 million for improvements along Rt. 85 from Montville to Salem and approximately $40 million for Rt. 82 work in Norwich, as well as statewide bus replacements.

Next Steps

Inclusion in Connecticut's Statewide Transportation Improvement Program is necessary for a project to qualify for federal transportation funding. State and local government agencies then need to provide the necessary funding matches to allow projects to move forward.

The CTDOT submits a capital budget request to the state Office of Policy and Management for each two-year cycle, and the General Assembly acts every two years to authorize bonding for the transportation department's capital program. The State Bond Commission must also approve CTDOT requests for funding.

Middletown road work to improve access to Route 9 approaches final stages 

Casandra Day  MIDDLETOWN — Within a few days, state construction crews will be working on a busy downtown intersection as part of the final stages of road work being conducted downtown and in the North End area.

State Department of Transportation officials, who offered updates Tuesday afternoon at a Zoom meeting presented by the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce’s Arrigoni Bridge Project Committee, are asking for the public’s patience in the meantime.Soon, construction at the intersection of busy Washington Street / Route 66 and Main Street will begin in earnest, according to Southington-based Mohawk Northeast project manager Tim O’Connell.

“Traffic backups will happen, but we’ll get it done quickly, and with the least amount of impact we can,” he said during the chamber’s Central Business Bureau Zoom meeting Thursday morning.

Motorists have been facing some traffic congestion, mostly during rush hour in the Hartford Avenue and St. John’s Square area, when work is conducted there, said Mohammad Bishtawi, assistant district engineer at the state Department of Transportation.

Traffic signal poles and mast arms have been installed downtown in anticipation of new signals being installed, and crews will be pouring the sidewalk on Hartford Avenue shortly, Bishtawi said. Drainage work is in progress, and the widening of Main Street in that area will begin shortly.

“We are in the home stretch, hoping to finish St. John’s Square by the end of the month if all goes well,” Bishtawi said.

Traffic light wiring will begin going north to south on Hartford Avenue, O’Connell said.

The pouring of a concrete sidewalk at the southeast corner of Washington and Main is expected to be complete by Friday, O’Connell said. Crews will also be pouring concrete on the sidewalk in front of O’Rourke’s Diner near the railroad bridge.

Diners seated outside of O’Rourke’s have been experiencing the effects of road construction at St. John’s Square and Main Street, including noise, dust and dirt, which is hardly conducive to enjoying a meal, owner Brian O’Rourke said.

“It’s hard for people to walk and park, and people don’t like waiting in traffic. Everyone understands construction has to happen — but it’s all at the same time,” Sandra Russo-Driska, coordinator of the Downtown Business District, told The Press earlier this week.

Also, during the next two weeks, milling and paving from Rapallo Avenue north to Hartford Avenue will be complete, O’Connell said.

Work is being conducted simultaneously with the Arrigoni Bridge project, which has an expected completion date of spring 2022. The Portland side has been paved and the sidewalk is nearly done, Bishtawi said.

On the Middletown side, what remains is the decking and sidewalks.

“We’re getting ready to wrap it up before the cold weather starts,” according to Michael Bugbee, a transportation engineer with the DOT.

“The Portland side is paved and looks great. We’ll be rubbing the parapet, putting on a nice clean coat of concrete on there to make it all look uniform and nice,” O’Connell said. The bridge railing and fence are installed and nearly finished.

There will be lane closures as sidewalks are being installed on the bridge over Route 9 and heading toward the old St. John Cemetery on St. John’s Square, he said. Milling and paving are up next, which is expected to take two weeks.

Once stage two of the project begins, traffic will be pushed to the north and south as work begins in the center of the bridge.

The chamber’s Arrigoni Bridge Project Committee is intent on being sure access to the bridge is not compromised during the construction, and that emergency and other critical vehicles can access the construction zones at all times, chamber President Larry McHugh said in his column Monday in the Middletown Press.

Rich Bergan, owner of Bergan Architectural Woodworking on North Main Street, said he’s been experiencing a continuing problem with motorists not observing the stop sign at North Main Street and Stack, which carries drivers over the Portland Bridge.

“They think it’s an on ramp for the bridge and they just roll around,” he said, causing a potentially dangerous situation.

Last week, construction workers’ cars were parked on both sides of the bridge, with flaggers and lift equipment along the span. “It was really precarious to watch people trying to get through,” said Bergen, who would like to see vehicles on only one side.

Portland Public Works Director Bob Shea said a couple of “mishaps” took place recently on the bridge, including one accident that caused severe injuries to those involved. “That’s an issue with drivers slowing down when they’re going through a construction area.”

Middletown Deputy Public Works Director Chris Holden said he’d like to see signs letting pedestrians know one block ahead of impassible crosswalks before it’s too late. “You get down there and there’s nowhere to cross,” he said. Holden also asked DOT officials whether it was possible to make temporary pedestrian lanes to protect walkers.

DOT officials said they would look into possible solutions

Danbury, Brookfield, New Fairfield school construction project funds get state House approval

Julia Perkins  School construction projects in Danbury, Brookfield and New Fairfield are on their way to receiving state grants.

The state House approved early Thursday morning a bill that gives Brookfield $16.7 million for its new elementary school and New Fairfield $23.8 million for its new high school, in addition to $11.2 million to expand its elementary school.

The state Senate is expected to take up the bill Thursday.

The legislation includes language that would allow Danbury to receive funds for a proposed career academy for middle and high school students. The state would cover 80 percent of the estimated $45 million cost—a higher reimbursement rate than the city typically sees.

“I couldn't be more thrilled to see our Danbury Career Academy poised to move this much-anticipated plan forward,” State Rep. David Arconti, D-Danbury, said in a statement. "Our local school population is overcrowded. This project will help us address this concern while giving all our local students the best possible educational opportunities they can get.”

The academy would help address enrollment growth and be built in the Summit @ Danbury—the former 1.2 million-square-foot Matrix building that has been mostly vacant for years.

This would be the first time the state permits grants for school projects renovated within an existing space using the “design build” method. The bill creates a pilot program for these types of projects.

Danbury has not officially applied for the grant yet. The city must do so before Oct. 1, 2021, the bill states.

Brookfield plans to start construction on its $78.1 million school for pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in the spring. Once completed, the district will demolish the outdated Huckleberry Hill Elementary School and vacate the aging Center Elementary School.

New Fairfield will build a new $84.2 million high school on property near the existing building, plus expand Meeting House Hill School so students can leave the declining Consolidated School.

Darien, Mansfield, New Britain, Fairfield, Manchester, Hamden, Norwalk and Winchester also earn grants under the bill.

Navy awards contract for new pier at Groton submarine base

The Navy this week awarded a New Jersey-based marine construction company a $67.325 million contract to build a new pier at the Naval Submarine Base in Groton.

Weeks Marine Inc. won the contract for the project, which will include demolition of an existing, aging pier to make way for the new pier, where future Virginia-class attack submarines will be moored. The work is expected to be complete by October 2022.

“This significant investment in our waterfront reflects the high priority the Navy and the nation place on our submarine force,” the base’s commanding officer, Capt. Todd. D. Moore, said in a statement.

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, said the modernization will ensure the pier can accommodate future classes of attack submarines and will account for future sea level rise to ensure it can be used long into the future.

Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., in a joint statement issued Thursday said the project also presents job opportunities for Connecticut residents.

East Lyme residents vote to approve more costly police building plan

Julia Bergman  East Lyme — Residents narrowly voted to move forward with a more costly plan than originally projected to convert the former Honeywell building into a public safety facility.

Voters initially approved a $5 million plan for the facility in February 2019 but more than a year later, the committee overseeing the project determined an addition $2.2 million was needed.

On Thursday, residents voted to approve the use of $1.2 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency funds on the project, and to allow the town to borrow the remaining $985,000 needed. The vote was 1,254 to 1,058 in favor of using the FEMA money, and 1,184 to 1,112 in favor of the town borrowing more money. 

The town learned in August that it would receive a nearly $2 million reimbursement from FEMA for money it spent in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Superstorm Sandy in 2012. First Selectman Mark Nickerson has said it's unclear why it took so long for the town to receive the FEMA funds. The news came a month after the Board of Finance denied a request to bond the additional $2.2 million for the project.

With this final approval, “the next step is to get to under contract and start the renovations,” said Paul Dagle, president of the Public Safety Building Vision Committee.

The town already has spent $2.8 million to purchase the Honeywell building, which will bring the town's police force, dispatch center and fire marshal's office all under one roof. Plans also call for three holding cells, a sally port area and an elevator cab.  The town leases holding cell and evidence collection space from Waterford for approximately $46,000 annually because it does not have such space in the current police building on Main Street that the town leases from Millstone Power Station owner Dominion Energy for $1 a year. The aging building has significant flooding, mold and mildew issues.

Nickerson said Thursday’s vote solves the decades-old problem of the current building being inadequate.

“It was needed 20 years ago,” he said of the new space.

A New Haven park plan calls for housing; neighbors fear loss of ‘important asset’

Mary E. O'Leary  NEW HAVEN — The testimony was shared on the Zoom platform, through the lap top set up in Kensington Park and illuminated by a street light.

The neighbors drew praise for their organization and passion, as they spoke to the aldermanic committee. 

Yet, while several of the members struggled with the vote, in the end the Friends of the Kensington Park lost when the Community Development Committee voted to sell it to The Community Builders for a $1 so it could use the site to build 15 units of affordable housing. It now goes to the full Board of Alders for a vote on the sale.

Arrayed on one side were arguments on the environmental need for green space and mature trees that sequester carbon, the need for a nearby park in the Dwight area where neighbors could meet and children play, the high rates of asthma from air pollution impacting residents of color, continued segregation and a heat index that will increase when trees are removed.

On the other was $30 million in rehab funds for 96 older units owned by TCB, the main thrust of the federal grant and $100,000 in city CDBG funds, that also included the new construction in a city where 10,000 people are on a list for affordable housing.

There was discussion on what constitutes public input and is it met by deliberating with a community management team. They broached the need for upgrading city parks and not abandoning them if their history shows they attracted bad behavior, such as drug dealing.

The two-hour discussion came in the same week that another group, Open Communities Alliance, filed a request with the Woodbridge planning committee to modify its zoning rules to allow for multi-family construction of more than 2-units to open opportunities for low-income residents now concentrated in cities.

Woodbridge now has 43 lots out of 3,000 where more than one unit of housing is allowed, 30 of them for senior housing.

Serena Neal-Sanjurjo, director of the Livable City Initiative, said she understands people may use the park now on occasion, but that hasn’t been the case for decades. She said she has always worked through management teams as a way to reach out for neighborhood input. She said this project has been mentioned more several times over two years at management team meetings.

In addition to the housing, the proposal is to swap 4 parcels in Newhallville to be used as green space instead of Kensington; donation of a building to the Greater Dwight Community Development Corp. and upgrades of some green space in Dwight.

Chris Ozyck, the past president of the Elm City Conservancy, said he worried about the precedent of swapping the park for other parcels. He said the goal of the overall project “are admirable,” but he was concerned about the needs of the residents of the immediate Kensington area.

Kensington, for years was plagued by gang violence, but that has dropped in recent years and the park more recently, is being used after the district manager for the area gave drug dealers an ultimatum to stop using the park or they would be arrested, according to the testimony of Dwight neighborhood resident Pat Wallace.

“If we took the approach of because there is crime, because there is poor management, because of these things, we should get rid of parks, we will not have parks in underserved communities. We will only have them in the surrounding affluent communities,” Ozyck said.

He asked if there has been any analysis of lead contamination in the parcels in Newhallville there and whether there will be active or passive use of the parcels. Looking at the distribution of playgrounds around the city, there is a question of who gets the resources, he said.

“It can make you really upset,” Ozcyk said. In the Wooster Square neighborhood, he said, in addition to the large Wooster Square park itself, there is a smaller well-maintained playground around the size of the Kensington Park.

“If those same resources had been put into Kensington Park, 20 years ago, this conversation would not be happening,” he said. With no director of parks at the moment in New Haven, he wondered if there is a voice for park or anyone doing an analysis of the need for parks.

Rosetta Mack, a 52-year resident across the street from the park, said amenities have come and gone there and it has had its bad period. She said it is better again.

Gov. Lamont releases plan to close $2B deficit mostly with state’s rainy day fund

Paul Hughes   HARTFORD — Gov. Ned Lamont released a plan Thursday for closing a $2 billion budget gap that relies mainly on using $1.8 billion of the state’s $3 billion budget reserves.

The deficit-reduction plan relies on a hiring slowdown, policy revisions, tax changes and federal COVID-19 funding to close the remaining shortfall for the current 2021 fiscal year that ends next June 30.

The Lamont administration is recommending the legislature delay taking any actions until after required budget forecasts are issued in November, said Melissa McCaw, secretary of the Office of Policy and Management. At that time, OPM and the legislature’s Office of Fiscal Analysis will issue spending and revenue outlooks for the remainder of 2021, as well as the three following fiscal years that include the upcoming two-year budget cycle.

The state comptroller’s office already reported a slight improvement in the budget situation before the administration released its deficit reduction plan.

Comptroller Kevin Lembo lowered his deficit estimate $150 million from $2 billion last month based on income taxes tied to investments in the stock market. Collections through Sept. 1 were better than anticipated.

“I should caution it is still early in the fiscal year and approximately 85% of receipts in this category have yet to be collected,” Lembo stated in his Thursday budget report.

All three components of the income tax are expected to raise $10.8 billion to support the current $22 billion budget.

The comptroller’s Sept. 1 estimate triggered a state law that requires the governor to submit a deficit-reduction plan whenever a projected shortfall exceeds 1% of the general fund. The $2 billion gap was 10% of general fund spending.

Senate Minority Leader Leonard A. Fasano, R-North Haven, criticized Lamont for failing to propose a full-fledged plan for preventing a 2021 deficit. Specifically, he faulted the plan for relying on $1.8 billion from the budget reserve fund, saying the governor’s recommendations only covered $200 million of the shortfall.

“The governor’s administration is failing in its responsibility and using a dangerous ‘wait-and-see’ strategy to avoid a difficult conversation,” Fasano said.

The administration’s plan proposes $25.3 million in cuts to discretionary spending across all three branches of government, including $17.5 million from executive branch agencies. It also recommends the legislature approve $10.6 million in budget cuts and assumes $30 million from hiring restrictions. McCaw said the administration is not proposing to freeze all hiring.

The governor’s plan additionally anticipates using $100 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds.

There are $33.2 million in proposed tax changes that will require legislative approval.
McCaw said Lamont recommended the three proposals in the budget modifications that he presented to the legislature in February, but the 2020 session was cut short because of the pandemic.

Lamont recommends maintaining a 10% surcharge on the corporation tax and delaying the phase-out of the capital base tax that some businesses use to calculate corporate income taxes. The two moves would preserve $28.2 million in revenue.

The governor’s plan also proposes to suspend the transfer of $5.7 million in hotel and car rental taxes to fund grants to municipalities to support regional delivery of services. The administration had concluded there were sufficient funds available for the grant program.