Highway officials crack down on speeding in East Lyme

Elizabeth Regan

East Lyme ― Engineers with the Interstate 95 construction project are promising a strong law enforcement presence over the next two months to enforce the work zone’s 50 mph speed limit as shifting lanes become increasingly tricky to navigate.

Resident Engineer Robert Obey of the Glastonbury-based engineering firm GM2 said the realigned Exit 74 on-ramp that opened this past week is a temporary harbinger of a much larger change: The shifting by mid-December of northbound traffic all the way to the right so the rest of the span can be demolished and rebuilt over the coming year to improve sight lines.

He said he has strategically deployed two state troopers to work eight hours a day, at least five days a week, on the northbound side of Interstate 95 over the next two weeks. He expects increased coverage to continue through the end of the year.

“There’s nobody doing 50 mph,” he said. “The average speeds through here are 75.”

Two days after the on-ramp opened, Obey on Thursday afternoon said 20 speeding tickets had been issued that day. He credited GPS apps with live traffic updates and police locators for helping to make drivers aware there are speed traps in the area.

He recounted the text message he received from one of the troopers with the message “speeds are way down today.”

Crews are about a year and a half into the 4.5-year, $148 million project with the goal to reduce congestion and improve safety on the highway and Route 161.

The reconfigured and temporarily lengthened Exit 74 on-ramp has led to complaints from some drivers around town and on social media who say the left exit to Interstate 395 at Exit 76 now comes too quickly for those who need to cross congested highway traffic to get there.

Previously, the on-ramp quickly merged with highway traffic. Now, it spits drivers out just 1,200 feet shy of Exit 75.

“The vast majority of the complaints is that the 74 on-ramp location is, certainly, way downstream from where it was, and anybody that’s looking to take the left-hand exit is fighting the gross speeders that we have,” he said.

The other option would have been to keep the on-ramp closed through the end of the year, according to Obey.

“This project made a business decision to provide access to Exit 74 northbound,” he said. “And, quite frankly, anyone who goes to Electric Boat or Pfizer says ‘thank you,’ because now they don’t have to sludge through town and take the detour.”

He emphasized drivers need to obey the speed limit and be courteous to merging traffic in order for the temporary traffic pattern to work. His project team is working with the state Department of Transportation to come up with signage warning drivers that entering traffic may need to get over to the left lane.

While highway traffic has the right-of-way, he said officials are temporarily asking drivers to share that right-of-way responsibility with ramp traffic.

Obey detailed assigning one trooper to stake out the highway from the area of the Route 161 overpass and another under the Route 1 overpass going toward Waterford before the Interstate 395 merge.

“The intent of that is to catch speeders so people can get over to the left hand exit,” he said.

Changing the landscape

He said safe speeds and attention to the work zone will become even more important by the end of the year, when all northbound traffic is funneled into two, 11-foot lanes with 1-foot shoulders where the on-ramp currently exists.

“I would encourage people to drive through the work zone at the speed limit because in two months it isn’t going to look anything like it was,” he said. “We are going to radically change the landscape of I-95 northbound, and when you start driving here for the first time at excessive speeds, I can’t guarantee you’re going to get through the work zone safely.”

He anticipated the return of speed cameras early next year, when the DOT’s Know the Zone program pilot program becomes permanent. The initiative provides SUVs equipped with cameras to photograph and send tickets to vehicles going more than 15 mph over the limit.

The impending traffic pattern change is predicated on the completion of the first phase of the bridge replacement project that will ultimately create a wider span over Route 161. Come December, vehicles will be directed over the first new section of bridge into the narrow lanes while construction crews address the rest of the highway.

State Department of Transportation (DOT) project engineer Andrew Millovitsch said crews are working seven days a week in preparation to pour the bridge deck two weeks from now so the project can stay on schedule.

The massive project covers the interstate from the Exit 74 interchange to Exit 75. The engineers emphasized it does not extend to the left exit at Exit 76 that has been criticized as unsafe.

Both engineers said the area was once set to be addressed through the completion of Route 11, which currently dead-ends in Salem. Construction on the existing 8.5-mile highway from Colchester to Salem stopped in 1979, and plans to see it through to the intersection of I-395 and I-95 were officially scrapped in 2016.

Officials at the time blamed environmental factors and the estimated $1 billion cost of extending Route 11 and rebuilding the 395 interchange.

Millovitsch said officials are focused now on the Exit 74 interchange because of the number of crashes there and the need to replace the aging bridge over Route 161.

Numbers from the University of Connecticut Crash Data Repository show there were 89 crashes, 42 with injuries, between exits 74 and 75 on the northbound side from 2018 to 2022.

There were 50 crashes from exits 75 to 76 north, including 15 with injuries, during the same time period.

A spokesman for the DOT could not by press time provide information about any plans to address the left-hand exit to 395.

“It is really up to the elected officials and the management of the DOT, the people who are actively involved in soliciting for projects,” said Obey.

Interstate 95 to get auxiliary lanes between Exits 6 and 7 in Stamford by the end of 2025

 Tyler Fedor

STAMFORD — Drivers on Interstate 95 in Stamford can expect another year of construction on what was determined one of the busiest corridors in the country last year. The hope, though, is the construction will work to remove that title.

An auxiliary lane will be built on both sides of I-95 in Stamford and connect Exit 6 and Exit 7, instead of the on ramp shooting cars directly onto the interstate. The goal is to give people more time to merge into or get off of the highway. 

Lane closures are expected as a result of the work, Connecticut Department of Transportation Communications Director Josh Morgan said. 

Construction of the auxiliary lanes are expected to be finished by the end of 2025.

Gov. Ned Lamont said he understood the aggravation of being stuck in traffic while trying to get home during an Oct. 25 press conference held on the ramp of Exit 6 to mark the beginning of construction of the auxiliary lanes.

“I've been driving this road for 50 years,” Lamont said. “I've been cursing the traffic. I've been howling at the moon, and finally, at long last, we’re doing something about it.”

Also in attendance at the press conference were Stamford Mayor Caroline Simmons, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District, state Rep. Rachel Khanna, D-Greenwich, state Rep. Matt Blumenthal, D,-Stamford, state DOT Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto and president of Connecticut Construction Industries Association Donald Shubert.

Eucalitto called the project “a quick win” and said it would “make [Interstate 95] more predictable, more reliable and less congested.” He attributed that congestion to the short distance between exits on the interstate.

The $76 million project is 90 percent funded by the federal government, which Lamont, alongside state, city and national leaders praised as funds that came through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
 
“None of this would have happened without the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and our congressional delegation who supported that,” Eucalitto said. “And none of it would have happened without our state delegation and the governor providing us the matching funds we need to do projects like this.”

The auxiliary lanes are part of a larger project that aims to improve the stretch of interstate between Exits 6 and 7.

Construction of noise walls between the interstate and nearby neighborhoods are also in progress and new lighting, signage and other safety improvements will be made as part of the project, too, officials said.

Stamford mayor can ignore finance board's 'no' vote on Roxbury School project, legal opinion states

Ignacio Laguarda

STAMFORD — The project to rebuild Roxbury Elementary School faced a roadblock last month when a local board denied two requests to advance the plan, but a recent legal opinion appears to have removed that obstacle.

Thomas Cassone, director of legal affairs for the city, wrote in an Oct. 16 memo that city leaders do not need the approval of either the Board of Finance or the Board of Representatives to enter into an agreement with either an owner's representative or an architect to complete a schematic design for the project.

In September, the Board of Finance voted 2-4 on requests totaling $895,000 for contracts for both an owner's representative and an architect for the work, which involves replacing the current 70-year-old elementary school with a new facility for students from kindergarten to eighth grade. 

The reason many of them chose not to support the measures was due to the ballooning budget for the looming Westhill project, they said. In July, members of the board expressed their frustration over the rising price tag for Westhill, which shot up from $301 million to $461 million, mostly from increased construction costs.

Board members rejected the items even as Matthew Quinones, the city's director of operations, and Katherine LoBalbo, the school district's director of school construction, warned them that delaying the project could put it at risk, as the state could potentially pull funding if there is little progress. The state agreed to pay for 60 percent of eligible expenses for the new Roxbury school in the summer of 2023. The initial plan was to open the new facility in 2027.

Once complete, Cloonan Middle School would be shuttered and students from that school would attend the new Roxbury K-8.

The "no" votes were criticized by residents who spoke at an Oct. 10 meeting of the Board of Finance and argued that the school was badly in need of being replaced. The current Roxbury building presents a number of problems, including an exterior in poor condition that allows water to enter the structure and outdated mechanical, plumbing and fire protection systems, among other issues, according to a letter to the board from Quinones.

Board of Education President Jackie Heftman and Vice President Michael Hyman co-authored an op-ed that appeared in The Stamford Advocate slamming the Board of Finance's votes, characterizing them as "disingenuous" and "shortsighted."

That led to Cassone's legal opinion, which was sent to Mayor Caroline Simmons on Oct. 16.

In it, he references the city's purchasing ordinance, which states that whenever state or federal grant funds are involved, there are certain conditions that do not require the approval of local boards.

One of those conditions is that "a majority of the funding is provided by the federal or state government."

In the case of Roxbury, the state has already agreed to pay for 60 percent of eligible costs of the $86 million budget, or about $51.6 million. However, since the project was submitted to the state in 2022, rising escalation costs have bumped the budget up to between $120 million and $130 million. 

Board of Finance member J.R. McMullen, who was one of the four members to vote against the Roxbury items, argued that the ordinance Cassone referenced should no longer apply, as the state's monetary commitment to the project no longer would cover more than half of the project. 

Quinones rejected that argument, however, saying that the only official budget agreed upon with the state is the $86 million total, so the condition that grant funds would pay for more than half would still apply.

"There is one budget for Roxbury and that is the authorized $86 million ... that has been approved locally by our board and the state," he said.

In a letter from Simmons to the chairs of the Planning Board, Board of Finance and Board of Representatives on Oct. 16, she echoed Cassone's legal opinion.

"While I respect the Board of Finance’s involvement and their 2-4 vote during this process, I have been clear that investing in our school facilities and embarking on this unprecedented school construction building program is one of my administration’s priorities," she wrote. "Given the deteriorating condition of Roxbury, I have an obligation to students, teachers, and parents to ensure the construction of a safe, modern, and high-quality learning environment."

Simmons wrote that she would direct Quinones to "move forward" with schematic design for the Roxbury project.

The owner's representative and architect contracts would also be partially paid for by the state under the 60 percent reimbursement rate. Of the total, the city would be on the hook for roughly $359,000.

Both McMullen and fellow member Laura Burwick, who also voted to reject the Roxbury contracts, reiterated their stance that they did not want to sign off on contracts for Roxbury without learning more about Westhill's skyrocketing costs.

"The reason I voted against Roxbury had to do with my concerns about Westhill and the process," Burwick said.

McMullen echoed those sentiments.

"If I put in a load of laundry and the clothes get ruined, I'm not putting another set of clothes in there until I understand why," he said. "And that’s what we’re being asked to do."

Mystery buyer of Danbury proposed warehouse site at Summit would preserve 29 acres as open space

Rob Ryser

DANBURY — A buyer is lined up to acquire 29 acres next to the sprawling Summit office and apartment complex — a purchase that would preserve the property as open space and end controversy over a New York mover’s plan to build a warehouse there.

“That is good news,” said Katherine Berg, a resident who’s among a group of vocal homeowners in the west side village surrounding the Summit known as the Reserve, where hundreds of protestors drove the warehouse proposal out of town in 2023. “That is wonderful news.”

It was not clear this week who the mystery buyer was or what motive the mystery buyer had for acquiring land that has been approved for a warehouse only to preserve it as open space.

“I’m not able to discuss who the buyer is,” said Michael Basile, project manager for the Summit.

The sale with the mystery buyer would go through if owners of the Summit receive permission from Danbury to separate the 29 acres from the larger 99-acre Summit campus into a second lot, a process known as a subdivision that requires a public hearing before the city’s Planning Commission.

Under the subdivision arrangement, the owners of the Summit would keep the 70-acre parcel and the 1.2 million-square-foot office park and apartment complex, where a conversion is underway to create 360 apartments.

What’s clear is the 29-acre parcel would no longer be designated for an industrial use, and the prospect of a 210,000-square-foot warehouse in walking distance from hundreds of condominiums and apartments at the Reserve will no longer haunt residents.

The Summit has asked the city’s professional planning staff for permission to change the 29-acre property’s use to “private open space.” The city’s planning staff had not acted on the request by Thursday.

Tom Beecher, a land use attorney representing the owners of the Summit, didn’t submit development plans to the city along with the request to divide the property, because there aren’t any development plans once the property is divided, he said.

“It’s so simple,” Beecher told Hearst Connecticut Media about the plan.

The mystery buyer’s interest in the contested property comes as the fledgling Reserve community of 1,980 condos and apartments experiences growing pains. Toll Brothers, the builder that is completing the final phases of the village at the former Union Carbide headquarters, has faced criticism in recent months over the construction of a new rehabilitation hospital on a 13-acre ridge.

At the same time, Toll Brothers is preparing a 60-acre site overlooking Ridgefield for 113 single-family homes. And the company has submitted blueprints to the city for an approved cluster of 64 townhouses on a hill across the street from the rehab hospital site.

At the Summit, which sits in the middle of the Reserve, crews have converted office space into 180 apartments. The Summit plans to construct 180 more apartments out of office space starting early next year, Basile said.

Berg and homeowners like her have taken a more active role in bringing concerns to City Hall about quality-of-life concerns caused by construction activity — a movement that began when hundreds of residents rallied against a plan by Clancy Moving Systems to build its headquarters on the 29 acres next to the Summit.

“We are getting stronger because now we finally have a coalition between all five (home owner associations) on site,” Berg said of the five residential communities at the Reserve. “We have a huge residency. I think we pay more taxes collectively than the mall.”

Shelton to buy state land necessary to Constitution Blvd. extension

Brian Gioiele

SHELTON — Another obstacle to the Constitution Boulevard work has been eliminated. 

Mayor Mark Lauretti, in a letter to state officials dated Aug. 28, agreed to purchase 23,800 square feet of state-owned land on Bridgeport Ave. that is essential to connecting the Constitution Boulevard extension to Bridgeport Avenue. The city will be purchasing the land for $876,000, which includes a $1,000 administrative fee.

Lauretti was unavailable for comment on Thursday. 

The project was supposed to begin in earnest this past spring, but city officials have been waiting on the lengthy process of completing the land transfer. Phase Two roadway work has begun which enables access to the Mas property, a landlocked 70-acre parcel that the city has agreed to sell portions of to various companies. 

City officials also confirmed the major construction work within the state right-of-way as well as utility work have been substantially delayed. 

No closing date has been set, as this sale is still in the process of obtaining the proper state statutory approvals, according to Josh Morgan, communications director for the state Department of Transportation. He added DOT has owned this property since 1971 as a part of the Route 8 project.

The Constitution Boulevard West extension — long just a concept on paper — will allow development of the Mas property.

The city received $5 million from the state to complete Phase One of the project, which is already underway. That calls for the connection from Bridgeport Avenue, including the lowering of Cots Street by 8 to 10 feet to meet this roadway, to the Mas property. 

Phase One was to be completed at this point, city officials had stated earlier this year. 

The State Bond Commission, earlier this year, approved $1.6 million to support what will be Phase Two of the road's extension. Phase Two is the roadway work through the Mas property.   

Mixed-use downtown Naugatuck projects unveiled

ANDREAS YILMA

NAUGATUCK — Developers unveiled plans for the proposed mixed-use residential and commercial downtown projects at the 21st annual Naugatuck Economic Development Corp. meeting Oct. 17 at the Crystal Room.

Pennrose senior developer and Parcel B project manager Karmen Cheung said after borough officials put out a request for proposals in 2022, it was the borough’s vision that convinced Pennrose this was the place to be.

The Parcel B plan calls for three, four-story buildings divided into three phases with 60 units in each structure, consisting of 29 one-bedroom and 31 two-bedroom units. Phase one would be closest to Maple Street, phase two closest to the event center and phase three in the middle as DOT would need the space for staging, Cheung said.

The phase one building proposal will include a fitness center, a residential lounge and a management suite where there’ll be an on-site full-time property management and site supervisor. The building will be made of certain materials such as brick and fiber cement siding. There will be a 1,700-square-foot retail space on the Maple Street side and a 1,200-square-foot retail space closer to the train station.

The building will be built up a few feet higher than the ground level as the area is in the 500-year flood plain. Higher shrubs will also be planted to protect residents’ privacy.

The Board of Mayor and Burgesses previously selected in 2022 Pennrose, a real estate development company from Philadelphia, and the Cloud Co. of Hartford to develop 7.75 acres at the corner of Maple Street and Old Firehouse Road, known as Parcel [JUMP]B as well as Bridgeport-based Corvus Capital Partners redevelop the Naugatuck Event Center at 6 Rubber Ave. known as Parcel A.

Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess said this year has been his most exciting year as mayor because borough officials and developers are now done with the planning.

“We’re done with the vision. We have a plan,” Hess said. “We are now in the implementation stage.”

As infrastructure construction is being done on Church Street, Earthworks, out of Oxford, is bringing in the pipes that are being replaced on Church Street as well as pipes to Water Street for Pennrose and Corvus for Parcel B, the event center and the new proposed Department of Transportation train station that will be in the middle of Parcel B closer to the Naugatuck River.

Parcel B is currently a laydown area for six separate construction companies where basic pipes and infrastructure work is expected to finish this year and the roads and amenities and everything else will be put in place by next year.

“As mayor, the fun part of my job is actually working every day on the projects with the contractors and making progress and moving toward our ultimate goal,” Hess said.

Within the last few years, the state DOT has installed reliable train service with a two-way line on the Waterbury branch line and the borough has received $9.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act, or COVID-19 relief funding, for downtown infrastructure as well as other funding such as a $6 million state grant to help with downtown amenities.

DOT has finished the design on the new proposed borough train station where the state is expected to go out to bid in the winter with an anticipated construction start in early 2025 as the borough and developers prepare the site.

The Zoning Commission continued a hearing to Nov. 20 for the special permit application for phase two of a proposed residential and commercial development for the property at 90 Old Firehouse Road. It did approve the architectural renderings for phases one and two of the buildings and a revised landscaping plan for phase one.

The commission previously approved a special permit for Phase 1 of the transit-oriented project at the end of 2022. Construction for phase one is expected to begin next year.

Not even a block away, the Corvus Capital will repurpose the event center into another residential building.

Corvus Capital Partner Gary Flocco said their main reason for coming to the borough was Hess.

Corvus bid on two RFPS, one for the event center on Parcel A and the other for Breen Field just across the Naugatuck River for a proposed 40,000 square foot retail space. The proposed plan for the event center includes 270 units with an extension on the roof for an additional 30 units as well as a 3,000 square foot restaurant.

“We are a community development company. We go into communities that we feel that are just about to take off, that have all the infrastructure in place and have the vision, working with the people with the vision to move forward and share our vision,” Flocco said.

The four-story high, 319,188 square foot building was built in 1950 and sits on about 3.9 acres, according to the property card.

Corvus Capital Partner Geof Ravenstine said the building was built to withstand an 8.5 Richter scale earthquake where an engineer has told him the floors will support 500 pound per square inch floor load. This prompted to put all the amenities on the roof which includes a clubhouse, business center, community room and swimming pool. The structure will also be a green building that will have balconies which will improve the stature.

Flocco said the building will have a 460 kilowatt fuel cell that will power the building and provide electricity at discounted rate. The bottom of the building will contain pickleball.

The proposed construction on Breen Field will be a new 315-unit residential building with a 5,000 square foot restaurant. The area will have a boat launch, fishing dock as well as the developers working with the borough on the greenway, Flocco said.

Flocco said they’re excited to begin next May, depending when the train station development begins.

“I think with what we found in this community is really a wonderful place to do business,” Ravenstine said. “We’ve gotten amazing support from the community.”

“What’s happening to Naugatuck is becoming a destination and that’s what we see, with Church Street being developed. The main street being developed, Pennrose property, our properties, the aggressiveness of the borough itself,” Flocco said. “This will be a place where people want to come to. A place where they want to come to socialize, to have dinners, to take advantage of all that the community has to offer.”

Demolition near for former Hotchkiss Mill

SLOAN BREWSTER

TORRINGTON —  Any day now, several buildings from the former Hotchkiss Mill on Water Street will be coming down.

City officials and developer William R. Deickler, president of Pay Dirt, said the permitting process for the demolition, which is being funded by a $1.5 million Municipal Brownfield Remediation Grant from the Connecticut Department of Community and Economic Development, has started and contractors are working on getting water and utilities properly disconnected.

“There’s some hurdles that need to be overcome,” Director of Economic Development William Wallach said.

Because the project is a combination demolition and abatement, water must be off in the buildings while available for the cleaning process, he said.

“Once the water is set up, the buildings will come down,” he said.

The plan for the property is to build a mixed-use development called Hotchkiss Square with market-rate housing and commercial operations, according to a flyer on the city’s website.

Deickler anticipates the buildings will come down soon and be cleaned up by year’s end. The plan and design for the redevelopment haven’t been finalized due to changes brought on by a two-and-a-half-year delay.

In that period, the factory building on the corner of Church Street and Water Street suffered more weather damage and the brick is no longer sound, Deickler said. Saving and rebuilding it to today’s standards, which was the original plan, would now be cost prohibitive.

“This has been a project that has been years in the works and originally they were going to rehab more of the buildings,” said Mark McEachern, executive director of the Torrington Historical Society. “But since the inception of the project the condition of the buildings has deteriorated.”

Now the plan is to mimic #<t-4>the curved factory building as [JUMP]#<t-4>closely as possible in new construction and reuse parts of the facade, including the lintels and headers, Deickler said. The developers have worked with the State Historic Preservation Office on that aspect.

“We’re going to recreate as closely as it was,” he said. “It’s a beautiful building and we would’ve loved to reuse it.”

They are saving three buildings on the property, totaling about 10,000 square feet. The Hotchkiss Brothers’ offices and the buildings closest to the Susan B. Anthony Project on 179 Water St. will be given new life, he said. Developers are also trying to save the silo. For the time being, it will remain up and a structural engineer will come out and look at it to see if it can be saved.

If the silo can be rehabilitated, Deickler’s vision is to have it open for walk-through visits with a display of historical information about the old mill. He said he spoke with McEachern about potentially doing something like that about seven years ago.

Construction will be completed in two phases, with the first phase building six to nine units, Deickler said. He and his partners are still finalizing the number of units to build. Initially, the intent was for 155, but needing to raze the factory building means they have details to work out.

“The overall project is not set in stone,” he said.

Deickler, who lives in Bethel, said his business partner, Pay Dirt Executive Vice President Paul Janerico, found the property. He and his wife Susanmary Janerico, another partner in the business, reside in Ridgefield.

We love the old historical sites and when we found those we were like, wow this is really beautiful,” Deickler said. “We could see it had a lot of potential.”

According to McEachern, the site, which sits on the west branch of the Naugatuck River, was first developed in 1750 as a water powered saw mill by Amos Wilson. Charles Hotchkiss and Son moved there in 1857.

Hotchkiss founded his company and saw mill in 1841 in the Drakeville section of Torrington. The water powered mill produced lumber for homes and businesses in and around Torrington’s town center then known as Wolcottville.

In 1850, Hotchkiss brought his eldest son into the business and changed the name to Charles Hotchkiss and Son, McEachern said. When another son came on board the following year, the name was changed to Charles Hotchkiss and Sons.

After Hotchkiss’ death in 1897, the company became known as Hotchkiss Brothers, a name that lasted until its 1990 closure.

In addition to millwork, the Hotchkiss Company was the leading construction company in the town and the region. The company built numerous homes and commercial buildings, including the Hotchkiss-Fyler House on Main Street, now a house museum operated by the Torrington Historical Society.

“They built the museum here and one of the principals in the company lived here,” McEachern said. “They were the general contractor for this house, which gives you some idea of the quality of buildings they could construct.”

Gertrude Flyer Hotchkiss bequeathed the 1900 Queen Anne Victorian to the Torrington Historical Society in 1956. Commissioned by her parents, Orsamus and Mary Fyler, the home was designed by New Haven architect William Allen. Gertrude and her husband, Edward Hotchkiss, Charles Hotchkiss’ grandson lived there.