CT Construction Digest Tuesday June 16, 2020
Traffic, pedestrian improvements eyed for Route 37
Carbone voted in favor of authorizing the appropriation of up to $159.5 million for construction of a new high school building after the City Council had an even vote in favor and against.
City taxpayers will vote on the project in a referendum set for Nov. 3. The referendum initially was set for Sept. 22, but the City Council unanimously agreed the question should be on the presidential ballot.
“This is a vote for the people,” said Councilwoman Anne Ruwet, who has supported the project. “If history has shared with us that we get more out at an election, and in particular, this kind of referendum, we need to move it to the November date_”
The Board of Education opted for the Sept. 22 date due to advice from the state that school building project referendums are better off being voted on in a standalone vote. However, Carbone said the city has struggled in the past with voter turnouts at referendums that had a sole voting item, including a 12% turnout in 2003 for a Torringford Elementary School renovation. Referendums on November election ballots fared better, including a 54% turnout in the 2012 election when five questions on a charter revision were on the ballot.
The school board has taken on the role of building committee after the City Council in May voted for the project to move ahead to its next phases. The building committee is forming schematic drawings and specifications for school building grants before submitting a grant application to the state Department of Education by June 30.
If taxpayers approve the project in November, the project is estimated to cost a total of $156.6 million. The city would pay an estimated $71.6 million while the state would pay $85 million through a 62.5% reimbursement. The current high school building at 50 Major Besse Drive would be demolished in 2024 after the construction of a new building that would merge seventh- and eighth-graders to the high school. Those students would be separated from high schoolers by different entrances, wings and cafeterias, but they would have the opportunity to take some high school courses depending on their academic success.
The seventh- and eighth-grade wing of the building would be referred to as the city’s junior high school, school board Chairwoman Fiona Cappabianca said, and the city’s fourth- and fifth graders would join sixth-graders to form an intermediate school at the current middle school building.
The remaining of the buildings would be for kindergartners to third-graders, Cappabianca said, while some buildings may be closed depending on district enrollment.
The Board of Education building on Migeon Drive would become vacant as central office administration would move to the new building.
“If we’re reducing our elementary school inventory and the central office building, there’s a lot of information that I think the public deserves to hear before they vote on this,” Carbone said. “However, I can’t discount the fact that two years of work has taken place on this matter.”
Councilman Paul Cavagnero continued to vote against the project, saying district administration really needs to consider the possibilities of remote learning since the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a new approach to education.
This includes reducing congestion at peak hours and improving pedestrian safety, she said.
The state Department of Transportation is sponsoring this study of Route 37 between the Exit 6 ramp in Danbury to 0.2 miles north of Route 39 in New Fairfield. Danbury, New Fairfield and the Western Connecticut Council of Governments are administering the study.
Exactly what project would be suggested is still being worked out, as consultants seek public input and develop a plan and final report by March 2021, said Miller, a senior project manager with Fitzgerald and Halliday, Inc., the consultant group.
Heavy traffic plagued the southern segment due to the state’s more than two-year project to widen the Exit 6 ramp and add turning lanes. That project wrapped up in spring 2017 and was followed by intersection improvements at Stacey and Barnum roads. The latter was stalled for 18 months when the contractor went bankrupt, leading to frustration from residents.
“There’s been so much construction in this corridor that people are a little bit fatigued by it,” Miller said. “We need to be very careful moving forward that anything we recommend is something that’s truly needed and not going to be another disruptive project, that the benefit will outweigh the short-term costs.”
Potential trail
One part of the project could be the creation of a multi-use trail along the Margerie Lake Reservoir, a project that has been discussed for well over a decade.
The idea was popular with residents who participated in the virtual forum and wrote Residents were muted on the cal could write in with their feedback.
“Multiuse trail would absolutely get utilized,” Herbert Archer wrote. “We have a lot of amateur/recreational athletes in New Fairfield, who now travel to the Brewster rail line to train for triathlons, ironman competitions, marathons, etc.”
Part of the study includes looking into parking and whether the trail should be closer to the reservoir or Route 37. Miller described the Route 37 corridor as “auto-dominated,” with narrow lanes and small or non-existent shoulders.
But building the trail would face obstacles, with wetlands, slopes and flood zones throughout much of the corridor, she said. Environmental permits would be required, she said.
Peter Rostenberg, a doctor who developed the idea for the trail, urged everyone to stay open minded.
“The trail would improve the public health,” he wrote.
Reducing congestion
To the surprise of residents, traffic levels along the corridor have stayed about consistent over the last 20 years.
The latest state data from 2015 showed a slight decrease from 2001, said Parker Sorenson, who is conducting the traffic analysis for the study.
“Traffic is relatively stagnant,” he said.
As many as 26,300 cars per day travel the southern part of the corridor — near the ShopRite plaza — with as low as 10,300 cars in the northern segment near New Fairfield Center, he said.
The corridor received a C in the A-through-F grading system used to judge congestion, which means the road is considered “favorable” with limited delays and queues at intersections, Sorenson said. But wait times at Jeanette Street, Golden Hill Road and Saw Mill Road are concerns.
Residents said they felt the traffic had gotten worse.
“A lot of the frustration and a lot of the turbulence from traffic increases perhaps is more of dictated by differences in increases in development and increases in the number of driveways, instead of the total volume,” Sorenson said.
The steady traffic levels affects how officials plan to approach the project.
“That doesn't mean there can't be small, spot improvements, but what it probably means is that we’re not widening this corridor to add two more lanes,” Miller said.
LANCE REYNOLDS
TORRINGTON — Mayor Elinor C. Carbone on Monday advanced the $159.5 million Torrington High School project to its next steps and set a referendum on the proposal for the presidential election in November.Carbone voted in favor of authorizing the appropriation of up to $159.5 million for construction of a new high school building after the City Council had an even vote in favor and against.
City taxpayers will vote on the project in a referendum set for Nov. 3. The referendum initially was set for Sept. 22, but the City Council unanimously agreed the question should be on the presidential ballot.
“This is a vote for the people,” said Councilwoman Anne Ruwet, who has supported the project. “If history has shared with us that we get more out at an election, and in particular, this kind of referendum, we need to move it to the November date_”
The Board of Education opted for the Sept. 22 date due to advice from the state that school building project referendums are better off being voted on in a standalone vote. However, Carbone said the city has struggled in the past with voter turnouts at referendums that had a sole voting item, including a 12% turnout in 2003 for a Torringford Elementary School renovation. Referendums on November election ballots fared better, including a 54% turnout in the 2012 election when five questions on a charter revision were on the ballot.
The school board has taken on the role of building committee after the City Council in May voted for the project to move ahead to its next phases. The building committee is forming schematic drawings and specifications for school building grants before submitting a grant application to the state Department of Education by June 30.
The seventh- and eighth-grade wing of the building would be referred to as the city’s junior high school, school board Chairwoman Fiona Cappabianca said, and the city’s fourth- and fifth graders would join sixth-graders to form an intermediate school at the current middle school building.
The remaining of the buildings would be for kindergartners to third-graders, Cappabianca said, while some buildings may be closed depending on district enrollment.
The Board of Education building on Migeon Drive would become vacant as central office administration would move to the new building.
“If we’re reducing our elementary school inventory and the central office building, there’s a lot of information that I think the public deserves to hear before they vote on this,” Carbone said. “However, I can’t discount the fact that two years of work has taken place on this matter.”
Councilman Paul Cavagnero continued to vote against the project, saying district administration really needs to consider the possibilities of remote learning since the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a new approach to education.