Torrington details plans to reconstruct Prospect Street

Emily M. Olson  TORRINGTON — Prospect Street, which runs parallel with Main Street, is getting a face-lift, and the public this week had a chance to hear about the plan during a Zoom forum.

Improvements include new sidewalks and bicycle lanes in wider areas of the roadway on the northern end near North Elm Street. The bumpy pavement and sidewalks that have been patched and repaired repeatedly over the past 10 years will be replaced, along with new granite curbing.

City Engineer Paul Kundzins led the forum Thursday night to share the project with residents and get their input, while detailing the changes planned for the busy secondary road. He was joined by City Planner Martin Connor, Economic Development Director Rista Malanca and engineers from Milhone and McBroom, who developed the design.

“We’re getting the project ready for bid, and based on the feedback we get from you, we can tweak the design before going out for those bids,” Kundzins said. “We want to get bids as soon as possible, either later this year or early next year, with the anticipation of getting the money awarded as soon as possible.”

The money, Kundzins said, will include $1 million from the state under the Department of Transportation’s Local Transportation Capital Improvement Program, and about $1 million from the city.

“We’ve gone through many upgrades to Prospect Street — new gas lines in 2016, drainage upgrades in 2017 and the water mains upgraded in 2017,” Kundzins said. “So we’re good to go — that’s why we waited so long to rebuild the road.”

The city will remove all asphalt paving, curbing, sidewalks and driveway aprons, and replace with new asphalt and concrete sidewalks, driveway areas and curbing. Dedicated bicycle lanes will begin from the Pearl Street intersection, where there is a traffic light, and continue to the end of Prospect Street at North Elm Street.

The bicycle lanes are an “exciting” addition to the roadway, Kundzins said. “We’re excited to be able to do this, and it should make a nice connection for bicycles to the downtown,” he said.

Engineer Marc Mancini showed slides of Prospect Street to the 20-plus people who attended the Zoom meeting. His pictures reflected the deteriorating pavement and sidewalks along the street.

Prospect Street’s southern end is home to the Northwest Connecticut YMCA, Vogel-Wetmore School, several churches and St. John Paul the Great Academy, formerly known as St. Peter St. Francis School. Metered parking is provided to the Pearl Street intersection.

Past Pearl Street, no street parking is permitted. “The road is wider, so we can add dedicated bike lanes that will continue to North Elm,” Mancini said. “The sidewalk is being eliminated on one side for the bike lane, and we’re leaving sidewalk on the other side for continuity.”

“There should be more ‘no parking’ signs than there are already,” Kundzins said. “So in that case, the bike lane will work well.”

Gwen Burgess, speaking on behalf of St. John Paul the Great Academy, asked whether the two parking meters in front of the school could be removed. “We don’t use them at the school. ... And people tend to make those two metered spaces into three, by the way they park,” Burgess said.

The project is expected to begin next spring, and several people asked what end would be done first — the northern or southern end.

“Doing construction when school is in session will be problem,” said resident Greg Brisco, referring to Vogel-Wetmore and St. John Paul the Great Academy.

Resident Keith Zwart, who lives on Prospect Street, asked whether more traffic lights were being considered, noting that speeding was a problem. Kundzins said adding traffic lights usually required more volume than Prospect Street’s traffic.

“There won’t be as wide of a travel lane once striping and a bike lane are put in,” Mancini said. “It could be a low-cost solution to slowing people down.”

“I look forward to having a new road,” Zwart said.

Full speed ahead on museum plans for downtown New London

Admiral Karl Schultz  The Coast Guard, Congress, and State of Connecticut are more committed than ever to bring the National Coast Guard Museum to New London. The city has played an enduring role in Coast Guard history, and there is no better place to honor the service’s past and celebrate its future.

Over the last two years, the Coast Guard, Congress, state, City of New London and the National Coast Guard Museum Association have made significant progress towards a shared vision of a National Coast Guard Museum. Nearly $60 million has been provided for the project, including $15 million appropriated by the Congress for design and fabrication of the museum exhibits, and up to $20 million provided by the State of Connecticut. The Coast Guard is designing exhibits to showcase the service’s rich heritage. The National Coast Guard Museum Association has made great strides with pre-construction planning, including the completion of building design and construction plans.

The museum will be developed in concert with state, regional and city stakeholders. Placed in the heart of downtown New London, where the ferry and Amtrak terminals facilitate access to the entire eastern seaboard, the museum will bring an estimated 300,000 annual visitors and approximately $10 million to local businesses each year. The Coast Guard Training Barque Eagle – America’s Tall Ship - will call the New London City Pier home, where together the museum and Eagle will spotlight New London’s rich maritime heritage and enhance the downtown waterfront. Complete with roof top event spaces and terraces, the museum will enable community gatherings with stunning views of the Thames River and its access to Long Island Sound.

New London is the deserving and rightful home for the National Coast Guard Museum. The historic waterfront has been interwoven with the Coast Guard for nearly 230 years, dating back to 1791 when the United States Revenue Cutter Argus first set sail from the downtown waterfront. In addition to cutter crews operating from the waterfront, beginning in 1910 countless generations of Coast Guard leaders developed their maritime acumen in this community. Today, New London, an official “Coast Guard City” is home to the service’s Academy, its sole Research and Development Center, the service’s Leadership and Development Center, a multi-mission Small Boat Station, Coast Guard Cutter Albacore, and Barque Eagle.

As a free museum, the National Coast Guard Museum will be an easily-accessible resource for the public, including school and youth groups. Exhibits and interactive displays including science and technology, humanitarian relief, and environmental protection are a few examples of themes that will inspire our youth. The museum will host a variety of programs, including special lectures and engagements for audiences of all ages.

We believe that a publicly accessible museum in downtown New London will foster continued partnership between the Coast Guard and the community for years to come.

I am proud to report the substantial progress to develop the National Coast Guard Museum in New London and reaffirm my continued commitment to ensuring it becomes a reality. I look forward to the day when the museum will open its doors in the Coast Guard City of New London, where it will serve to educate our nation about the Coast Guard’s past, present, and future.

Admiral Karl Schultz is the 26th Commandant of the Coast Guard and is a native of Hartford.

Gasoline is too cheap: Getting There

Jim Cameron  Gasoline is too cheap.

This is not another tree-hugger, train-guy rant. Hear me out.

Former Vice President Biden has made the argument for weaning us off fossil fuels, mostly for environmental reasons. Anybody who remotely believes in science or has witnessed the cataclysmic changes in our weather knows we must do something to stop global warming.

But I still drive a car (albeit a hybrid) and am not ready to give it up for a bicycle or skateboard like some crazed Gen-Z’er. We need cars to get around in Connecticut despite our meager attempts at mass transit, especially in the time of COVID.

My argument is that price of the fuel we use (gasoline) doesn’t cover the real cost to our environment (or each other) when we drive. Gasoline is too cheap.

Why does a gallon of gasoline, which moves us 20 to 50 miles depending on your car’s efficiency, cost less than a cup of coffee at Starbucks? Enjoying your java doesn’t destroy the ozone layer.

Why does a gallon of gas in the U.S. cost roughly half of what it does in Canada? Or a third of the price in Europe?

The answer is taxes. Other nations put huge taxes on fuel and reinvest the proceeds into mass transit, subsidizing the fares.

OK, so you don’t want to take the train or a bus — that’s fine. Drive your car and enjoy the crowded highways ... and our polluted air. Those are the costs of cheap fuel too.

Did you know that Connecticut’s air quality is, by many criteria, dirtier than Los Angeles’? Sure, a lot of that airborne crud is floating our way from New York City, but we’re not helping ourselves by adding to it. Nor are we aiding our residents who have conditions like asthma.

Caring parents obsess about protecting the health of their kids by buying organic food, but drive to the supermarket to acquire it in SUVs. There seems no incentive for buying a car, truck or SUV that uses less fuel with gas prices so low.

When I visit Europe again (soon, I hope) I won’t see SUVs, but smaller, cleaner, much more fuel efficient cars. With the higher price of gasoline reflecting the actual cost of driving, European motorists don’t waste fuel the way we do.

The oil companies get it. That’s why BP (British Petroleum) is investing in solar and wind, expecting to produce 40 percent less fossil fuels in the next decade.

Wall Street also understands it, witness the more than quadrupling in the share price of electric carmaker Tesla in the last year.

So why don’t we get it? Why is gasoline so cheap?

Depending on whom you talk to, we have about 47 years worth of oil left before we run out. That assumes current consumption levels. If we use less, it will last longer. That’s why the price of gasoline should go up so we are incentivized to drive less in smaller cars and make our oil last longer while we transition to renewables, right?

Of course, what do we care? We won’t be around when the oil runs out. That, along with the rising sea level and coastal flooding, will be the next generation’s problem. I’m sure they’ll figure it out. Good luck, kids.