Major overhaul of the Mystic River drawbridge planned for 2026

Kimberly Drelich

Mystic ― The Mystic River drawbridge is slated to undergo a yearlong repair project, starting in the spring of 2026, to extend the life of the more than 100-year-old bridge.

The state Department of Transportation and design consultants outlined the estimated $3.7 million construction project for the iconic bridge over the Mystic River during a virtual information session Monday evening.

The purpose of the project is to keep the bridge in a good state of repair and address its load-carrying capacity and structural, mechanical, electrical, architectural, fender system and waterway deficiencies, said John Miller, project manager with Close, Jensen and Miller PC, which is the project designer along with Hardesty and Hanover LLC.

The 220-foot-long bridge, with three fixed spans and one bascule lift span for marine traffic, was built in 1922 and rehabilitated in 2013. The bridge opens an average of 2,200 times a year and is one of the state’s top tourism attractions, said Miller.

The project includes strengthening and repairing steel parts that are aging and deteriorating; reconditioning machinery; making electrical upgrades; re-pointing stone masonry; painting and improving the security of the control house; and adding a closed-circuit television and public address system, according to the presentation.

The DOT also is proposing to install steel bikeway plates to address concerns from local bicyclists about riding over the open steel grid deck, he said. The DOT currently has warning signs on both sides of the bridge to advise bicyclists of the steel grid deck, and some bicyclists choose to ride in narrow concrete-filled strips on the bridge deck.

Miller said the DOT had conversations with the city of Milwaukee, which has installed perforated steel bikeway plates on bridges, and is proposing to install the plates for the first time in Connecticut on the Mystic bridge. The undertaking will require coordination with the DOT’s maintenance staff and others to design a product that will ensure the safe travel of bicycles and other vehicles, while minimizing maintenance costs.

The DOT plans to monitor and evaluate the plates once installed.

“If major safety concerns are discovered, the department will re-evaluate their use at that time,” Miller added.

Miller said most of the bridge project construction won’t interrupt traffic, but there will be some single-lane closures with alternating one-way traffic, including during the installation of the bike improvements. The DOT does not anticipate a full road closure, but given the age and condition of the bridge, the agency has identified a 5.3-mile detour that could be used as needed.

Most of the work also won’t affect marine traffic, he said. Short-term interruptions will be coordinated with the U.S. Coast Guard and local officials, and the intention is to schedule work that would affect marine traffic during the winter months.

The project will require a significant permitting process, he said.

The project will be funded 80% with federal funds and 20% with state funds, said DOT Project Manager Meziane Meziani.

After the presentation, people asked questions, including about the impacts on neighboring properties, where staging will take place, and impacts on parking, and also expressed that they hoped the bike improvements would be permanent.

Miller confirmed that construction will not impact landowners or businesses on either side of the bridge.

He said he believes alternating one-way traffic will be adequate for the majority of work and the staging can be within that lane closure and not disrupt adjacent parcels and businesses in the heavily traveled corridor.

He said the project should not impact parking, and there will be language in the contract that the workers are not expected to use up all the available parking.

The DOT said in a news release that people can send comments and questions by Aug. 12 to DOTProject0058-0343@ct.gov or they can call 860-594-2020.

CRDA board signs off on $145M XL Center renovation; some planned upgrades left on cutting board

Michael Puffer

The Capital Region Development Authority’s board of directors, on Tuesday, agreed to move forward with a $145 million renovation of downtown Hartford’s XL Center arena, even as legal questions swirl around a venue ownership and management company that’s bearing $20 million of the cost.

“The main event is the program to improve the building has advanced,” CRDA Executive Director Michael Freimuth said. “We will work through whatever issues are out there.

The significance of today is the agreement has advanced to put private money along with public money to advance the project.”

Under an agreement approved by the CRDA board, Los Angeles-based live venue developer and manager Oak View Group will contribute $20 million for extensive renovations and upgrades to the roughly 16,000-seat sports and entertainment venue. In return, OVG’s contract to manage the venue will be extended 20 years, and the company will keep the first $4 million in annual XL Center profits.

Any profit beyond the $4 million mark would be split with the CRDA for XL Center upkeep and renovations. OVG would be responsible for contributing $500,000 to an XL Center maintenance account annually.

The majority of the renovation funding will come from the state, which has agreed to pay up to $125 million in project costs. 

The CRDA earlier this month held off on key votes concerning the renovation plan, after state House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora and Senate Republican Leader

Stephen Harding sent a letter to Attorney General William Tong questioning the deal. Candelora and Harding’s letter notes the state has joined a Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation and its subsidiary, Ticketmaster, the latter of which has a close relationship with OVG.

Tong, last week, agreed to recuse himself from any state Bond Commission vote that would approve XL Center funding, but he said he would not further oppose OVG’s involvement in the renovations deal.

CRDA Deputy Director and General Counsel Anthony Lazzaro told board members Tuesday that he had been contacted by the Department of Justice about the ongoing antitrust lawsuit and may be asked to testify in the case. The Justice Department has subpoenaed documents related to OVG’s hire of Ticketmaster to handle events sales at the XL Center and Rentschler Field, Lazzaro said.

Separately, the Connecticut State Contracting Standards Board has launched an investigation and has requested documents, Lazzaro said.

The new agreement with OVG requires ticketing services to be bid out, and gives CRDA veto power over the selection process.

During Tuesday’s meeting, OVG representatives stressed there is no ownership relationship between Live Nation and OVG. They also agreed to accelerate a re-bidding of the ticketing services for Rentschler Field and the XL Center.

Meantime, the $145 million XL Center renovation will provide upgrades to plumbing, electrical and other systems. There will be new stage rigging, lights and cosmetic upgrades throughout the building. Elevators and escalators will be upgraded and the roof will be replaced. The headlining upgrade will come to the “lower bowl” section of the arena, where the stage will be moved, seating upgraded and premium amenities installed.

The CRDA has scrapped plans for a major upgrade to the problematic, low-capacity loading area due to budget constraints.

There are a couple of steps remaining before renovation work can begin. OVG’s leadership needs to approve the deal, Freimuth said. And the state Bond Commission needs to release funds already committed by state lawmakers.

Shifting money

To make the budget work, the CRDA board agreed to shift $45 million in previously committed state funding for Hartford housing and infrastructure projects, to XL Center renovations.

Low-cost CRDA financing has been a key factor in drawing developments that have added thousands of apartments to Hartford in recent years. 

During the meeting, Freimuth said he is confident there will be adequate funding to keep housing projects moving in the short term. He noted Gov. Ned Lamont’s focus on increasing the state’s housing stock.

After the meeting, Freimuth said the drawdown will leave about $46 million or $47 million left in previously approved state budget funds for housing and infrastructure projects.  

Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam also expressed support for the reallocation of funds, aguing the XL Center’s rehabilitation will fuel a vibrancy that makes Hartford an attractive destination for developers and renters.

“The XL Center is one of those projects that allows us to jump ahead in terms of building a sustainable housing market in our downtown,” Arulampalam said. 

New Haven announces details of 450-unit housing development on State and George streets

Mark Zaretsky

NEW HAVEN — Two parking lots are about to become mixed-use developments with 450 apartments and thousands of square-feet of commercial space at State and George streets in downtown New Haven.

"Today's a really big deal, even though there's no ribbon-cutting or groundbreaking," said Mayor Justin Elicker at a press event Tuesday, announcing the newly designated developers for the mixed-use project.

These units will help with the state's housing inventory, which Elicker said is estimated to need 90,000 new units to meet the demand for new housing.

The project will be built on what now are parking lots opposite the former site of the New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum, including one fronting George Street between State and Orange streets and one along State Street between Fair and Crown street.

The development on "Site A," which is now the New Haven Parking Authority's 2-acre State-Fair lot, will eventually become 279 apartments built by Gilbane Development and Xenolith, about 40 percent of them deemed "affordable," Elicker said.

The development on "Site B, which is the Parking Authority's 0.84-acre Orange-George lot, will become at least 170 units built by the Housing Authority of New Haven's Glendower Group and LMXD, with at least 50 of them deemed affordable, Elicker said.

The two developments will include 7,200 square feet of retail and commercial space downtown, officials said. 

It's all part of a broader project to "knit back together" areas of the city that were chopped up by urban renewal, city and state officials have said. The overall project aims to unlock redevelopment potential of seven underused parking lots, with 650,000 square feet of mixed-use development, including 450 housing units.

Signed memoranda of understanding are in place for the next months, during which the city and the developers will negotiate development agreements that will spell out, among other things, the terms of the transfer of the properties. The development agreements then must be approved by the city's Development Commission and the Board of Alders.

The city hopes to have "shovels in the ground" by late 2025 or early 2026, Elicker said.

He said they decided to use the parking lots for the site of the new developments after the city studied the area and the traffic counts showed New Haven didn't need as many parking lots as previously thought. 

"So we'll be utilizing parking lots for development," Elicker said.

Elicker was joined for the 1 p.m. announcement by various officials, including state Deputy Commissioner of Economic and Community Development Matt Pugliese, state Rep. Roland Lemar, D-New Haven, Livable City Initiative Executive Director Arlevia Samuel and Alder Carmen Rodriguez, D-6.

The developers were represented by Gilbane Senior Vice President and head of affordable/mixed income Roj Robinson, Xenolith Principal Andrea Kretchmer, Glendower Group and Elm City Communities President Karen Dubois-Walton and LMXD Senior Director Jake Pine.

The proposals resulted from a request for qualifications the city issued in December 2023 for two vacant, city-owned lots, Elicker said. During the process, the city identified the two development partners and executed an MOU with each partner. The MOUs provide a window of time for partners to refine their concepts, meet with the community, and build a financing plan, officials said.

"We need thousands of units," said LCI's Samuel, adding the city has about 1,900 units in the pipeline.

Robinson said, to date, Gilbane has built more than 25,000 units nationwide, "more than half affordable or mixed-income."

He said the State and George project "will help reconnect Wooster Square to downtown."

"We're thrilled to begin the pre-development process for The Iron," said Kretchmer, using the name her company's part of the project will go by.

Dubois-Walton said Elm City Communities is excited to be a part of the project to add more units in the city.

"We believe that the solution to the housing crisis is, we need to be building more housing," Dubois-Walton said.

People in the affordable units will never pay more than 30 percent of their income, she said.

The Housing Authority currently has more than 40,000 families on its waiting list, Dubois-Walton said.

"We are excited to begin," she said.

Pine said he was "truly honored" for LMXD to be partner with the city again.

"We're really excited to be able to provide quality mixed-use housing," Pine said.

DECD's Pugliese said the department was very happy to make a $5 million award last year to help pay for infrastructure related to the project and be there Tuesday to see the housing project move forward.

Lemar, who lives fairly close to the development area, said the city has made strides in recent years to provide more housing.

"This is a long time in coming," Lemar said. "I am excited to have my community grow, with the hundreds of people who will be moving in."

Rodriguez, whose district includes parts of The Hill and City Point sections, as well as part of downtown, said she also was excited for everyone on the project.

"Our vision is to connect everyone, no matter what part of town you come from," she said.

The plans grew out of the Lower State Street Redesign Project, a plan to redevelop the streetscape and roadway in the area to unlock development potential along a nine-block stretch of State Street, which connects downtown with the East Rock, Hill, and Wooster Square neighborhoods.

It aims to use several underused parking lots to create transit-oriented mixed-use development near the State Street train station and build and expand affordable housing opportunities for New Haven residents.

Beacon Falls plans to reconstruct West Road, Church Street

ANDREAS YILMA

BEACON FALLS – Full depth reconstruction is expected to begin for two roads later this year after town officials’ approval.

The Board of Selectmen at its July 8 meeting approved forwarding the new design plan for West Road back to the state Small Town Economic Assistance Program for review so it can move forward with the rehabilitation of the road and put the project out to bid.

“West Road is coming apart,” First Selectman Gerard Smith said.

Town officials plan to use $500,000 in STEAP grant funds and $150,000 left over in bonding for the project that will include drainage work, close to full depth reconstruction, milling and paving, Smith said.

“The biggest problem we have on West Road is drainage,” Smith said.

The town initially planned with the $500,000 STEAP grant for a $2.2 million West Road rehabilitation project. Town officials were initially approved for a Local Transportation Capital Improvement Program and planned to make a LOTCIP application. However, state officials overseeing STEAP wouldn’t allow the transfer of funds to another road.

“STEAP said that they would not transfer the STEAP grant from West Road, so we scaled back because we needed to get West Road fixed,” Smith said.

The $2.2 million cost was due to plans to bring water and gas to the area. The denial to move funds from STEAP resulted in officials scaling back on the West Road project.

The project, which includes the repair of all the drainage, will take place from Rimmon Hill Road to the Oxford town line. The work is expected to start in the fall and finish by the end of the year, Smith said.

Smith said the balance of the money that the town has left over will go to finish rehabilitation work on other avenues in town.

Town officials also approved awarding Church Street work to Colonna Concrete and Asphalt Paving, which is expected to begin within the next 30 days.

The Church Street work will include replacement of the water main, some drainage work, full rehabilitation and sidewalk work on the existing side. The road is expected to be closed during the day and open during the evening for thru traffic, Smith said.