CT Construction Digest Wednesday June 3, 2020
Connecticut Department of Transportation will begin paving near Plymouth line
BRIAN M. JOHNSON
BRISTOL – The Connecticut Department of Transportation will begin paving a section of Route 6 starting around June 11 from the Plymouth Town Line to Sherman Street.
BRIAN M. JOHNSON
BRISTOL – The Connecticut Department of Transportation will begin paving a section of Route 6 starting around June 11 from the Plymouth Town Line to Sherman Street.
The project is scheduled to be completed by June 19. The 1.86 mile section of road will be a night construction project.
City Councilor David Preleski, who represents the second district where the work is being proposed, said that the city wants to give advanced notice on projects like these so that residents can plan and adjust their schedules accordingly. He said that while the work is being conducted, residents can expect to see one-lane alternating traffic.
“Traffic control personnel and signing patterns will be utilized,” he said. “The regular work schedule for this project is 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday.”
Peter Kelly, a city council member who also represents the second district, advised residents to maintain a safe speed when driving in the vicinity to ensure the safety of the workers and other drivers.
“We also want to remind people that there may be changes to the schedule due to weather delays or other unforeseen conditions,” said Kelley.
Those with questions or concerns about the project can direct them to the Public Works Engineering Division at 860-584-6125. While it is a state project, the City will be monitoring the project.
Major ongoing CT construction projects amid pandemic
Andrew DaRosa
As the coronavirus pandemic has shaken Connecticut to its core, construction around the state seems to be one of few things that has not stopped.
While many of these projects may have you slamming your fist against the steering wheel as you sit in an hour's worth of traffic, all of them are expected to transform the way we travel, communicate and live in the future.
Click through the slideshow above to see some of the major, ongoing construction projects around the state.
North Avenue water tank replacement project to begin in Westport
DJ Simmons
WESTPORT — The Aquarion Water Company announced it will begin site preparation for the North Avenue water tank project at 63 to 67 North Ave. on June 4.
The project was approved in 2017 but sparked controversy when neighbors submitted an appeal to the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) stating the construction could pose safety hazards. In December, the neighbors reached a settlement with Aquarion.“For nearly two years, town staff and I have participated in numerous meetings, negotiations and discussions on how the proposed water tanks could be built with limited disruption to the neighborhood and its property values,” First Selectman Jim Marpe said in a statement on Tuesday. “The settlement agreement between the North Avenue neighbors and Aquarion is one that I endorsed to PURA.”
The water tank project includes construction of two 40-foot-tall water tanks, removal of an existing tank and extensive landscape restoration throughout the property. The project is expected to be completed in two years, the town said.
“I am confident that the controls put into place will allow for planned activity, minimal disruptions to the town and ample support to the neighbors,” Marpe said. “I would also like to thank the members of our state legislative delegation: Will Haskell, Tony Hwang, Gail Lavielle and Jonathan Steinberg, who were active in these negotiations.”
As part of the conditions of the settlement an ombudsman was appointed to act as a liaison between neighbors, town officials and Aquarion. The ombudsman will provide weekly updates to neighbors and meet with school and police personnel to insure minimal impact on North Avenue.
Construction hours will be from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday with some prearranged extensions required during the construction. There are no planned roadway closures for North Avenue.
New Horizons Inc. eyes 22-unit reapartment complex in Unionville
Sean Teehan
hen Farmington’s New Horizons Village opened in the 1980s, Connecticut’s housing infrastructure for physically disabled adults was so bereft of options, many lived in hospital wards in New Haven or Hartford.
In that context, New Horizons Inc. was a god-send when it opened its 26-acre campus in the Unionville section of Farmington that included 68 housing units built to be accessible for 101 disabled tenants, about two-thirds of whom shared a dwelling.
“To just share an apartment with one other individual was visionary,” New Horizons Inc. CEO Carol Fitzgerald said. “When you fast-forward 30-plus years, … it’s very difficult to match adults who want to live independently to live with someone they do not know.”
Fitzgerald said she wants to invert the current single-to-double ratio so two-thirds of New Horizon clients have private units. That’s why the approximately $20-million-a-year nonprofit with 225 employees — including about 50 at the New Horizons Village complex on Bliss Memorial Road — plans to build a new 22-unit residential complex on its campus, she said.
However, before that happens New Horizons faces the challenge of fundraising for the estimated $5-million project during a pandemic and severe economic downturn.
Farmington’s planning and zoning board this month will vote on whether to extend the approval it gave the project when it was first proposed two years ago. New Horizons had planned to start construction earlier, but unsuccessful efforts to obtain state funding delayed its progress.
The pandemic could cause further delay, since so many state dollars are unexpectedly going toward necessary COVID-related expenses, Fitzgerald said.
“[COVID-19] has had to be dealt with, and has taken up resources that could normally be used on this kind of project,” Fitzgerald said. “The whole thing has affected all of our lives.”
New Horizons Village operates much like any apartment building, as opposed to a nursing home, Fitzgerald said. Units have features like wheelchair-accessible sinks, showers and light switches. Amenities like transportation are offered, but tenants pay their own bills, do their own shopping and live independent lives. But almost everyone who moves in has to start off in a shared unit because the wait list for a single apartment is between 15 and 20 years.
That delay is unacceptable today, said Fitzgerald, who also stressed that the pandemic has demonstrated the need for most New Horizons residents to have their own apartment, where they’re better able to control the risk of coming in contact with coronavirus.
“I think now more than ever, with what we have all experienced with COVID-19, we realize how difficult it is to have strangers live together,” Fitzgerald said. “I think it just speaks to the fact that we really need these single units.”
But while it’s unclear when New Horizons will have the funds necessary to build the project, Fitzgerald said she’s confident state and local officials will assist the nonprofit as much as possible.
“It’s a pleasure to be in Farmington,” Fitzgerald said. “They just embrace the diversity that we have to offer.”
City Councilor David Preleski, who represents the second district where the work is being proposed, said that the city wants to give advanced notice on projects like these so that residents can plan and adjust their schedules accordingly. He said that while the work is being conducted, residents can expect to see one-lane alternating traffic.
“Traffic control personnel and signing patterns will be utilized,” he said. “The regular work schedule for this project is 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday.”
Peter Kelly, a city council member who also represents the second district, advised residents to maintain a safe speed when driving in the vicinity to ensure the safety of the workers and other drivers.
“We also want to remind people that there may be changes to the schedule due to weather delays or other unforeseen conditions,” said Kelley.
Those with questions or concerns about the project can direct them to the Public Works Engineering Division at 860-584-6125. While it is a state project, the City will be monitoring the project.
Major ongoing CT construction projects amid pandemic
Andrew DaRosa
As the coronavirus pandemic has shaken Connecticut to its core, construction around the state seems to be one of few things that has not stopped.
While many of these projects may have you slamming your fist against the steering wheel as you sit in an hour's worth of traffic, all of them are expected to transform the way we travel, communicate and live in the future.
Click through the slideshow above to see some of the major, ongoing construction projects around the state.
North Avenue water tank replacement project to begin in Westport
DJ Simmons
WESTPORT — The Aquarion Water Company announced it will begin site preparation for the North Avenue water tank project at 63 to 67 North Ave. on June 4.
The project was approved in 2017 but sparked controversy when neighbors submitted an appeal to the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) stating the construction could pose safety hazards. In December, the neighbors reached a settlement with Aquarion.“For nearly two years, town staff and I have participated in numerous meetings, negotiations and discussions on how the proposed water tanks could be built with limited disruption to the neighborhood and its property values,” First Selectman Jim Marpe said in a statement on Tuesday. “The settlement agreement between the North Avenue neighbors and Aquarion is one that I endorsed to PURA.”
The water tank project includes construction of two 40-foot-tall water tanks, removal of an existing tank and extensive landscape restoration throughout the property. The project is expected to be completed in two years, the town said.
“I am confident that the controls put into place will allow for planned activity, minimal disruptions to the town and ample support to the neighbors,” Marpe said. “I would also like to thank the members of our state legislative delegation: Will Haskell, Tony Hwang, Gail Lavielle and Jonathan Steinberg, who were active in these negotiations.”
As part of the conditions of the settlement an ombudsman was appointed to act as a liaison between neighbors, town officials and Aquarion. The ombudsman will provide weekly updates to neighbors and meet with school and police personnel to insure minimal impact on North Avenue.
Construction hours will be from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday with some prearranged extensions required during the construction. There are no planned roadway closures for North Avenue.
New Horizons Inc. eyes 22-unit reapartment complex in Unionville
Sean Teehan
hen Farmington’s New Horizons Village opened in the 1980s, Connecticut’s housing infrastructure for physically disabled adults was so bereft of options, many lived in hospital wards in New Haven or Hartford.
In that context, New Horizons Inc. was a god-send when it opened its 26-acre campus in the Unionville section of Farmington that included 68 housing units built to be accessible for 101 disabled tenants, about two-thirds of whom shared a dwelling.
“To just share an apartment with one other individual was visionary,” New Horizons Inc. CEO Carol Fitzgerald said. “When you fast-forward 30-plus years, … it’s very difficult to match adults who want to live independently to live with someone they do not know.”
Fitzgerald said she wants to invert the current single-to-double ratio so two-thirds of New Horizon clients have private units. That’s why the approximately $20-million-a-year nonprofit with 225 employees — including about 50 at the New Horizons Village complex on Bliss Memorial Road — plans to build a new 22-unit residential complex on its campus, she said.
However, before that happens New Horizons faces the challenge of fundraising for the estimated $5-million project during a pandemic and severe economic downturn.
Farmington’s planning and zoning board this month will vote on whether to extend the approval it gave the project when it was first proposed two years ago. New Horizons had planned to start construction earlier, but unsuccessful efforts to obtain state funding delayed its progress.
The pandemic could cause further delay, since so many state dollars are unexpectedly going toward necessary COVID-related expenses, Fitzgerald said.
“[COVID-19] has had to be dealt with, and has taken up resources that could normally be used on this kind of project,” Fitzgerald said. “The whole thing has affected all of our lives.”
New Horizons Village operates much like any apartment building, as opposed to a nursing home, Fitzgerald said. Units have features like wheelchair-accessible sinks, showers and light switches. Amenities like transportation are offered, but tenants pay their own bills, do their own shopping and live independent lives. But almost everyone who moves in has to start off in a shared unit because the wait list for a single apartment is between 15 and 20 years.
That delay is unacceptable today, said Fitzgerald, who also stressed that the pandemic has demonstrated the need for most New Horizons residents to have their own apartment, where they’re better able to control the risk of coming in contact with coronavirus.
“I think now more than ever, with what we have all experienced with COVID-19, we realize how difficult it is to have strangers live together,” Fitzgerald said. “I think it just speaks to the fact that we really need these single units.”
But while it’s unclear when New Horizons will have the funds necessary to build the project, Fitzgerald said she’s confident state and local officials will assist the nonprofit as much as possible.
“It’s a pleasure to be in Farmington,” Fitzgerald said. “They just embrace the diversity that we have to offer.”