Lamont celebrates highway project amid industry frustration

Kaitlyn Pohly

Gov. Ned Lamont led a celebration Tuesday of a major highway project that comes as the construction industry is expressing frustration with the pace of shovel-ready plans being produced by the state Department of Transportation.

Lamont and Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto of DOT hosted a groundbreaking marking the second phase of a three-phase plan for traffic mitigation and safety measures on the I-91, I-691 and Route 15 interchange in Meriden. 

“Here in Meriden, we call ourselves ‘the crossroads of Connecticut,’ centrally located,” Mayor Kevin Scarpati said at a Tuesday morning press conference just off the on-ramp onto Route 15. “But what good is it to be the crossroads of Connecticut if those roads are congested on a daily basis?”

The first two phases cost $135 million in state funding and $200 million in federal funds from President Biden’s bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The program in its entirety will cost over $500 million, 80% of which will be covered federally, Eucalitto said. 

The interchange is one of the “worst bottlenecks” in the state, Eucallito said. 

The interchange, which mostly features one-lane, short ramps on and off the highway, was completed in the 1960s in an era of lower traffic volumes. 

Now, the “mess of spaghetti,” as Eucalitto described it, is just not cutting it for Connecticut drivers: fender-benders and traffic delays are all too common.

The project, which features multi-lane ramps, added auxiliary lanes and sound barrier walls, aims to alleviate backed-up roads and bridges, which cost the state more than $6 billion annually and $2,300 per driver in operating costs. 

Project labor agreements, which include terms and conditions for the work’s quality and safety, are another important facet of the project, said Andrew Inorio, the business manager of the local Laborers Union.

“This is not about a job here today but careers for the next generation of construction workers here in Connecticut,” Inorio said. “These men and women will build the roads and bridges that we will all someday drive on… without their dedication to their crafts, jobs like these don’t get built to the highest standard of quality.” 

The project was originally proposed over a decade ago, according to Eucallito and Scarpati. However, it was “shelved due to a lack of funding.”  

Biden’s bill was passed in November 2021. Lamont and the DOT’s project began in October 2023, almost two full years later. During that time, state Special Transportation Fund dollars came pouring in from fuel, sales and mileage taxes. But not all of the money was spent, causing frustration among construction advocates. 

“I have companies coming to me saying ‘I need work to keep my people busy’,” President of the Connecticut Construction Industries Association Don Shubert told The Connecticut Mirror. “They got Connecticut workers, working in New York, working in Massachusetts, working in Rhode Island. They should be here, working in Connecticut.” 

Shubert is an invited guest at every DOT groundbreaking, but he also is a constant voice demanding the state fully take advantage of the available federal funding. Three years after passage of the federal infrastructure law, federal transportation funding has grown over 40%, but state bonding for matching funds that are needed to use the funding have not grown commensurately.

Connecticut ranked 50th among the states in spending funds from the Biden infrastructure program in its first two years, Shubert said.

He also said the industry was unhappy with the state’s use of $500 million, slightly more than half the reserve in the Special Transportation Fund, to pay down bonding debt.

Eucalitto said the state is aggressively seeking and using federal funds — and the result is evident in highway projects around the state.

“We’ve never left any federal funds on the table. We’ve spent every federal dollar we get. And I think if you drive around, people are getting frustrated about how much construction we have going on,” Eucalitto said.

Those projects include reconstruction of the Gold Star bridge carrying I-95 over the Thames River. The rebuilding of the I-84/Route 8 mixmaster in Waterbury will finish this year.

“So folks from Waterbury will be happy about that,” Eucalitto said. “But … every corner of the state has projects, major projects underway.”

$500 million of work begins at one of CT's worst interchanges: 'Everyone hates driving through here'

John Moritz

MERIDEN — One of the worst traffic bottlenecks in Connecticut is on its way out. 

That was the promise Tuesday from a delegation of federal, state and local officials as they broke ground on a long-awaited highway project to partially untangle the web of interstates, state highways and off-ramps that have given Meriden the nickname “Crossroads of Connecticut.” 

Located roughly near the geographic center of the state, the merger of three highways  — Interstates 91 and 691, as well as state Route 15 —  forms a sprawling interchange that carries an average of 260,000 vehicles every day. 

During rush hour, traffic slows to a crawl along the outdated, single-lane ramps that move cars from one highway to the next. Officials say that the complex, weaving lane structure contributes to a higher rate of crashes. Traffic jams along one particularly notorious segment — Exit 17 on I-91 South — routinely backs up more than a mile onto the interstate. 

“What good is being at the crossroads, if those roads are congested on a daily basis?” asked Meriden Mayor Kevin Scarpati. 

Tuesday’s groundbreaking was largely ceremonial, as work on the $500 million reconstruction project actually began late last year. Officials including Gov. Ned Lamont, Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt and Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto each tossed shovels full of dirt in the air to applause, while unionized workers employed on the project looked on.  

Actual work on the project is broken down into three phases, of which the first two are underway. The third and final phase is in design, with a scheduled completion date in 2029. 

“It’s a big project, it goes on a long time,” Lamont acknowledged, before offering an up-beat message centered on the news that UConn men's basketball coach Dan Hurley had turned down a job offer to lead the NBA Lakers team in Los Angeles. 

The end result of the project, the governor joked, would “make this state where everyone wants to stick around, just like Dan Hurley.” 

When viewed from above, the interchange forms the shape of an X where I-91 and Route 15 come together and run parallel to each other before splitting apart. Atop the “X,” I-691 reaches its terminus across both highways, forming a second web of ramps heading in all directions.

In order to ease congestion, workers will widen I-91 by a single lane in the northbound direction as it enters a steep uphill climb. The project will also widen several existing ramps to two lanes and remove Exit 17 on I-91 north altogether, rerouting its traffic onto a new two-lane ramp at Exit 16, which will connect to both Route 15 and East Main Street.

Longer acceleration and deceleration lanes will also give drivers more time to merge into traffic and reduce weaving that is responsible for many crashes, officials said. 

“Everyone hates driving through here, including those of us at ConnDOT,” Eucalitto said. “I drive through here every single day on my way to and from work, and I can attest how frustrating it is, and how dangerous it is at times.”

While the initial, $85 million phase of the project was entirely state funded, Eucalitto said that the federal government is providing up to 80 percent of the funding for the last two phases through the passage of Congress' Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

That law, which passed in 2021, was supported by all seven members of Connecticut's congressional delegation. Democratic U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, who represents Meriden, credited President Joe Biden for signing the bill during Tuesday's groundbreaking, saying he "stopped making infrastructure week a tagline or a presser, and made it a law."

While the project promises to reduce congestion over the long term, the years of roadwork that lay ahead will result in periodic lane closures and detours according to DOT. That has raised concerns from some business owners in the area of East Main Street over the impact to local traffic. 

Speaking to reporters and the public on Tuesday, Eucalitto advised drivers to remain patient and slow down while in construction zones. Residents can also sign up for construction alerts through the project's website.

I-95 in CT is among America's most congested roads. Here's why there's no 'easy solution.'

In March 2004, a tanker truck carrying 12,000 gallons of fuel collided with another vehicle and caught fire on Interstate 95, melting the steel support beams of a newly constructed bridge over Howard Avenue in Bridgeport and halting traffic in both directions for days.

History repeated itself in May – this time under an I-95 overpass in Norwalk – when a fuel tanker collided with a truck and a passenger car and caught fire. The resulting inferno destroyed the overhead bridge, closing the highway in both directions for days.

Highway-closing accidents are nothing new on the I-95 corridor between Greenwich and New Haven, a 48-mile stretch of interstate built in the late 1950s and designed to handle less than half of today’s daily volume of about 150,000 vehicles.

The 2023 INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard ranked the southbound portion of the Stamford urban area – defined as the section between Westport and Greenwich – as the worst in the U.S. for time lost due to congestion in both directions in the Stamford area was ranked 13th worst.

While the tanker truck accident in May will likely be blamed on the drivers and not highway design, I-95 in Connecticut remains one of the most dangerous roadways in the Northeast in terms of accident frequency and rush hour congestion. The corridor is also one of the most studied sections of roadway, and one of the most elusive in terms of solutions.

“The traffic volumes are clearly more than it was designed to handle,” said James Cameron, founder of the Commuter Action Group and a transportation columnist whose work appears regularly in the CT Mirror.

“One problem: too much local traffic,” Cameron said, which, he added, is aggravated by the dozens of exits along the highway leading into, and out of, towns and cities.

“The average distance traveled on I-95 in Connecticut is just 11 miles,” Cameron said. “It's an interstate highway, not a local shortcut. If we had tolls, that ‘shortcut’ would come at a modest cost and would persuade people to take Route 1, meaning less traffic on I-95 for those paying tolls.”

Tolls were removed in Connecticut after a 1983 crash in which a truck with brake failure slammed into vehicles in line to pay tolls in Stratford, killing seven people. Opposition from a variety of groups, including truckers and politicians from both parties who viewed tolls as an unfair burden and unwanted tax, has consistently blocked efforts to revive tolls.

Highway fixes underway

Samaia Hernandez, a spokesperson for the state Department of Transportation, agreed I-95 is overly congested.

“I-95 is the most congested stretch of highway in Connecticut and DOT is committed to a comprehensive, multimodal strategy to reduce congestion,” Hernandez said. “That strategy involves restoring and enhancing existing infrastructure, including the newly constructed two-lane interchange in Stratford, the new exit 27a in Bridgeport, and the multi-million-dollar repavement project currently underway along I-95.”

Hernandez added: “it also involves record-level investments to the busiest commuter rail line in the nation [Metro-North] and expanding bus service to make first-and last-mile connections. Additionally, CTDOT has awarded millions in grants to municipalities along I-95 for major improvement projects to ease connections around the area. We’re also going to be constructing an auxiliary lane in Stamford between exits 6 and 7 that will alleviate congestion.”

State Sen. Christine Cohen, D-Guilford and chairwoman of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, said traffic safety is a major concern and highlighted by a recent uptick in major accidents along I-95.

Cohen said several recently passed bills are a start towards promoting and enhancing safety on roadways across the state.

“With wrong-way driving countermeasures being enacted, as well as increased speed and distracted driving enforcement and awareness, we are implementing strong, proven approaches to prevent traffic fatalities,” Cohen said.

Many studies

The Connecticut Crash Data Repository shows a steady drumbeat of accidents over the years along I-95 between Greenwich and New Haven, the highest numbers in the state.

Between Jan 1, 2021 and April 30, 2024, the CCDR reported 13,877 crashes involving injury as of June 4 in 11 towns along the I-95 corridor to New Haven, with 32 resulting in fatal injuries. Norwalk had the most accidents at 1,747 during the period, followed by Stamford, 1,603; Greenwich,1,454; and Fairfield, 1,512.

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Over the years, the I-95 corridor has been studied numerous times and the conclusions are generally similar: the roadway is overused and that contributes to accidents and time lost waiting in traffic jams.

A 2019 traffic study commissioned by the state DOT noted the corridor “has some of the most severe traffic congestion in the nation,” adding “20 minutes of delay are being experienced on average for a trip between New Haven and Greenwich, with 18 minutes of that delay occurring between Bridgeport and Stamford.”

A 2016 DOT commissioned study intended to justify tolls concluded the corridor was “heavily saturated throughout the day and has many operational issues due to closely spaced interchanges.” The report added widening the highway is insufficient and warned the state cannot “build your way out of congestion.”

Former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy revived the idea of reinstating tolls to cover the cost of his proposed $100 billion plan to fix I-95, other highway hotspots across the state and bolster rail travel. But the idea quickly crashed and burned against opposition in the Legislature led by Republicans and joined by a select number of majority Democrats. The state’s current governor, Ned Lamont, has said he wants nothing to do with tolls.

Some of Malloy’s unrealized plans included major I-95 widening projects, improved exit approaches to ease congestion and higher priced tolls on new commuter lanes to divert flow during peak hours, a concept called “congestion pricing.”

More studies on the way

Hernandez, the DOT spokeswoman, said three “major planning and environmental linkage,” or “PEL,” studies are now underway to find solutions to improve highway safety and mobility along the Greenwich to New Haven corridor.

“The Greenwich and Fairfield/Bridgeport studies are in their early stages and data is still being collected to support the analyses of traffic conditions, safety, and environmental resources,” Hernandez said. “When completed, these PEL studies will provide comprehensive transportation recommendations and offer both long-term and early action projects that will improve safety and mobility.”

The new approach, she explained, represents “a collaborative and integrated approach to transportation decision-making that considers benefits and impacts of proposed transportation system improvements to the environment, community, and economy during the transportation planning process.”

Cameron, who has seen his share of I-95 studies, wasn’t impressed with the latest DOT initiative.

“Why do we keep ‘studying’ problems instead of fixing them?” Cameron wrote in a recent column. “Why do we still pay consultants millions of dollars, over and over, to look at the same issues while we avoid spending that money to change the conditions that create them?”

The answer, Cameron noted, is simple.

“We keep hoping there’s an easy solution … that some savvy consultant will find the missing link, shout ‘Ahah, we’ve found the answer, and we can fix it,”’ he said during an interview. “But we should know that’s not going to happen. If the solutions were easy, we’d have found them long ago.”

Cameron said the only realistic solution is moving more commuters onto Metro-North trains and stepped-up law enforcement on the highway.

“We need more troopers enforcing speed limits and traffic rules, preventing accidents like the one in Norwalk,” Cameron said. “The weigh/inspection station in Greenwich should be open 24-7 to keep unsafe trucks off the highway. But most of all, get people out of their cars and onto the train which parallels 95”

These 7 major road construction projects across CT could affect travel this summer

John Moritz

The return of balmy summer temperatures also marks the start of road construction season throughout Connecticut. 

As of Monday, the Connecticut Department of Transportation was engaged in 180 construction projects in all corners of the state, according to an online database that is updated regularly by the agency. Hundreds of other projects are in the design phase prior to construction. Much of that work is being fueled by Congress' Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provided more than $350 billion for federal highway projects through 2026. 

"That money that's coming to us is turning directly into projects here in Connecticut," said Josh Morgan, a DOT spokesman, adding an admonition for drivers. "Be patient, understand that work is happening and we want the folks who are out there to get home safe at the end of the day." 

While roadwork will be visible in every part of the state this summer, the seven projects listed below should be of particular interest to readers due to their size and ability to cause congestion and detours to travel plans. For the latest information on road closures, drivers can check out DOT's website and sign up for travel alerts. 

One project that curious residents will not notice on this list is the replacement of the Interstate 95 overpass in Norwalk that was destroyed by a tanker truck fire in May. While crews may be seen "poking around," the area, according to Morgan major construction work is not expected to start this summer. 

Interstate 691-91 Interchange 

Work on the complex and congested series of interchanges connecting I-91, I-691 and Connecticut  Route 15 — also known as the Wilbur Cross Parkway — began in December, and is currently scheduled to last until 2029. 

In addition to building additional lanes of traffic to accommodate the roughly 260,000 vehicles that traverse the area daily, the project aims to reconfigure some of the interchanges to improve safety and solve some of the notorious bottlenecks on I-91, including the southbound Exit 17, where traffic can back up by as much as a mile.

Both the first and second phases of the project are currently in construction, including bridge work, highway widening and the construction of new entrance and exit ramps. A third project segment is currently in the design phase. 

Location: Meriden, Wallingford

Cost: $500 million

East Lyme Interchange

Residents in eastern Connecticut and visitors to the region’s casinos are likely familiar with the work currently taking place to construct a new I-95 interchange with Connecticut Route 161 in East Lyme. The project, which began last spring, involves the construction of a new bridge carrying the interstate over local traffic, new exit and entrance ramps, wider shoulders and additional travel lanes between Exits 74 and 75. 

In May, DOT workers closed the southbound I-95 entrance ramp near Exit 75 in order to build a retaining wall. The ramp is expected to remain closed until June 30. In addition, a notification on the project’s website states that nightly lane closures will occasionally be in effect on Sundays through Thursday. Work on the project is scheduled to be completed in 2027.

Location: East Lyme

Cost: $234 million

Mixmaster Completion

After nearly six years of work and nearly a quarter-billion dollars spent, workers will be putting the finishing touches on DOT’s Waterbury Mixmaster rehabilitation project over the next several weeks, according to Morgan, the DOT spokesman. The aim of the project was to repair various components of the bridges and ramps connecting I-84 and Route 8 in Waterbury, in order to extend the life of the “mixmaster” interchange another 25 years. 

With the project due to reach its final conclusion in October, Morgan said that the DOT will shift its focus to its “New Mix” program, which will come up with a long-term plan for the interchange that first opened in 1968. “We need to know what we’re going to do in 20 years, to determine how we’re going to deconstruct that [interchange] and what the area’s going to look like,” he said.

Also this summer, crews will continue a separate project replacing highway signs and renumbering exits along Route 8 from Bridgeport to Winsted. 

Location: Waterbury

Cost: $212 million

Merritt Parkway Improvements

Workers have spent the last year resurfacing the Merritt Parkway in both directions in Norwalk and Westport, in addition to roadside landscaping and restoration of the historic bridges that pass over the parkway. That work is moving south this summer, as crews continue the project between Exit 37 in New Canaan and Exit 40B in Norwalk. 

The latest phase of the project will include restoration work on four bridges: South Avenue, White Oak Shade Road, Marvin Ridge Road and Comstock Hill Avenue. 

Most of the regular work — and associated lane closures —  will take place overnight from Monday to Friday to avoid causing delays, according to the DOT. The project is scheduled to be completed by Oct. 31. 

Location: Norwalk, New Canaan

Cost: $77 million

I-95 Median Reconstruction

Part of the state’s ongoing improvement project along a 2-mile stretch of I-95 in Norwalk and Westport involved swapping out an older bridge over Saugatuck Avenue for a brand new one over the course of a single weekend last fall. 

Nothing that complex or disruptive is planned for this summer, as crews will continue constructing a new median between the northbound and southbound sections of highway, as well as milling, paving and other improvements to on-and-off ramps at exits 16 and 17. Some lane closures can be expected at night, according to the project’s website. The project is slated for completion on Nov. 1.

Location: Norwalk, Westport

Cost: $140 million

Route 9 Improvements 

The reconfiguration of on-ramps connecting Route 17 with Route 9 near downtown Middletown will continue this summer, along with occasional lane shifts and closures. With an estimated completion date in 2026, the project will eliminate the stop-controlled entrance to Route 9 while constructing a longer acceleration lane onto the highway. 

A related project, the removal of traffic signals along Route 9, is currently in the design phase and is expected to cost an additional $77.6 million to complete. 

Location: Middletown

Cost: $79 million

I-95 Improvements, East of Groton

For those heading out of Connecticut on their way to Boston or the Rhode Island beaches, be prepared to see some DOT road work all the way to the state line. 

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Crews began the process of resurfacing both the northbound and southbound lanes of I-95 between Groton and Hopkinton, R.I. last spring, and their work is expected to continue through the summer of 2026. Additional improvements from the project will include an upgraded guard rail system and new lighting. 

Location: Groton, Stonington, North Stonington.

Cost: $47 million

State gives Cheshire land to allow for more development near new retail center

Austin Mirmina

CHESHIRE — The town is getting another plot of state-owned land to be used for potential development across from the sprawling mixed-use complex currently under construction.

The state is giving Cheshire about 2.5 acres of a roughly seven-acre parcel at 1669 Highland Avenue, also called route 10, near the future home of Stone Bridge Crossing, according to a bill Gov. Ned Lamont recently signed. 

Andrew Martelli, Cheshire's economic development director, said the 2.5 acres will combine with the adjoining 58-acre parcel off Interstate 691 that the state conveyed to the town in 2021. Officials hope to market the property for development, but if the town is unable to sell it, ownership of the 58-acre and 2.5-acre parcels would revert back to the state in 2026 and 2027, respectively, the bills state.

The 2.5 acres, which the state has not yet conveyed, will not be built upon, Martelli said. Rather, it will open up the the developable area of the bigger tract, which he said contains wetlands and has a "tricky topography."

Combining the two pieces of land also will make the property more attractive to developers, Town Manager Sean Kimball has said.

With both parcels soon to be in Cheshire's possession, the Town Council's Planning Committee will begin drafting a request for proposals in the coming weeks, officials said.

Ultimately, Martelli said, how the property ends up being used will depend upon the proposals the town receives.

"Somebody might submit a commercial development, somebody might submit a mixed-use, somebody might submit a manufacturing (or) a warehouse distribution," he said. "There’s a lot of different things you could do at that site."

Martelli said he expects there will be "a lot of interest" in the property because of its highway access, proximity to Stone Bridge Crossing and the town's central location in Connecticut.

Proceeds from any sale of the property would go to the state. But the town's grand list would reap an annual benefit from anything developed on the site, helping offset some of the costs of town projects, such as the construction of two new elementary schools.

Residents who live near Stone Bridge Crossing said they were unhappy with the transformation of that section of Highland Avenue from a thoroughfare into a bustling commercial destination. They said they mostly worried about the traffic that would result.

"Everywhere you look in this town, it's build, build, build," Gary Nyberg said. "They're ruining the town, and I'm not the only one that feels that way. I'm furious. We're going to move eventually."

Town Council member Greg Wolff said he did not think the new mixed-use complex and any future developments on Highland Avenue would infringe upon Cheshire's character and small-town feel.

"That's always been scrub land," Wolff said of the formerly vacant property where Stone Bridge Crossing will sit. "It's not like that was cornfields and greenhouses that were plowed under to do this. There’s nothing that was lost from that area that I feel was indicative of what Cheshire is."

With major projects in the queue, Enfield could finally find its economic development ‘stride’

Hanna Snyder Gambini

With several large-scale development proposals in the works, the town of Enfield could be in store for an economic resurgence that leads to grand-list growth and spurs additional activity.

Four major projects would bring a combination of housing, recreation and mass transit to the town of about 42,000 residents, while repurposing properties whose uses are becoming obsolete.

The proposed $250 million Enfield Square Mall redevelopment is the largest planned project with the greatest potential economic impact, said Donald Poland, senior vice president of urban planning at East Hartford commercial real estate advisory firm Goman+York.

Poland helped draft Enfield’s plan of conservation and development and is currently working to update town zoning regulations.

Nebraska-based Woodsonia Real Estate Group Inc. recently announced plans to buy the 570,000-square-foot mall, which is 85% vacant, and turn it into a mixed-use development with retail, housing and recreation.

The purchase agreement, the details of which were not disclosed, is contingent on approvals from the current mall owner, New York-based Namdar Realty Group.

The proposed “Enfield Marketplace” project would create 450 residential units, two hotels, and retail and restaurant space.

Also moving through the land-use process is a plan to turn the former MassMutual office campus into a large-scale recreational facility with fields, hotels and restaurants. Efforts are also underway to build a new Hartford Line train station in town, and convert a religious campus into senior housing.

“Malls, large corporate parks, religious facilities, they’re all obsolete, and they have to find a way to repurpose,” Poland said.

Enfield has suffered some economic setbacks in recent years, including from corporate relocations. MassMutual left its sprawling Enfield campus to consolidate its local operations in Springfield, Mass.

Toymaker Lego Group by the end of 2026 is relocating its North American headquarters and 740 employees to Boston from Enfield, where it had been located for a half-century.

Efforts to redevelop large and obsolete real estate parcels have been slow-moving, while the town is also facing budgetary pressures that recently led to education-related cuts, including the elimination of nearly 130 school system positions.

Despite that, Enfield’s grand list, or the value of its taxable property, has gradually increased over the past decade to $3.7 billion in 2022, up 30.4% from 2013.

And with several major projects on tap, the town could be “finding its stride,” Poland said.

A mix of new uses

Fast Track Realty LLC has submitted plans for a multibuilding sports complex, called All Sports Village, at 85 and 100 Bright Meadow Blvd. It would have indoor and outdoor fields and courts, a hotel, family entertainment center and restaurants and bars on nearly 70 acres.

If approved, the development will be located at the vacant MassMutual office complex site, which has 430,000 square feet of mostly office space that will be partially torn down; some fields will be built over existing parking lots.

Andy Borgia, of Fast Track Realty, said it’s a complex project and his team is continuing to work through land-use approvals. It has won inland wetlands approval and is now moving to the planning and zoning process.

Once completed, the development will create hundreds of jobs and generate economic growth for the area through taxes and potential new developments around the sports complex, Borgia said.

Aaron Marcavitch, Enfield’s director of economic and community development, said a main draw for the project will be the hotel and restaurants, which will have “a ton of impact on visitors as well as job creation and attracting new residents.”

He said there is a big focus in the state on tourism through sports and attractions.

“The town is favorable to anything that’s going to bring in a really great project, to keep us on the map and show some great progress,” Marcavitch said.

Enfield train station

Enfield also has a new train station project on tap, with construction targeted to begin in the spring of 2025. The state Department of Transportation-led project is in the design phase with a targeted completion date of 2027.

The $45 million train station, funded through state bonding and federal grants, will be the newest stop on the CTrail Hartford Line, connecting riders from Amtrak and Metro-North lines.

Other towns with new train stations — like New Britain and Berlin — have seen tens of millions of dollars in adjacent public or private development projects, from new roads, sidewalks and infrastructure to mixed-use housing and retail complexes.

Enfield is hoping to attract similar transit-oriented development, with the goal of creating a more vibrant, “live, work, play” feel in town, officials said.

More than $3 million in funding will support public streetscape and utility improvements around the Enfield station, including upgrades to sidewalks, roadways, lighting and parking, Marcavitch said.

Additionally, he said the nearby Connecticut River is a massively underused resource in Enfield, and he’s hoping the planned development projects can spur revitalization along the waterfront.

“We’ll try to unlock dollars, to get out there and rally for these projects,” he said. “Many parcels are owned by the town, or involve the town, so leadership is really hoping these will move the needle.”

Paving the way for housing

A senior housing project conceptualized two years ago would redevelop the Felician Sisters’ Our Lady of the Angels Convent campus, which sits on nearly 30 acres at 1297 Enfield St.

An initial zone change proposed by Boston-based The Community Builders, which would have allowed more than 300 housing units on-site, faced opposition from local residents concerned about the project’s scale and was rejected by the town.

However, this past April, the Enfield Planning and Zoning Commission made an amendment allowing for elderly housing in the convent area via special permit approval.

A new redevelopment plan, which hasn’t officially been submitted to town land-use boards, will scale down the original concept by calling for 45 units reserved for lower-income residents ages 62 and older.

Proponents of the new plan said it would bring much-needed senior housing to Enfield and find a suitable reuse of the convent campus.

Right track

Poland, of Goman+York, said each project has its benefits, but one clearly has the greatest potential for economic impact and smart reuse.

“At the end of the day, the mall is the standout site,” he said. “It’s past its prime and underperforming, it’s in a highly visible area and will be an anchor to the community with its potential for housing and critical mass.”

Drew Snyder, president of Woodsonia, said traditional malls have “a broken business model” and are struggling to compete with large online retailers like Amazon.

Large malls are often centrally located and prime for mixed-use redevelopment, Snyder said.

However, the project, which is only in the design phase, is far from a sure bet. The redevelopment hinges on at least $20 million in state funding to help pay for construction. It will also require numerous government approvals.

The town has been eyeing a mixed-use redevelopment of the mall since at last 2018, Marcavitch said.

“So, the idea of housing, retail, walkability, maybe hotels, restaurants, having an improved mix, better circulation, better connection, is right on target,” he said.

The town supports Woodsonia’s redevelopment proposal, and will seek funding from the state Department of Economic and Community Development’s Community Investment Fund to help make the project a reality. The town has also approved a local property tax break, giving the mall site a $7.3 million tax assessment for 10 years along with a credit enhancement agreement.

“That’s the best and most viable option for that site,” Poland said of the redevelopment proposal. “Time and time again, with retail, whether it’s malls or strip plazas, big box retail, they are scaling back on the amount of retail; rightsizing is a common strategy.”

These four projects alone won’t completely transform Enfield, Poland said, but they will put the town on the right track, with a focus on multifamily development and creating a more vibrant, walkable community.

It took 3 votes, but Hartford City Council OKs CCMC pedestrian bridge

After defeating an amendment and a motion to postpone the vote, the Hartford City Council passed a resolution Monday night granting air rights for a pedestrian bridge over Washington Street.

The resolution, which was approved along party lines, allows Connecticut Children’s Medical Center (CCMC) to construct a bridge connecting the $280 million, eight-story wing of the hospital currently under construction with a parking garage to be constructed across the street by LAZ Parking. 

Both projects were previously approved by the city’s Planning & Zoning Commission, but because the bridge would cross over Washington Street the city needed to grant air rights for it, as well as grant a sidewalk easement for a bus turn-in lane that will require relocating the existing public sidewalk onto property controlled by Hartford Hospital and CCMC.

In April, the commission rejected a resolution to grant the air rights and easement on a 3-2 vote with one abstention. The rejection meant the commission did not recommend granting the air rights and sidewalk easement to the city council.

Because of that vote, the council could approve the resolution only by a supermajority, meaning that at least six of the nine members needed to vote in favor of it.

After a motion to approve the resolution was made and seconded Monday night, Councilman John Q. Gale, of The Hartford Party, made a motion to amend it.

His amendment would have required that, if construction did not start on a building on the northwest corner of Lincoln and Washington Streets within one year of the completion of the new CCMC wing and parking garage, “then the title to said land shall be transferred to the city of Hartford.”

After the motion was seconded, Gale explained that CCMC had met with representatives of the Frog Hollow Neighborhood Revitalization Zone (NRZ) before construction on the new hospital wing and garage began. He said CCMC promised to build “a multi-use, multi-story building” on the lot at the northwest corner of Lincoln and Washington Streets, which it owns, once the hospital and garage projects were completed.

“They made that promise to the Frog Hollow NRZ in writing; you've all seen the writing,” Gale said. “It was signed by the president of CCMC, along with (former) Mayor Luke Bonin, who assisted in that negotiation at the time.”

Because of that promise, he added, the Frog Hollow NRZ sent a letter supporting the pedestrian bridge to the Planning & Zoning Commission.
Gale then cited three occasions in which other developers had made promises to the council but have yet to deliver on them, including one involving LAZ Parking. 

“So I come to this council to say we need to support our neighborhood groups,” he said. “We need to tell developers — and in this case I'm calling CCMC a developer — that we want some security for their promises.”

Councilman Joshua Michtom of the Working Families Party said he didn’t know whether the amendment was “the best way to ensure that CCMC and their partners follow through with what they’ve promised,” but said he would support it because the city “should not operate on promises.”

“I just think it is irresponsible of this body, as representatives of the city's fiscal interests and representatives of the people's desires for the neighborhood, not to get something that is enforceable,” Mitchom said. “That is just not how governments or big companies operate, and it leaves us at the risk again and again and again of getting rooked.”

Councilman Alexander Thomas, also a member of the Working Families Party, said he also supported the amendment even though he is “very much pro bridge.” 

Council President Shirley Surgeon, a Democrat, said she could not support the amendment because while it involved the same developer it would link two different pieces of property and involved two different contracts. She then asked Corporation Counsel Jonathan Harding whether doing so would be legal.

Harding said he did not have “all of the contracts in front of me,” but said the deals had already been negotiated and that he wasn’t sure any resolution passed by the council “could forcibly reopen contracts that are in full force.” He added that the “other components of this construction project are not a component of this resolution in front of us.”

Ultimately, the amendment failed, with all six council Democrats voting against it.

Gale then proposed a motion to postpone voting on the resolution to the next council meeting in two weeks, which would allow the city to meet with CCMC officials. 

“It will send a message to CCMC to come to the table and let's talk,” he said. “I think it would potentially produce a result that would satisfy everybody.” 

That motion also failed, with only Gale and Mitchom voting in favor. 

Gale made one last attempt to sway the Democrats on the council, explaining that if just one of them voted against the proposal it would fail, but that it could be raised again for reconsideration at the next council meeting by anyone who had cast a no vote.

“So if one (Democratic) council member votes no on this, it isn't dead, it can come back,” he said.

Mitchom supported Gale, saying a no vote would send a message.

“We will send a broader message to other organizations, to other developers, that the era of us rolling over in the hopes of some development without any concrete guarantees is over,” he said, adding, “that will serve the city well in the long term.”

Their efforts fell short, however, with all six Democrats voting in favor of the resolution.

CCMC did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

$82M bonding for Clemente School upgrade nixed in Waterbury

WATERBURY – The Board of Aldermen on Monday decided against moving forward with bonding $82 million for the rehabilitation and expansion of Roberto Clemente International Dual Language School to accommodate a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade model.

The school at 116 Beecher Ave., which teaches English and native speakers of other languages in the same classroom, now serves K-3. It will teach K-4 next school year and then add a new grade each year to get to K-8. The goal is to ensure students become biliterate and bilingual.

Mayor Paul K. Pernerewski Jr. asked the board to withdraw the bond request for $82 million and explore other options next year that include potentially building a new dual language school, and purchasing the closed Sts. Peter and Paul church and rectory nearby to make space for a district pre-kindergarten program.

“I feel very strongly that this school is very important,” the mayor said. “I think an expansion is needed, and the question is how best to effectuate that and take the opportunity to look at a pre-K there. Our students are coming into kindergarten not prepared. They need to have some command of letters and numbers, and socialization skills. A lot of them are coming in not knowing these things.”

Board of Aldermen President Michael DiGiovancarlo said there is unanimous consent that the cost is too high for the rehabilitation and addition to the school.

“We thought we should visit every option possible to make sure if we are going to spend that money, we put in the right school and we build it the right way,” he said. “There is no need to rush it.”

The board also learned the state reimbursement rate for renovating and expanding a school is 60% compared to 75% for building a new school, Board of Education Vice President Elizabeth C. Brown said.

“Because we are exploding in terms of our population, we do have an urgency for space, but we need to make sure the campus we choose to invest those kinds of dollars has all the assets we like,” she said, noting there are about 200 students at Roberto Clemente with 300 families on the waiting list.

Alderman Minority Leader Rubin Rodriguez said, “My concern is the price tag for $82 million,” adding the city would have had to come up with $33.1 million.

If the aldermen had approved a hearing and bonding for the project, the Board of Education would have needed to apply to the state Department of Administrative Services by the end of June. That timeline was tight, Pernerewski said, so delaying it a year gives everyone more time. The mayor also said with Clemente growing every year, North End Middle School could handle the overspill in the meantime.