New Haven intersection will be first of its kind in CT. Here's what that means.

Ed Stannard

NEW HAVEN — Residents and city workers soon will be able to walk, bike or drive along a reconnected Orange Street, through the first protected intersection in the state.

The target date for the reconnection from Martin Luther King Boulevard to South Frontage Road is Sept. 9, if the weather cooperates, according to Anna Mariotti of HTNB Corp., the city’s consultant on the Downtown Crossing project.

Most of the work is complete.

“In addition to paving that area, Orange Street and the portions of MLK and South Frontage Road that are immediately around Orange Street, there’s the lane striping,” Mariotti said.

Neither of those jobs can be done in the rain.

New traffic signals are blinking yellow at the two reconstructed intersections.

“When the finishing work is done, those will be in operation and people will be able to drive, walk, ride their bike from South Orange to Orange,” Mariotti said.

There also will be special bike signals to let cyclists know when it’s safe to cross, in separate phases from the standard pedestrian signals.

There is a lot of space designed into the intersection between vehicle lanes and bike lanes and raised sections wrapping around the corners. The medians between Martin Luther King Boulevard, the service roads leading to the parking garages and South Frontage Road jut out into the intersection, creating wide spaces between motor vehicles and those crossing from one side of Orange Street to the other. Concrete bollards will encircle the ends of those raised medians.

“It is a very large intersection, so if a pedestrian or cyclist is crossing from Orange to South Orange or vice versa, there are two light phases they have to go through,” Mariotti said. “You hit the button, cross to the first island, then you have to hit another button and cross the rest of the way.”

Reconnecting Orange Street is Phase 2 of Downtown Crossing, which is turning what used to be the high-speed Richard C. Lee Highway, also known as the Oak Street Connector, back into an urban grid.

Phase 1 was reconstructing College Street, making way for 100 College St., the Alexion building, and the under-construction 101 College St. Phases 3 and 4, which began with closing part of South Frontage Road to raise the roadway, will connect Temple Street to Congress Avenue via a new bridge.

Once Orange Street is reconnected, drivers leaving Interstate 95 for downtown “will come to the first traffic light here, rather than at Church Street, which is what they’re used to,” Mariotti said. The speed limit will be 25 mph and warning signs will let drivers know to slow down.

The lanes also will be narrower, she said. “The point of it is to make it clear to the drivers that they are in a shared-use environment,” she said.

Another feature is there will be no left turns in the intersection, because it is so wide that traffic would get through the light when it turned yellow, then back up across the lanes, blocking vehicles coming from the left.

Mariotti said the intersection will feature a large number of trees and other plantings, some of which have been put in.

While the work is completed, there will be single-lane closures on streets in the area.

Torrington's Pennrose apartment building project has begun on Franklin Street

Emily M. Olson

TORRINGTON — Housing stock in the city could increase by next summer, with Pennrose LLC’s apartment building potentially being ready for new tenants, officials said.

The Philadelphia-based company, which owns the Franklin Street property, poured the foundation for the building in early August.

Charlie Adams, Pennrose vice president of development, said Tuesday that the foundation is ready and workers are installing insulation around the base on top of the slab.

“It’s part of the passive house technology that we’re going to be using in this building,” Adams said. “The pipes, all the plumbing is going in now.”

Pennrose first presented its plans for a mixed-use, mixed-income development on the riverfront property in 2019, when it first was approved by the City Council. The building joins the city’s development of Franklin Plaza, where a weekly farmers market and numerous public events have been held since it opened in December 2020. The city used state and federal grants to complete the necessary remediation work for the plaza.

The aim of the project, according to Pennrose, is to help create a “vibrant,” pedestrian-friendly, urban setting on Franklin Street and link to downtown’s cultural attractions, including providing affordable housing for young artists drawn by the Five Points Gallery.

“We were excited about the plaza,” Adams said. “That’s what made us interested in working with the city. This area will pull people down from the plaza into the downtown area, and it also connects the (Torrington Trails Network) walking trail that’s expanding along the river. The project will include a dedicated path behind the building, and once it’s done, we’ll turn that over to the city.”

Pennrose’s four-story building will have 60 units with one and two bedrooms. The roof will have a deck facing Franklin Plaza; on the ground floor, the company is putting in an 1,100-square-foot retail space for a cafe, restaurant or deli, which could be rented by a local business.

“It’s a boomerang-shaped building that wraps around the river,” Adams said. “It’s a pretty tight parcel of land, and it’s tucked right in there.”

Before Pennrose could begin building, the city was responsible for cleaning up the site, which required removing contaminated soil. Adams said the city has been a great partner.

“They cleaned up the site. There were a lot of challenges and some environmental issues, but the city got it done,” he said. “They were finally able to get it cleaned up, and handed it over to us. We started our work two months ago, and we’re making great progress.”

Adams expects the building to be completed by June 2022. “It should be occupied by December of that year,” he said. “The building will have a mix of 75 percent affordable apartments, and 25 percent market rate, with one and two bedrooms.”

Pennrose’s Meriden Commons is similar to the Franklin Street plan. That mixed-use development includes 75 housing units with a restaurant likely to move into the additional retail space at the site.

“We wanted to do the same thing in Torrington; it’s about having people on the street, using the resources. There are great resources on Main Street; theater, galleries, restaurants,” Adams said. “We’re hoping (new residents) will all support that activity.”

Pennrose is also interested in having Five Points Gallery artists to use some of the apartments. “There may be a need for local artists or performers to find some housing there, and this would be ideal,” Adams said. “They can walk to work. That’s a goal we’re trying to accomplish.”

Adams said working with Mayor Elinor Carbone and Economic Development Director Rista Malanca has been a great experience for him. “It’s a partnership,” he said. “It’s worked very well for everyone.”

“We are very excited about the final results of this long-awaited project,” Malanca said in a recent message to the community, which is published on her department’s Facebook page. “We cannot wait to see this neighborhood in our downtown come to life.”

After the building slab was poured, passersby were curious, Adams said.

“People have asked what it is, what’s going on,” he said. “There’s a big tower for the elevator, kind of sitting there, and they want to know what it is. People have also asked when they can rent units. We need to get some marketing information out there.”

Stamford Board of Reps committee again debates South End rock crusher complaints

Verónica Del Valle

STAMFORD — The board of Representatives last week resumed discussion on its longstanding feud with a South End excavation company it has rallied against for years.

Since at least 2015, the city has been embroiled in a legal push-and-pull with South End excavating company A. Vitti Construction. The dispute ended with a legal settlement between the crusher and the city.

Among the specifications of the settlement is that the company cannot crush rocks larger than four inches at the 10 Rugby St. location, although it can process other materials like gravel and brick. Most importantly, the city and Vitti agreed that he must put up a "fully enclosed building" for his operations that comply with "noise, vibration and dust management, ventilation, vehicular circulation, truck idling (and) street cleaning" standards.

Vitti's attorney, Tom Cassone, told The Stamford Advocate in May that construction on the Rugby Street property would conclude in "weeks," and indicated that the project was in its final stages.

City attorney Cynthia Anger on Thursday told representatives that, although prerequisite noise and vibration tests have been completed and comply with the established standards, there are still more steps to go. Cassone said that the city requested more information from his client to vet the noise and vibration tests completed by an independent firm.

But there are more tangible steps the company must still complete, the city argued. Vitti still must put up signage on the property that spells out hours of operations and includes a hotline where residents can make complaints against the company. The company must also set up that hotline and has to fix part of the sidewalk on Elmcroft Road as part of its agreement with the city.

"All are in the works," said Cassone this week in an email.

Once the conditions are met, and Vitti finally obtains a certificate of occupancy, the clock starts ticking on his South End site. His company can continue crushing materials on Rugby Street for "an initial period not to exceed five years commencing with the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy for the facility."

According to the agreement, through its public hearing process, the zoning board can also extend that period in increments of up to three years.

However, while these steps are in progress, the city's enforcement capabilities are curtailed by its 2019 agreement with Vitti Construction, the board was told.

The limitations frustrated the Representatives as they debated how to deal with problems at Vitti's operations.

City Rep. Jeffrey Stella, D-3 — who chairs the Public Safety Committee — said that he's fielding complaints from residents who claim the site is operating without a certificate of occupancy. Rep. Terry Adams, whose district includes the Rugby Street property, echoed the same concerns.

"Most of the neighbors have been complaining to the city of Stamford about (how) Vitti it is in operation, maybe (for) two or three hours a day," he said.

In stark contrast, attorney Anger said the city's zoning enforcement officers did not see any violations when last inspecting the property.

Discussions then centered around who should confirm whether the company is breaching the settlement. To an extent, the city relies on tips from neighbors to catch rock crushing in action unless Stamford's zoning enforcement officer is completing an inspection.

Without the zoning officer witnessing violations on the property firsthand, the administration has no actual evidence of wrongdoing.

"I get the administration's position," Rep. Nina Sherwood, D-8, said. "We have to catch them red-handed doing something in order for us to be able to shut them down. But I don't see the administration actively trying to do that.

"What frustrates me is that we are a city government," she continued. "And the city government is operational ... to organize city business, but also protect the people of the city."

Stella pitched putting up surveillance cameras on the property. Sherwood floated a resolution for the committee's next meeting asking city departments to devote more resources to the matter, something that Rep. Jeff Curtis, D-14, backed.

After more than an hour of discussions, the committee resolved to move forward on the resolution and compel the city to act, regardless of the cost.

"Let's get this thing done," said Curtis. "Enough is enough."

Mosher Avenue detour in Groton slated to start Tuesday due to bridge project

Groton — Mosher Avenue is slated to be closed and a detour will be in place from Sept. 7 through Dec. 1 due to a construction project on the Mosher Avenue bridge, the state Department of Transportation announced in a news release.

"The detour route is Mosher Avenue to Ward Avenue to Main Street to Terrace Avenue to Marsh Road to Groton Long Point to State Route 215," the DOT said in the news release.

The project, which entails the "complete superstructure replacement" of the bridge, is slated to wrap up on May 23, 2022, according to DOT. The project was awarded to Manafort Brothers Inc. for $7,377,959.34.

Alders Advance 43-Year Tweed Deal

THOMAS BREEN

After hours of debate about the length of the term and about who stands to profit, a committee of alders unanimously advanced a proposed 43-year agreement between the city and Tweed’s airport authority.

That was the outcome of Monday night’s four-and-a-half-hour meeting of the Board of Alders Finance Committee. The virtual meeting took place online via Zoom and YouTube Live.

The sole topic for discussion, debate, and a subsequent advisory vote Monday night was a two-part order related to Tweed New Haven Airport.

The first legislative item would have the city sign a 43-year amended and restated lease and operating agreement with the Tweed New Haven Airport Authority. The second would repeal a city law that prohibits airplanes that weigh more than 160,000 pounds from using Tweed.

Both are designed to enable a separate but parallel four-decade agreement between the airport authority and the Goldman Sachs-owned airport management company Avports. That company, which has managed Tweed for the past 22 years, in turn plans to invest $70 million in private funds into building a new four-to-six-gate terminal on the East Haven side of the property and lengthening the airport’s main runway to 6,635 feet

After hours of spirited public debate Monday, committee alders voted unanimously in support of both the proposed city-airport authority lease agreement and the proposed ordinance amendment about aircraft weight.

Both proposals now advance to the full Board of Alders for further debate and an expected final vote in September.

“This airport is an opportunity for our community,” Dixwell Alder Jeannette Morrison said in support of both legislative items. “This is growth. It’s about evolution.”

“I think that we have a great opportunity to actually make this work, not just for the airport,” but for the city and the Morris Cove neighborhood as well, said Board of Alders President and West River Alder Tyisha Walker-Myers.

“The fundamental question is,” Westville Alder and Finance Committee Vice-Chair Adam Marchand added, “Do we believe we should be pushing forward with a possible plan that could make the airport commercially successful, or should we not? It is my opinion that we should.”

While nominally limited to two specific proposals about the 43-year, city-airport authority lease and the aircraft weight law, Monday’s Finance Committee hearing—just like a recent two-part City Plan Commission hearing about planned improvements to the airport’s current West Terminal to make way for a new budget airline — became a vehicle for discussion and debate about the airport’s larger expansion plans.

Monday’s hearing was in some ways a reprise of other hearings since airport backers first unveiled those plans in May: Regional business boosters touted the job possibilities of a larger transportation network. Neighborhood critics expressed concerns about increased traffic and noise and air pollution. Government watchdogs called attention to the potential use of eminent domain. And environmentalists rang the planetary alarm bell about promoting fossil-fuel intensive activities in a coastal area of the city at a time of escalating climate change.

Another related question popped up again and again Monday night: Why 43 years?

Why would the city agree to such a lengthy term for a venture as seemingly risky as the privately-funded expansion of a publicly-owned airport that has long struggled to attract commercial air carriers, and that sits in a coastal area of the city that is prone to flooding?

“It’s 43 years for a lot of very important reasons,” city Economic Development Administrator Michael Piscitelli said. “To create a horizon, if you will, for the authority to be successful, for a repayment period for Avports’ investment.”

He singled out that the proposed lease agreement does include a provision that allows for the city and the airport authority to review and potentially revise the agreement 20 years before it expires.

City-hired financial adviser Mary Francoeur was more blunt in her explanation for the proposed 43-year term.

“It’s really about giving Avports the opportunity to recoup their investment in comparison to their concessions,” she said. “Forty years is actually going to come pretty quickly. It’s an opportunity for them to slow grow the airport and make the improvements that are going to add value here, and recoup that investment. It is consistent with other projects we’ve seen nationally.”

Airport Authority Executive Director Sean Scanlon said that even if the city approves the 43-year lease agreement, the airport will still be owned by the city. He said that holds true even if the airport authority enters into a separate “facility” agreement with Avports that would have the latter design, build, finance, operate, and maintain the new terminal for 43 years.

Tweed will also still have an airport authority executive director and airport authority board that will play a “regulatory role and they will be able to hold Avports accountable. ... That board and the executive director will still be able to serve as that regulatory oversight of Avports going forward.”

Why not just have a 20-year lease to start? Walker-Myers pressed. “What are the benefits of” jumping straight into a 43-year deal?

The deal needed to have a term that would “justify the significance of the investment that our partner is making into the terminal,” Piscitelli said. “Avports has walked us and the authority through why the longer horizon is important for private investment.” This longer period means that Avports won’t have to rush to make its money back, he said, and it recognizes that Tweed is a “slow growth airport.”

Many of the 30 people who spoke up during the public hearing portion of the meeting Monday were unconvinced by that rationale for a 43-year term.

“Why 43 years? People don’t even stay married for 43 years,” Townsend Avenue resident Toni Criscuolo said. “These people are buying, they’re not selling. They see a desperate city ... They are preying on our weakness.”

Fair Haven Heights resident and Green Party alder candidate Pat Kane agreed.

“A 43-year contract is extraordinary,” she said. “You are potentially obligating two generations of New Haven residents on a deal that’s not even clear.”

Westville resident Tim Holahan emphasized that this long-term deal is with a company whose corporate lineage warrants some serious skepticism.

“Goldman Sachs is ultimately the player that we would be bringing into the city, and we know what Goldman Sachs’ motive is: profit,” he said. “Goldman Sachs does not come to New Haven to help New Haven.”

East Rock environmental activist Nora Heaphy cautioned that the 43-year deal extends well past the time that the Morris Cove neighborhood where the airport resides could be underwater due to climate change-induced sea level rise.

“Firms like Goldman Sachs will profit in the short term, and will be experiencing none of the long-term consequences of this project.”

City Point resident and city public school teacher Leslie Blatteau said urged the alders to slow down the approval process so that they can really interrogate why Avports is willing to make such a big bet on New Haven’s airport. “Goldman Sachs is involved. Red alert,” she said.

East Rock Alder Anna Festa asked Scanlon to clarify exactly what the international investment bank’s role in this airport expansion is.

Avports is a subsidiary of an investment fund that is owned by Goldman Sachs, Scanlon replied.

“Is that like a private equity group type of deal?” Festa asked.

“Yes,” Scanlon said. “An infrastructure investment group, to be more specific.”

Scanlon stressed that Tweed’s current annual revenue is around $1.8 million, while its current annual costs around around $3 million. The difference is made up by state and local subsidies. This new proposed expansion deal would get rid of all city and state subsidies for good.

“This company Avports believe that can make” Tweed a successful commercial airport, he said. “If they’re not successful, then they would have given it a shot.”

When asked for comment Tuesday morning about Goldman Sachs-related concerns raised at Monday’s hearing, Avports CEO Jorge Roberts responded by email, “There is risk in every project, but what’s so important about the plan for a new HVN is that the risk is being borne primarily by a private company, not the City or its taxpayers. Avports and its owners have a long, successful history and track record managing airports across the country, and we have managed Tweed New-Haven for two decades.

“We are a 94-year old company that has done our research, and we believe in the future of Tweed as a neighborhood regional airport in an area where too many residents are currently driving to New York when they could be flying directly from New Haven.”

Not everyone who spoke up during the public hearing portion of Monday’s meeting took aim at the length of the proposed deal and the potential motivations of private investors.

Some characterized the proposed lease agreement and the planned Avports-funded expansion as an economic opportunity to be seized and celebrated.

“Deals like this don’t come up very often,” Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce President Garrett Sheehan said. “From where I sit, this seems like a great deal for the city, for the city’s finances, and for the city’s economic development efforts.”

Hamden resident and airport authority board member Robert Ellis agreed. “It is an opportunity to expand the airport as never before,” he said, “one that will allow it to become self-sufficient” and more attractive to potential future commercial carriers.

New Haven Works Executive Director Melissa Mason said her local job pipeline agency is eager to partner with Avports and the new budget airline Avelo to help fill the hundreds of jobs to come from an expanded airport.

And Yale New Haven Health Senior Vice President Vin Petrini said that the proposed 43-year lease agreement has his and his organization’s “unwavering support.”

He said New Haven likes to compare itself to Cambridge, Silicon Valley, and the Research Triangle, but it’s missing one key piece of infrastructure that those three research and business hubs all have: a functional, accessible airport.

This is “a moment in time that could be a defining point for the City of New Haven,” he said.