New Haven Independent

Road Projects Prioritized

by Melinda Tuhus | August 13, 2008 5:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

mike%20and%20dick.jpg “The State Street bridge is in serious condition,” said New Haven’s traffic engineer, Dick Miller, at a regional transportation meeting on Wednesday afternoon. “If something isn’t done soon, it will be closed.” So the project was prioritized ahead of the city’s other priority — redoing Quinnipiac Avenue north and south of Grand Avenue.

Miller (pictured on the right in photo with the city’s transportation chief, Mike Piscitelli, on the left) was speaking during the meeting of the Transportation Committee of the South Central Regional Council of Governments at a meeting in North Haven.

New Haven had an opportunity at the meeting: to get the decision-making group’s 15 member towns to advance a transportation project on its priority list for public funding. The opportunity arose because a higher-priority project - the bridge over Waite Street in Hamden - has been pulled at the request of the town’s mayor, Craig Henrici, who responded to nearby residents’ opposition to it.

New Haven had two projects waiting in the wings: the Quinnipiac Avenue job, and the State Street bridge over the Mill River and under I-91, right where state Route 5 ends and the city street begins (by the skating rink).

The city decided to put State Street first.

“When the Ferry Street bridge went down, we had to realign some of our priorities at that time, and State Street had to be pushed out,” Dick Miller said in an interview after the meeting. “The State Street bridge had started design in 2000, and through a long period of time we worked at getting it into a position where it’s ready to go.” (He mentioned that the city will celebrate the reopening of the Ferry Street bridge around the end of August.)

He said that at one time the Quinnipiac Avenue re-do was planned to be first. But when the Hamden bridge project was cancelled, New Haven was able to slip the State Street bridge into that open slot. The Transportation Committee voted in favor of the switch, and the issue will go before the COG’s general meeting at the end of this month for a final vote. It’s to be funded with $3 million in federal funds from the 2008 fiscal year budget (which ends Sept. 30) and another $3 million from the 2009 budget.

Miller explained there are many phases to a project: “You have a design done; you get it obligated; you get it advertised; you get it built. All of those aspects take time.” He said once the COG votes in favor of moving up the bridge project, then the federal government can commit to it. He said he expects construction to start in the spring of 2009 and take about 18 months.

As for the Quinnipiac Avenue work, he still hopes to get it started sometime in 2009. He said the State Department of Transportation is still securing the rights of way along the street from Clifton Street to Ferry Street (slightly less than a mile) where construction will take place. Click here for background on this story.

Wallingford Mayor William Dickenson, who chairs the COG’s Transportation Committee, pointed out that this year’s projects total $6,232,152 — which is about the actual amount the region will get from the feds. But the next three years’ projects total between $11 million and $13.5 million, with no expectation that federal monies will increase.

Meanwhile, the total Iraq war spending approved to date from taxpayers in New Haven County (which overlaps significantly with the SCRCOG) is $3.5 billion, according to the National Priorities Project.

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Posted by: cedarhillresident | August 13, 2008 7:29 PM

It is about time! Thank you guys for all your work to make this happen!!!!! big kisses mike and dick :)

3 billion WTF, god knows how much more we still have a half a year with the no nothing loser of a prez and then it still is going to take at least another year to implement the pull out...and to top it off Russia is on it;s little take over, god everyone wants world peace so why does it not happen!

Posted by: anon | August 13, 2008 7:57 PM

Even worse than the Iraq war are federal subsidies for automobile operation. The true cost of gasoline is over $20 per gallon. The government gives huge subsidies to oil companies, environmental cleanup, road construction, parking, etc., which is why we only pay $4 at the pump. We pay the other $16+ in the form of taxes and debt -- much of it shouldered by those of us who do not drive. And to think, 1/3rd of New Haven families don't even own a car. If people saw where the money is going, they would go into cardiac arrest. We spend more on subsidizing driving than on education, health care and food combined.

Posted by: ben | August 13, 2008 8:08 PM

Love the last fact. Way to keep things in perspective Melinda.
The South West side of this bridge area is used by fisherman all the time and is accessible from the back of Ralph Walker.
We need to rip down the fence and create a GreenSpace with water access from State Street so that people don't feel like they have to be a criminal to use the Mill River.

Posted by: Carole | August 13, 2008 10:06 PM

"We need to rip down the fence and create a GreenSpace with water access from State Street so that people don't feel like they have to be a criminal to use the Mill River."

Beautifully put, Ben.

Posted by: cedarhillresident | August 14, 2008 8:01 AM

Ben I love that!!!!!!!!! I am in to help work on an idea like that!

Posted by: Ben | August 14, 2008 10:16 AM

By the way,
The photo above is a little deceptive.
It's the bridge where the photographer is standing, not the overpass, that's being repaired.

It would be excellent if DOT would allow us to dress up the overpass with some welcoming signage to the neighborhood as it too could use a makeover.

Posted by: Our Town | August 14, 2008 11:35 AM

Just a thought, but I think the fence is there to keep little kids from falling in and drowning. This is an unsupervised waterway.

Posted by: ROBN | August 14, 2008 12:59 PM

Back when I was a kid an "unsupervised waterway" was called a river...and if an accident happened it was becuase 1) parent didn't teach a child how to swim and 2) parent wasn't properly supervising that child.

Posted by: NewHavenInfo | August 14, 2008 1:36 PM

Our Town

The only reason the fence is their is because the area under the highway is owned by the DOT (state) not the city. I would say 90% of the mill river is not gated off.

Hmmm Ben ya know I luv ya...but....do you want the welcome sign to say as entering that area, welcome to upper state street...and when leaving that area say welcome to the real upper state street (Cedar Hill)??. Sorry you know me :) I could not help myself.

Posted by: Our Town | August 14, 2008 1:56 PM

Yes, and when you all were kids, no one blamed the city for all social ills. This is 2008. The city is responsible for everyone's failings.

Posted by: Ben | August 14, 2008 4:07 PM

Fair enough,
But you know we have the domain name (http://www.upperstatestreet.org) and the business name, so clearly we've claimed it by today's standards. :-)
In North Haven, there's actually a street called Upper State, I guess we should really hand it over to them.

In regards to the water:
The Mill River has a walking path accessible from the back of Ralph Walker so I'm not sure it's a liability issue.

Also, liability is a lame excuse for denying people access to nature if it is the case.

Road Projects Prioritized

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