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At Long Last: Easy Rolling
In just over a decade or so, New Haven may finally shed its reputation as southern New England's ground-transportation bottleneck
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Business New Haven
2/4/2002
By: Fiona Phelan
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After a decade of discussion and planning, the long-anticipated massive reconstruction of Interstate 95 between Branford and New Haven - including the estimated $350 million overhaul and replacement of the Pearl Harbor Memorial (Q) Bridge - will at last get underway this spring.
The entire I-95 New Haven Harbor Crossing Corridor Improvement Program, as it is formally known by the state's Department of Transportation (DOT), is expected to take place in four stages over the next ten years at a cost of more than $1 billion.
For New Haven, East Haven, Branford and towns surrounding the I-95 corridor the project ultimately will alleviate highway congestion, making the highway safer and commuting less harried.
But just as the first phase of highway construction is scheduled to begin, there may be a delay. The city of New Haven is threatening to take legal action against the DOT if saving the historic Yale boathouse is not included as part of the total reconstruction package. The boathouse stands in the path of the proposed reconstruction of the Q Bridge and must either be demolished or - somehow - relocated.
According to DOT Deputy Commissioner James A. Adams, although a study to determine the feasibility of moving the boathouse has not been completed, costs associated with such a move are projected to run between $15 million and $20 million. New Haven city officials want the boathouse moved to Long Wharf to become the centerpiece of a waterfront park.
“The feeling is that it may not be economically feasible or structurally feasible to move the boathouse down the river to where the city wants it,” Adams said in a recent interview. “I think there's a misunderstanding that we had committed to floating the boathouse.”
Adams adds that although “We've not closed the door on moving the boathouse, there are other options.”
That may not satisfy city officials who are working to articulate a clear and comprehensible vision for waterfront renewal since the collapse of the project's original centerpiece, the proposed Long Wharf retail mall.
“The waterfront was the reason for people originally settling here,” explains New Haven City Planner Karen Gilvarg. “We wanted to move the Yale boathouse to return it to waterfront usage. We thought DOT was committed to this idea. We're just going to keep on pushing for this. This is what the mayor wants.”
Mayor John DeStefano was not available for comment on the issue.
Meanwhile, the state is on-target to begin construction in the spring and is taking a number of steps to minimize anticipated traffic disruption. The DOT is nearing completion on improvements to commuter alternatives such as the Shore Line East commuter rail service which runs between New London and Union Station in New Haven, stopping at shoreline communities along the way.
In May, a new station is slated to open on New Haven's State Street. The facility, located between Court and Chapel streets, is designed to provide more direct access to downtown New Haven for rail commuters. Workers entering the city from the suburbs may be able to walk to their offices or continue to connect with a commuter shuttle service.
Adding the State Street station is expected to reduce the number of commuters traveling on to Union Station, easing shuttle service congestion at that location.
In addition to adding the new State Street station, the DOT is also in the process of expanding parking and train platforms at Shore Line East stations in Branford, Guilford, Madison and Westbrook. Also, more trains are being added to the schedule with service every 30 minutes between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. That's Phase I, or “Contract A” in DOT parlance.
Phase II, which is currently out to bid, according to Mark Rolfe, the Q Bridge program manager for the DOT, is expected to get underway in the next few months. That project - estimated at between $40 million and $50 million - will reconstruct and widen I-95 between the east shore of the bridge over Lake Saltonstall and Exit 54 (Cedar Street) in Branford.
The project calls for the highway to be expanded from four to six lanes (three in each direction), along with widened shoulders and a new median barrier. Also, two bridges will be replaced or refurbished, new signs will be erected, new lighting installed, noise barrier walls will be built, and new and upgraded drainage systems will be installed.
The improvements are expected to accommodate an increase in daily traffic flow from the estimated 75,000 cars to 90,000 autos in 2015, explains Rolfe.
A year after that, in the spring of 2003, the following phase will begin. With an estimated price tag of $80 million, this project will reconstruct and widen the highway through East Haven between Exits 49-50 in New Haven (Stiles Street/Woodward Avenue) and the west shore of the I-95 bridge over Lake Saltonstall.
Following the widening of the Branford-East Haven section of I-95, the largest of the construction projects will begin: the construction of a new, ten-lane “signature” bridge across the Quinnipac River.
The $350 million project will unfold in 14 construction stages, according to Rolfe, with the first expected to begin in 2004. This portion of the project is expected to be completed in 2010 - two years after Rolfe's now 10-year-old daughter gets her driver's license.
The existing six-lane Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge will gradually be replaced during construction. The initial phase calls for a travel lane in each direction to be built alongside the existing bridge. Once those lanes are completed, construction will move inward until all the new lanes are finished.
This method of construction is aimed at reducing traffic congestion so that traffic will remain flowing on as many open lanes as possible, notes Rolfe.
Two years after the start of bridge construction, DOT contractors will also begin work on reconfiguring the “mix-master” that is now the I-95/I-91 interchange. The $200 million program will cover a one-mile section from Sargent Drive on I-95 to East Street on I-91.
Reconstruction will include elimination of left-lane exit and entrance ramps and provide two lane connections between the interstates. Three travel lanes will be provided in each direction on I-95, with full shoulders and a new median barrier.
In addition, 18 bridges will be replaced and 3,500 feet of I-91 will be reconstructed. That portion of the project is expected to be completed in 2012.
“All these projects are federally participative [sic] to cover about 87 percent of construction costs,” says Rolfe. “The balance is funded by the state.”
Studies are still underway for the final stage of the reconstruction: the section of I-95 along Long Wharf. The New Haven Harbor Access Feasibility Study aims to investigate several different scenarios, including sinking that portion of I-95 below grade to allow enhanced physical and visual access to the waterfront area.
“Very clearly we need to do something in that area to support all the other projects,” says Rolfe. “What we need to do, we haven't figured out yet.”
The city, meanwhile, is in favor of one design only: putting the highway below grade.
“It's the only option we're interested in,” says Gilvarg. “We realize that this is a national infrastructure project and there will be advantages to the project, but the advantages have not been to New Haven. You just can't build a highway in a vacuum anymore; you have to find better ways to fit highways into the community.”
Ramping up for commuter angst, Rideworks is busy promoting alternate travel arrangements. According to Executive Director Jean Stimolo, the group is heavily promoting the Shore Line East train service, along with shoreline commuter bus services (one is an express service along the highway, stopping at a commuter lot in each town; and the other travels along Route 1).
Other alternatives include car- and van-pooling and telecommuting (working from home two or more days per week).
“A lot of companies are participating in the 'Deduct-a-Ride' program, which is a federal program that provides incentives to use mass transit,” says Stimolo. Motorists will also be encouraged to use alternate routes to get in to New Haven, she adds, such as Route 80 and Route 1.
“We want to see as little increased traffic on New Haven city roads as possible,” adds the city's Gilvarg. “We're planning to make some improvements to some roads such as Quinnipiac Avenue, but we're not really expecting a lot of commuters to use a lot of back roads.”
Motorists can get up-to-date project information from the I-95 corridor improvement Web site, www.I95newhaven.com, by calling the construction hotline at 203-777-INFO, or contacting Rideworks at 1-800-ALL-RIDE. Rideworks officials are also available to visit companies and organizations about commuting options and DOT has also put together a team to talk about the construction project.
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