A little over a week ago, a sign appeared at the gravel parking lot at the corner of Capitol Avenue and Broad Street in Hartford declaring it closed until Sept. 9 — but with no other explanation.
Funds from the New Britain-to-Hartford busway are paying for an upgrade of a state-owned parking lot in Hartford. Photo by Kenneth R. Gosselin/kgosselin@courant.com
Turns out the parking lot — on the site of a state building demolished in 2002 next to The Courant and Fox CT — is being upgraded to asphalt with new lighting and landscaping, including a fancy drainage system that will filter rainwater before it is discharged into the Park River.
A project paid for out of the state DOT’s operating budget?
No, out of the $567 million budget for the New Britain-to-Hartford busway, now renamed CTfastrak, state DOT spokesman Kevin Nursick told me.
The busway? True, the lot is close to where the busway will cross nearby Flower Street, but it won’t be used by riders on the controversial CTfastrack and it’s not near a busway stop. Flower Street will eventually be closed to through traffic.
Nursick said it isn’t unusual for the state to include “ancillary” projects as part of massive public works projects because they can be done more cheaply than if they were bid as separate projects. Typically, ancillary work is along or in the vicinity of the main project.
“It’s somewhat of a blight on the area,” Nursick said, of the gravel lot. “It is state-owned. We have a responsibility not to leave the city with a dirt lot.”
This stretch of Park Street also will see streetscape impovements paid for by busway funds. Photo by Kenneth R. Gosselin/kgosselin@courant.com.
Nursick couldn’t provide me with a cost for the parking lot project, but said it will be substantially less than what he estimates would be a “couple of hundred thousand dollar” standalone project.
Outside of some landscaping along the busway route, the only other major project is upgrading lighting and sidewalks along Park Street in Hartford from Sisson Avenue east to Pope Park. That project carries a $2 million price tag and involves extending improvements already existing farther east on Park Street.
The busway will have a stop on Park Street.
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13 Responses to Busway “Ancillary” Projects: Pork Or Good Fiscal Management?
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So much for transparency in government.
Imagine all the riders from downtown New Britain getting off the bus on Park Street! Does everyone else hear crickets?
At $9.7 million dollars a mile this political boondoggle’s only saving grace is when it is declared “kaput”, bicyclist will have a new trail.
Tommy’s Trolley went the way of the dinosaur, this will be sire to follow.
Now, what ever happened to the much ballyhooed Front St. Project???
“…the New Britain-to-Hartford busway, now renamed CTfastrak”
Wrong. Dr. Aki fixed it for you:
“…the New Britain-to-Hartford busway, now renamed Malloy’s Albatross”
At least we’re getting a parking lot paved for our $600 million, so it’s not all wasted!
No wonder the Hartford Courant was the only Connecticut newspaper to support this insane busway project. It is directly financially benefitting from it. So much for responsible transparent journalism!
Probably true too.
when parking lot plan was reviewed and approved by the City in 2002 it included paving, landscaping and appropriate fencing. Glad to see it is finally getting done!
If this includes a green strip between the lot and the street (required by law as I understand it) it’ll be a big improvement. Right now it’s an eyesore in a well-traveled area. Would prefer getting rid of some of the state parking lots altogether, but this is still a plus in my view!
So? So what? I’m really tired of hearing and reading about nothing. Get over it. This is called progress. And this is just a matter of fact thing. This article looks out of the talking points from john rowland’s desk. connecticut needs more things to happen to make it a vibrant community. we do not want to crawl in a hole and see NOTHING happen.
Some friend of Malloy’s got a payoff .
Ricbee, ya’ think? This whole thing is just a 100% taxpayer funded gift from the Democrats to their union masters. This will create only union jobs. A big portion of the union members’ dues will be dontated to Democratic candidates. Someday, probably not in my lifetime, this will be criminal conduct.Until then, in a one-party controlled state, the Democrats will get away with these scams.
As opposed to corporate bosses using corporate money to support republican campaigns instead creating jobs or lowering the price of fuel?