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Manchester directors choose bridge for park connection [The Hartford Courant](Hartford Courant (CT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sept. 23--MANCHESTER -- After a debate about which structure would be most appropriate to connect Broad Street to Center Springs Park, the board of directors on Tuesday decided a bridge was better than a tunnel. The board voted 6-3 in favor of a more costly bridge to span a cut in the old railroad embankment that carries the Cheney Rail Trail. The arched tunnel was to cost about $750,000; a bridge will add $150,000 to $450,000 to the total cost, officials said. But those in favor of the bridge said they liked the wider, more welcoming opening between the town-owned area targeted for redevelopment and the park. Mayor Jay Moran also said he opposed the tunnel because such places in other cities become magnets for graffiti, vagrancy, public urination and other problems. Board member Mark Tweedie said neighboring property owners told him they are concerned that a tunnel would become "a house" for vagrants. A bridge, Tweedie said, is "a less sheltering option." But board member Lisa O'Neill said she supported the archway tunnel design because it is attractive and would require less maintenance than a bridge. Also, O'Neill said, a bridge will invite more noise into the park, which is in a hollow in the center of town. Board member Rudy Kissmann also said he favored the tunnel, in part because of the extra cost of installing a bridge. That money, Kissmann said, could instead go into park improvements. But redevelopment agency Chairman Tim Devanney, who attended the morning meeting in town hall, said funds targeted for the Broad Street revival cannot be used for the park. Before the vote, General Manager Scott Shanley and Public Works Director Mark Carlino said the archway tunnel was about to be manufactured according to the existing contract, and the town had a narrow window to change the order. The tunnel contractor also can do the bridge project, they said. The entire project includes an ongoing culvert installation and the reopening of Edgerton Street, to be completed by the end of this year. Beyond designs for the park/Broad Street gateway, directors agreed that a key to realizing the most effective and aesthetically pleasing connection is the purchase of the Asian restaurant that now sits between the embankment cut and the street. The town has about $2.1 million left from a bond issue that voters approved in 2009 for the redevelopment project, and those funds could be used to purchase the property, officials said. No decision was made on that issue Tuesday. Also, the park pond needs to be revitalized if the entire scope of the Broad Street vision is to be realized, several board members said. Officials have said that park improvements are being planned, including better aeration of the pond. The board did not decide on a specific design for the bridge. Options include a "connector pedestrian truss," similar to bridges installed on the Charter Oak Greenway; a "capstone connector truss," which has a higher platform; and a "keystone pedestrian truss," which has a pronounced arch-support design. Once town leaders choose a design, abutments and the bridge could be installed during the first half of next year, Carlino said. Representatives of a development team hired to work on the Broad Street redevelopment have said repeatedly that wide open, visible access to Center Springs Park is a key to any project that goes forward on the town's 18 acres on Broad Street, formerly a blighted shopping center. Led by Montreal-based LiveWorkLearnPlay, the team has recommended projects that include a medical/educational campus, an "eco-village" focused on healthy, active lifestyles, and a combination of those first two options. ___ (c)2014 The Hartford Courant (Hartford, Conn.) Visit The Hartford Courant (Hartford, Conn.) at www.courant.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |