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Rell Pressed On I-84 Democrat Legislators Want Repairs To Start Immediately By EDMUND H. MAHONY Courant Staff Writer May 1 2007 Democrats in the state legislature pressed the Rell administration Monday to further inspect a botched highway improvement project on I-84 for safety hazards and urged the governor to begin repairs immediately, regardless of the cost. The Democrats, led by the transportation committee chairman, Sen. Donald DeFronzo of New Britain, said they were troubled by inconsistencies about the highway's safety in statements made in recent weeks by federal and state highway engineers. The Federal Highway Administration two weeks ago told state transportation officials that it was withholding the final $5 million of the federal government's $60 million subsidy for the I-84 project to force the state to thoroughly examine safety issues and, if necessary, begin immediate repairs. The federal regulators said they were concerned that drainage failures and resulting erosion could create roadway cave-ins. "Our intent is to require ConnDOT to conduct a comprehensive risk assessment of the hundreds of defective work items on this project, and to utilize federal-aid funded work to proactively approach safety on this critical transportation facility," Bradley Keazer, who directs the Federal Highway Administration's Connecticut office, said in a letter to the state transportation department. The state Department of Transportation said two weeks ago - and Gov. M. Jodi Rell's office repeated Monday - that the 3-mile highway reconfiguration project on the east side of Waterbury has been inspected by a private consultant and any pressing safety issues have been corrected. "On that particular issue, DOT, through (the private consultant), did the complete underground video work and ground penetrative radar and they are confident that they have identified the immediate threats to safety and have corrected those," Rell spokesman Christopher Cooper said Monday. Cooper said State Transportation Commissioner Ralph Carpenter will meet with the Federal Highway Administration today to make sure that any outstanding safety questions are being addressed. DeFronzo also called on Rell to begin immediate repairs to I-84 and not limit the scope of the work to the $19 million now available from the state's primary highway contractor and the insurer that guaranteed its work. The now defunct L.G. DeFelice construction company was the primary contractor, hired to build the reconfiguration for $52 million. The state hired The Maguire Group for $6 million to inspect DeFelice's work. The state recovered $1.5 million from DeFelice and obtained a $17.5 million settlement from its insurer. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal broke off talks with Maguire without reaching a settlement. Blumenthal has since sued DeFelice and Maguire in an effort to obtain more money, accusing them of a staggering list of construction and inspection failures, including flaws in 90 percent of the roadway drainage system, some of which was built with substandard material. The state obtained two repair estimates from two private consultants. After receiving the first estimate, for $27 million, the state hired the second consultant, which placed the cost of the repairs at $19 million. "The governor has sort of drawn a line, saying she doesn't want to spend more than the estimate of $19 million," DeFronzo said. "And that's fine. If we can get it done for $19 million, I think we'll all be happy with that. But I don't think we should prevent those repairs from going forward because any arbitrary number has been selected. If it costs more than the $19 million, then it costs more than the $19 million. But I believe the attorney general will try to recoup all costs related to this." Rell has said she will force the contractors to pay for the repairs and not pass the additional costs to taxpayers. Her office did not respond immediately Monday to DeFronzo's call to begin immediate repair work. DeFronzo, joined by Sen. Andrea Stillman, D-Waterford, also urged Rell and the state transportation department to begin making public all state records related to the I-84 job, including the state employees assigned to the project and their duties. The senators also urged the administration to instruct the transportation department to make public copies of subpoenas it has received related to an investigation of the I-84 job by the FBI and U.S. attorney's office. The transportation department has said it will not make public the names and responsibilities of employees assigned to the I-84 job because the project is under federal investigation. Contact Edmund H. Mahony at emahony@courant.com. Copyright 2007, Hartford Courant |