Asylum Street make over

[beerbeer]

Not a big deal but Asylum from Main to Trumbull wll under go a face lift. It will be widened and have new sidewalks and antique looking lighting.

I hope they don't turn it into a race track which is what happens whenever the DOT is involved.

[HartfordTycoon]

Not a big deal but Asylum from Main to Trumbull wll under go a face lift. It will be widened and have new sidewalks and antique looking lighting.

I hope they don't turn it into a race track which is what happens whenever the DOT is involved.

I just hope they do a good job and re-do the whole street eventually, along with Trumbull and Main and pretty much all of the streets Downtown. We need alot of things done to give it that real city feel, overhead street signs would be a good start as well.

[LItoCT]

I just hope they do a good job and re-do the whole street eventually, along with Trumbull and Main and pretty much all of the streets Downtown. We need alot of things done to give it that real city feel, overhead street signs would be a good start as well.

Do you mean like green highway signs? I couldn't see those in a downtown district, but I think I'm not getting what kind of signs you mean.

[HartfordTycoon]

Do you mean like green highway signs? I couldn't see those in a downtown district, but I think I'm not getting what kind of signs you mean.

NO. Not Highway signs, I mean overhead street signs like those in Manhattan and Atlanta and probably most other major cities. The kind where you don't have to look at a little tiny ass sign on the corner to see what street you are trying to turn onto because it is in front of you where the stop lights are.

[LItoCT]

NO. Not Highway signs, I mean overhead street signs like those in Manhattan and Atlanta and probably most other major cities. The kind where you don't have to look at a little tiny ass sign on the corner to see what street you are trying to turn onto because it is in front of you where the stop lights are.

Oh, I got ya, and yeah, I totally agree.

[MadVlad]

Any idea why they are widening it?

[Bill Mocarsky]

What part of the street are they widening, the roadway, sidewalks or both?

[SOCOM]

^ my guess is that they are going to widen it to accomodate on street parking on both sides of the street. The only other reason to widen it would be to make it a two-way street, but I didn't hear anything about that.

While this is a tiny project in the context of everything else going on downtown, this is a big step forward IMO. Aesthetically, Hartford's downtown streets are too bland and car oriented. Hopefully this is just the beginning of the transformation of many more streets in the near future. I remember reading an article over a year ago about Trumbull getting a full makeover, but haven't heard anything since. The Trumbull/Pearl Street area is poised to be a new residential superblock, so they better get busy with improving the streetscape.

[SOCOM]

What part of the street are they widening, the roadway, sidewalks or both?

wfsb.com

[The Voice of Reason]

The streetscape of Asylum Street between Trumbull and Main will begin Monday.

I noticed all the marking on the road over the last week. it looks like modern art from my window

Up untill I lose my job (august?) I will try and keep this thread updated with pictures etc.

The HBJ posted this article today

http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news8355.html

I am having trouble finding out additional information however.

http://www.hartford.gov/news/PRAsylumStreet.pdf

This is the PDF from the city regarding the project from something like 2005

I have a call into the dept of public works to find out more.

I will assume it is going to be just like the trumbull streetscape, but since this is a narrow road and the document above states street widening I am a little concerned as to the scope.

[The Voice of Reason]

I got the PDF from the city today.

This is a much larger project than I thought. This is not simply replacing sidewalks etc, it is a complete re-work of the street.

apparently the city does not know if the old vaults under the sidewalks still exist or not, so the contractor will have to gently remove everything and assess every inch of the street. the city will have to come in and make plans for removal of any vault that may still be there. The vaults were supposed to be removed when the buildings were demoed back in the 80s.

The contractor also has to give NU unlimited access to the site so they can replace everything under the street. This is supposed to take about 4 weeks.

Most importantly the North side of the street will completely change. Mckinnons will lose about 6 inches of curb it seems, but from the corner of the building the curb will push back the entire length of the street making the parking lot smaller for a great deal of the street, the area that is now sidewalk will be street, and a wider sidewalk will be behind that. The news stand will not move, but be about 10 feet closer to Asylum street. Also that Northern corner with Main street will be greatly rounded taking maybe 15-20 feet off the tip of that corner allowing much easier turning onto Asylum. The southern corner with Main will actually be extended slightly over what is there now in a kind of bulbus maner to match the new curve on the N side. The curb on the South side of the street will be extended the entire lenght. 1, maybe 2 feet.

the end result will be a road that is a full two lanes wide with on street parking on the South side. The 2 lanes will both be able to go streight, and each be able to turn right or left respectively. The sidewalk will aslo be wider on both sides except a tad bit skinnier in front of Mckinnons.

[Hartford BID]

The new streetscape on Asylum will pull the brick look of Main Street west as opposed to extending the Trumbull Street paver look east. We are told that most of the work will start on the north side of the street for the first several months limiting major sidewalk disruption to the businesses on the south side until later this summer.

Also, interestingly, its a state funded project so the City is required to have a supervisor on site at all times.

http://hartfordbidness.blogspot.com/2009/0...project-to.html

[The Voice of Reason]

The new streetscape on Asylum will pull the brick look of Main Street west as opposed to extending the Trumbull Street paver look east. We are told that most of the work will start on the north side of the street for the first several months limiting major sidewalk disruption to the businesses on the south side until later this summer.

Also, interestingly, its a state funded project so the City is required to have a supervisor on site at all times.

http://hartfordbidness.blogspot.com/2009/0...project-to.html

[The Voice of Reason]

Work has officially begun.

There are Jersey barriers up and an excavater breaking up the street in front of Mckinnons.

[beerbeer]

Is there an illustration of the finished product?

[The Voice of Reason]

Is there an illustration of the finished product?

[mikel]

Bittersweet to see this work done. I think we all would've rather had those beautiful buildings back lining a thinner Asylum St, but the despicable Society for Savings seems to have ruined that dream forever.

[MichaelQReilly]

Bittersweet to see this work done. I think we all would've rather had those beautiful buildings back lining a thinner Asylum St, but the despicable Society for Savings seems to have ruined that dream forever.

[The Voice of Reason]

I am impressed with the speed these guys are moving right now.

They have been working almose exclusively in front of McKinnons so far so they do not disrupt business for too long.

but I am gonna have top bring my camera tomorrow.

the curb is INSTALLED for half of the street on the north side. and today the new sidewalk was poured for a stretch running from the pro park parking lot exit down to the corner in front of McKinnons. at least thats how it looks from my office.

tommorow I take pictures for your benefit.

[The Voice of Reason]

I guess these should be merged

[The Voice of Reason]

Yeah I brought the G-10 to work today

will likely get some closer pics this afternoon.

you can see the new granite curb running halfway down the street. this gives a good idea how much wider the street will be.

[The Voice of Reason]

now, notice the brickwork. this is down my Mckinnons.

I love the streetscape projects that have been done in Hartford. They can really change the way a city looks. Asylum has always been run down and dark looking, but the blacktop is a lot of the look.

[The Voice of Reason]

Rounding the corner today.

I think the newstand is still open while they remove the sidewalk around it. we will see if they have to close it tomorrow.

the new curbing will come right up under the edge of the octagon on the S. Side of the building so it will be tricky.

These guys are definately moving right along.

[jcrc]

does anyone have a drawing of the street scape after work is completed? What kind of improvement are we talking about?

[The Voice of Reason]

does anyone have a drawing of the street scape after work is completed? What kind of improvement are we talking about?