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Health & Fitness

Delays Plague I-395 Service Plazas

The rescheduled reopening of the Plainfield Service Plazas and late start of construction of the Montville Service Plaza add to the delays experienced in the service plaza renovation project.

June 28, 2012
Work on three Eastern Connecticut service plazas on I-395 are more than two months behind schedule.
The Montville Service Plaza will close for renovations in September after the Plainfield Service Plazas reopen at the end of August, according to Sheri Dell, a representative from Project Service LLC. 
It is anticipated that the Montville plaza will reopen in June 2013.  Project Service is the contractor responsible for renovating all 23 highway service plazas on I-395, I-95, and the Merritt and Wilbur Cross Parkways (Route 15). 
The Montville facility was slated to close in early July after the mid-June reopening of the Plainfield Plazas. 
Michael Modine, Director of Operations for Project Service, said the delay was caused by septic system issues.
The Plainfield plazas, located near the exit 90 interchange, closed for renovations in October 2011.
Hubert E. Butler Construction Company performed site work, environmental remediation, and utility work at Plainfield.
They also completed a septic system upgrade at Montville in July 2011 and performed drainage maintenance to various plazas in July 2010.  
History of Delays
The last plazas renovated by Project Service were on I-95 in which experienced delays after closing in December 2010. 
The northbound plaza reopened in mid March 2012 while the southbound plaza reopened late April 2012, they were both scheduled to reopen in December 2011.  Prior to this, two North Haven Route 15 plazas closed in July 2010 and were slated for a late November 2010 reopening.
The southbound plaza reopened late April 2011 while the northbound plaza reopened late June 2011.
It has been reported that those delays were the result of unforeseen issues caused by weather, environmental cleanup, design changes, and ripple effects of increased traffic to neighboring plazas during severe weather events. 
New Vendors and Amenities
The three 3,500-square-foot plazas on I-395 will see the introduction of three new vendors.  
Subway and Dunkin’ Donuts will be added but neither will feature drive-thrus. 
A Fast Freddie’s Convenience Store will replace the Mobil Marts while the Mobil gas stations will be renovated.
The plazas are expected to meet top environmental silver LEED standards, like North Haven, which features solar panels, state of-the-art energy efficient heating and air conditioning units, and restrooms that use less water and feature motion-activated lights. 
New tourism information kiosks, designed by Ionescu Technologies, will be at plazas statewide.
 Interstate 95 Progress
Modine said that the northbound facility closed March 22, the northbound plaza closed April 17, and the Darien southbound facility closed April 30.
It is expected that the Branford southbound plaza will close late this summer.
All four facilities should reopen in about a year. 
Plazas in and Fairfield are expected to then close and reopen a year later.
Route 15 Update 
Modine said that the Merritt Parkway Fairfield facilities have closed for renovations and are slated for a late October 2012 reopening.
The Greenwich plazas are slated to close early fall 2012 and reopen early summer 2013.
The Orange facilities are scheduled for a December 2012 closure and reopen September 2013. 
The New Canaan plazas are expected to close mid-summer 2013 and reopen spring 2014. 
As with all the plazas, “the redevelopment process will be tailored so that contiguous facilities are never closed.”
Worth the Wait 
The renovated plazas in Milford and North Haven proved to be worth the wait for travelers and the same is expected for Plainfield and Montville. 
Have you visited the Montville and Plainfield Service Plazas? What suggestions do you have? Have you been to the renovated plazas in Milford and North Haven and what do you think?

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