Politics & Government

Public Hearing Scheduled on Proposed Route 20/Route 75 Exit Ramp Realignment

The proposed modification is part of plans to improve traffic conditions on Route 75 as well as a mixed-use development on 17 acres next to the ramp.

Windsor Locks selectmen Tuesday scheduled a public hearing on a proposal to realign the westbound exit ramp at Route 20 and Route 75.

The hearing will be held at 7 p.m. on July 12 in the Ella Grasso Room of , 50 Church Street.

Kevin Casey, project manager for BDL Real Estate Holdings LLC, told the Windsor Locks Board of Selectmen in that his company has reached an agreement with the state Department of Transportation that moves the proposed project forward.

The exit ramp project is estimated by the state to cost about $4.6 million, officials said. But, Casey said in May they disagree with that estimate and believe it will cost about $3.5 million.

The project would be funded with state, local, federal and private money, First Selectman Steven N. Wawruck Jr. has said. The funding includes a $2.6 million from the federal government, $278,000 from the state, $250,000 from Windsor Locks, and the developer has invested $500,000 in design costs. The developer will seek other private funding as well, he added.

The company plans a mixed use development at the location.  Casey told selectmen the company will be submitting concept plans about the proposed development to the town’s planning agencies including the planning and zoning commission and inland-wetlands commission. Casey said they have already spoken informally to the planning and zoning commission about what they are proposing, and have hired a wetlands expert to address any wetlands concerns the town may have.

Casey said BDL Real Estate Holdings plans to propose a multi-modal, transportation-oriented mixed use development, which will be called “Governor’s Station,” in honor and remembrance of Windsor Lock’s favorite daughter, the late Governor Ella T. Grasso.  Preliminary plans call for a combination of market rate apartments and condominiums, hotel(s), and commercial pad sites, and will likely include retail and commercial uses such as restaurants, a health club, bank and professional office uses.  

The project will create a new “gateway” to the Bradley aerotropolis, the broader area surrounding Bradley International Airport, an economic engine that is increasing in importance to the state and region, Casey said. 


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