Mountinho driveway settlement hits snag
BRIDGEPORT -- The city's bid to settle a condominium group's lawsuit over Manuel "Manny" Moutinho's now roughly $500,000 driveway struck a roadblock with Stratford zoning officials this week. The town's Zoning Board of Appeals tabled its vote on the matter until April 1.
Meanwhile, Moutinho, who has been allied with Bridgeport in the fight against Breakwater Key residents' efforts to tear up his driveway, wants the city to reimburse him for an unspecified amount of legal fees. None of this helps Bridgeport meet a federal deadline to upgrade runway safety at Sikorsky Memorial Airport by 2016 -- the very project that led to the city's controversial hiring of Moutinho to build his own driveway. "That makes a tight schedule even tighter," said Edmund Schmidt, an attorney for Bridgeport. Bridgeport-owned Sikorsky Airport is located in Stratford. Moutinho and a handful of neighbors maintain access to their waterfront properties in Stratford over airport land. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING
Work to begin on two East Haddam bridge replacements
EAST HADDAM >> Construction on two new bridges along Route 82 past the Goodspeed Opera House on Main Street are set to begin next month, state transportation officials said Tuesday.
Department of Transportation Engineer Mary Baker said the bridges will benefit from a state-funded $4.5 million project that looks to replace the previous bridges that have “served their lifespan” since the 1920s. The new bridges that stretch over Succor Brook will be precast framed and constructed by Massachusetts-based ET&L Corporation, Baker said.
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“We’re pleased with the contractor that was selected for this project,” Baker said. “They’re also taking a proactive approach to minimizing the disturbance to the public as they go about the process.”
At a public information meeting on the project Tuesday night at Grange Hall, First Selectman Mark Walter said the construction will place a temporary hardship on the town and its local businesses, yet it’s something that needed to be addressed. “It’s not optional,” said Walter. “We’ve been planning this project for several years. The bridges are not unsafe yet, but if we delay this any further, they could become such.” lose to 75 people turned out for what Walter said was a very lively meeting, with some offering suggestions on how to contain the traffic flow around one the town’s busiest parts. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING
Blacks Rock bridge project set to begin in June
CHESHIRE — Blacks Road Bridge, which spans Honeypot Brook, will soon be replaced. Primary construction on the project, which voters approved in the November election, is set to begin in June and is expected to last four months. The project was originally an item in the town’s capital improvement budget, which allocated $850,000. It passed after a referendum in November, which is required of all projects costing more than $350,000. Cheshire is also eligible for a grant under the state’s Local Bridge Program that will cover 31.25 percent of the cost of the bridge. The Town Council authorized Town Manager Michael A. Milone to apply for the funds at its Feb. 11 meeting.
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Skiff Street Bridge in Hamden finally to get renovated
HAMDEN >> After a decade of postponing overdue construction on the Skiff Street bridge, the Legislative Council approved an agreement between the state and the town to rebuild it from the ground up. The bridge has been rated in poor condition by the Connecticut Department of Transportation since 2001 because of deteriorating concrete beams. Town Engineer Robert Brinton said after inspections by the state, the bridge was found to be continually in bad condition, caused by salt penetrating through the bridge. Costs for the project will be split between the town and state. A Federal Highway grant will fund 80 percent of the renovations, $208,000. The town will be dish out 20 percent of the costs, which is $52,000 . Funding for the project will support property easements and other necessary construction. Brinton said the bridge is located in a high-traffic area, can’t be shut down for renovations and will have to be rebuilt in phases. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING
ARTBA: Where Will Transportation Funding Come From?
The Obama Administration’s budget for FY 2015, released March 4, recommends investing $90.9 billion in transportation improvements, a proposed increase of $18.6 billion over the amount enacted for FY 2014, or a 25.7 percent increase. In a follow up to the President’s February 26 outline of his MAP-21 reauthorization priorities, the administration again called for a four-year, $302 billion surface transportation program from FY 2015 through FY 2018. The new proposal suggests combining the federal passenger rail program with the highway, transit and safety programs to create one surface transportation authorization, most of which would be funded out of the current Highway Trust Fund (HTF). The President proposes augmenting current HTF revenues with $150 billion from “transition revenue generated from pro-growth tax reform.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING