Malloy talks transportation infrastructure fixes in Berlin
BERLIN — There’s a general belief that Connecticut’s biggest weaknesses in making itself an attractive place to do business and in turn hindering its ability to grow economically lies with its dilapidated roads, bridges and its aging highway and rail systems. The time has come, Gov. Dannel Malloy said Thursday at the Connecticut Association of Street and Highway Officials annual meeting, to fix that by continually investing in the state’s transportation infrastructure. He said the proposed state transportation budget for 2015 represents a 165 percent increase in funding compared to 2010 levels and includes about $1.4 billion to fund the largest transportation capital program in Connecticut’s history. “I have a strong belief that Connecticut has underinvested in its infrastructure for a long period of time, perhaps over a 40-year period of time,” he said. “We are paying the price.”
Malloy said that poor infrastructure results in longer commute times, traffic jams on highways, and increased labor and fuel costs. Some of that, the governor hopes will be cured by a plan to invest $345 million for bus and rail upgrades and $1.4 billion to improve highways and bridges, which will directly affect local communities such as New Britain and Berlin. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Howard Street parking lot added to plans for New London's Shaw Cove
New London - The Shaw's Cove area could be the site of significant development in the next year, with a 450-space parking lot now proposed down the street from a planned retail and residential complex announced last fall. Tony Silvestri, who managed the New London Harbour Towers project and the ongoing City Flats housing restoration plan, has been working with the Renaissance City Development Association to develop plans for a parking lot at the corner of Howard and Hamilton streets. Kyle Klewin, a partner in Klewin Development of Groton, received approval last month from the Planning and Zoning Commission for a development at the corner of Bank and Howard streets consisting of a grocery store on the ground level and apartments on three floors above. He expects to break ground within a year. The 5-acre parcel proposed for the parking lot once included the site of a New London landmark, Hughie's restaurant. It's under the control of the RCDA, the successor to the New London Development Corp. Silvestri said the parking lot he is proposing could help alleviate some of the issues created by Electric Boat employees parking on Pequot Avenue and on nearby residential streets. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Developer to allow archaeologists to monitor site
NEW HAVEN >> A downtown developer has agreed to allow the state archaeologist to observe the excavation of a building site that may contain historical artifacts. State archaeologist Nicholas F. Bellantoni said Friday that Middletown-based CenterPlan will let him “monitor activities and recover and record any artifacts.” Bellantoni already has visited the site, located at College Street, between George and Crown streets, where CenterPlan is building a $50 million, mixed-use development.
“My field review suggests that the artifacts and structural features encountered thus far date to the late-19th and early 20th centuries,” Bellantoni said. The agreement comes after public outcry led by New Haven resident Robert Greenberg. A citizen historian, Greenberg contended that a portion of the College Street site has remained untouched by industrial construction since the founding of New Haven in 1638. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
New Haven industrial site to be transformed to housing
NEW HAVEN >> A derelict industrial site that has generated intense interest in the Goatville neighborhood is on its ways to conversion to more than 200 apartments. The City Plan Commission has approved the site plan for the units at the shuttered Star Supply building on State Street, which abuts the long-closed railroad bridge on the same street, just past the intersection with East Street.
A total of 235 residential units will be constructed to replace the warren of buildings that have been empty for some time, an eyesore, but a site with a lot of potential that neighbors wanted to see put to its highest and best use. An earlier version was rejected over the number of units and parking spaces, as well as the height. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Apprentices make the world go round
The only good news about a national shortage of construction industry workers is that economic recovery for the industry is not yet here. The unsettling thought is that when boom times finally do return, contractors won't have enough team members to benefit from it.
Associated General Contractors is concerned enough that it has rolled out "A Workforce Development Plan for the 21st Century." It proposes that Congress respond to the crisis in a variety of ways including immigration reform that encourages undocumented workers to keep working and lets more such workers cross the border.
Other proposals include enabling legislation for more construction-focused charter schools, new rules to lure veterans into training programs, and a law allowing open-shop contractors to jointly fund construction training programs as union-shop contractors already can. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
HTF needs cash infusion by late summer
Based on current spending and revenue trends, the U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that the Highway Account of the Highway Trust Fund will encounter a shortfall before the end of fiscal year (FY) 2014 according to a report issued this week. According to the report, the Highway Account began FY 2014 with approximately $1.6 billion in cash. A $9.7 billion transfer from the General Fund to the Highway Account was processed shortly after the start of the fiscal year ($10.4 billion authorized in MAP-21, reduced by sequestration). The surface transportation program continues to outlay at a greater pace than receipts are coming in. As a result, the cash balance has dropped by nearly $3.5 billion since the General Fund transfer occurred. As of March 28, 2014, the Highway Account cash balance was $8.4 billion. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE