June 6, 2014

CT Construction Digest June 6, 2014

CT shrinks I-84 plans as federal dollars shrink

Washington -- The Malloy administration has quietly dropped plans to add another lane to I-84 from the New York border to Waterbury. A few weeks ago, the Connecticut Department of Transportation asked the Federal Highway Administration to drop plans to add a lane to I-84 for 32 miles. They have been in the works since 2005. “The purposes of the proposed improvements were to improve safety and provide increased capacity to meet future traffic demand,” the FHA said in a Federal Register notice.  But “due to the re-prioritization of major transportation projects in Connecticut and funding constraints” the state has scrapped the plan. The proposed I-84 expansion would have cost $3 to $4 billion dollars. Connecticut and most other states rely on the federal government for the lion’s share of its transportation funding. But how to fund construction of the nation’s roads and bridges, like most other issues in Washington, is subject to a bitter partisan debate. Because Congress can’t agree on how to fund federal road projects, money for the highway trust fund, which is financed by largely by gasoline taxes, will run out in a few weeks. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Berlin seeks state help to clean toxic site

BERLIN – A polluted vacant factory, now owned by the town through foreclosure, needs state review prior to its use as part of an ambitious renovation plan to build a downtown center surrounding the century-old train station. The former Pioneer Precision Products parcel on 889 Farmington Ave. is under state cleanup orders issued to the previous owner prior to town foreclosure in 2010. The old order needs to be rescinded so the town can submit updated remdiation plans proposed by a consulting engineer, town economic development director Jim Mahoney said Thursday. "We want to clean the site and put a cap on it, so not to disturb the soil and prevent directexposure" to the industrial machine tool oils and solvents that got into the earth during decades of factory use when environmental laws were less strict. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Southington approves $20M recycling plant

SOUTHINGTON — Zoning approval of an organic recycling plant proposed for 37 acres off Spring Street includes a stipulation that odor be controlled so not to bother any neighbors, Town Manager Garry Brumback said Thursday. "The decision takes into account the concerns raised by neighbors" who were in favor of the proposal but said at public hearings they wanted no odor problems if it is built, Brumback said. The town planning and zoning commission Tuesday night approved the request from Turning Earth Inc. of Pennsylvania to build a $20 million facility to turn collected food waste into biogas, which will be burned to produce electricity, and turn collected yard waste into compost for improving soils.The recycling plant also will include industrial-size greenhouses powered by the electricity, where vegetables will be grown.  CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Mayor for dropping I-84 widening project west of city

WATERBURY — Mayor Neil M. O'Leary supports the state's decision to scrap plans to widen Interstate 84 west of Waterbury to the New York border in favor of more pressing concerns.
"In a perfect world, we would love to have another lane from here to Danbury," O'Leary said. "But the absolute inhibitor of economic development in Waterbury is the afternoon and morning logjam between here and Southington." He said that he and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy met three years ago and discussed priorities for the region. O'Leary said the widening of I-84 to the east of Waterbury is at the top of the list. If the Waterbury-to-Danbury project had to be abandoned to fund the widening of I-84 between Waterbury and Cheshire — which is scheduled to begin next year — O'Leary wouldn't be too disappointed. "There's just no comparison between the two from a priority and fairness perspective," O'Leary said. Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-5th District, said she knows too well the traffic problems on I-84 in Waterbury, saying the 3-mile expansion of the highway to the east of downtown "will reduce traffic on our roads, increase productivity for local businesses and put people back to work." "But there's a lot more we need to do to fix our aging roads and rebuild our bridges," she said. As a member of the U.S House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Esty said she's working on "predictable federal investments to improve our aging infrastructure."
State Rep. Rob Sampson, R-Wolcott, who is a vocal opponent of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's policies, agreed that work needs to be done to ease highway congestion. But if Malloy is re-evaluating transportation priorities, Sampson has another suggestion: "It does make you wonder how the governor can justify the spending on the New Britain-to-Hartford busway," he said.