MIDDLETOWN >> The Army Corps of Engineers has chosen a Rhode Island company for a $1.3 million riverbank rehabilitation to protect Middletown’s drinking water supply. The Corps announced in July that Providence, R.I.-based civil and environmental engineers RC&D Inc. will shore up the quickly eroding riverbank adjacent to the John S. Roth Municipal Well Field off River Road, beginning in early September. City water and sewer Director Guy Russo explained that, while the state Department of Public Health requires a 50-foot setback from the river and the well field had once enjoyed a healthy cushion in excess of that figure, soil erosion had brought the river lapping to the edges of the required setback. “This has been an ongoing problem for 10 years,” said Russo. “Even in an emergency such as this, it takes a long time to fund and investigate.” But, said the director, the Corps is well-equipped to handle the remediation, and both DPH and the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection have been instrumental in organizing the project. “The work consists of stabilizing approximately 1,300 feet of riverbank along the right bank of the Connecticut River,” Robert Russo, a project manager for the Corps. “The work is required to stabilize the shoreline and prevent further erosion of the riverbank, which has threatened the city’s well field and public water supply.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Part of State Street to close for Meriden Hub project
MERIDEN — The northbound lane of State Street, beginning at East Main Street, is expected to be closed for months so work can proceed at the Meriden Hub. An announcement on the city’s website said the street was supposed to be closed beginning Thursday, Aug. 14. But it remained open and work had not started near State Street and East Main Street. City Planner Dominick Caruso said he is not sure when the street will reopen. Motorists are encouraged to use Pratt and Mill streets. The general contractor, LaRosa Construction, will be doing significant excavation near the corner and the street will need additional support to keep it in place, said Public Works Director Robert Bass.
“They have to drive sheet (pilings) in order to support the roads and to support the soil,” Bass said
Bristol to hear report on chances for downtown redevelopment
BRISTOL – An outside firm is scheduled to tell city leaders and the public on Monday night whether it sees a feasible way for Renaissance Downtowns to put together a team of investors to redevelop downtown. East Hartford-based Gorman & York Property Advisors has been reviewing Renaissance's proposal for building apartments on the site of the old Bristol Centre Mall.
Three years ago, Renaissance proposed a complex of mid-rise towers with apartments, commercial offices and first-floor retail, along with a 100-room hotel and a public plaza
But with no sign of major investors stepping forward, the company this year announced it would have to begin modestly with just one apartment tower — and would need city financing even for that. It suggested $6 million in municipal bonding, which drew howls from opponents and disappointment even from some of the company's advocates. Renaissance has acknowledged that major retailers won't be interested in downtown until there's a higher concentration of people — particularly younger, more affluent ones. It also said potential investors in any new market-rate housing complex are leery of downtown's demographics, which are skewed heavily toward the poor and the elderly. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Woodbridge residents, CT DOT officials clash on intersection work
WOODBRIDGE >> Residents who live near the intersection of Routes 63 and 67 are trying to fight the scope of a project to widen the intersection, install a traffic light and crosswalk. Resident Peter Aaronson, a leader in the group, said the project has a long history before work began last spring. He claims the plan is “based on old data” and “flawed analysis” of the data. The group released its own report and maintains the project will lead to more problems, including congestion, more accidents and pollution. “We may not win, but we’re not going to stop,” Aaronson said of the project underway through the state’s Department of Transportation. Aaronson called DOT officials “hardcore bureaucrats” who “need to continue to get a revenue flow to support government.” DOT spokesman Kevin Nursick said work on the $3 million project will continue. Nursick said the traffic signal will “efficiently and safely” allow for traffic operation at the intersection. Nursick said the road will be lowered by three feet to improve the sight line on Route 63, which will also be widened to allow two northbound lanes, one of which will be a through lane and the other a turn lane. “This is one of the few cases I can recall where someone’s upset a traffic signal is being installed,” Nursick said. Usually, he said, DOT is criticized for not installing traffic signals. To confuse matters, State Rep. Themis Klarides, R-114, flip-flopped on the matter in press release statements between July 10 and July 28, but would not return telephone calls asking for an explanation. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Highway construction drops 11% in June
Highway construction work dropped sharply in June, wiping out market gains from the previous seven months amid uncertainty over the federal aid highway program and the Highway Trust Fund, according to an American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) analysis of federal data. According to the data, the real value of highway work was $4.2 billion in June 2014, down from $4.7 billion in June 2013, when adjusted for material prices and inflation. This was the first month-to-like-month decline since November 2013 and the largest such decline in the past year. Highway construction had been showing some gains in early 2014, but the recent decline means that contractors have performed $17.8 billion in pavement work through the first half of 2014, compared to $17.4 billion in the first six months of 2013. The real value of bridge construction was $3 billion in June, increasing by three percent compared to June 2013. The pace of bridge work in 2014 continues at record levels, reaching $13.4 billion in the first six months compared to $12.9 billion during the same time period in 2013. Year-to-date growth is mostly flat across all other modes. The real value of construction work on railroad projects for January to June 2014 was flat compared to January to June 2013. Airport work was down 5.8 percent, while the real value of construction work for ports and waterways was up 3.7 percent.