Washington -- As part of a campaign to lobby for federal funds, the One Rail Coalition, composed of freight, passenger train and labor groups, cited the replacement of the Niantic River Bridge as a “success story” that proves federal help to railroads is a good investment.
Replacement of the bridge, built in 1907 and used by Amtrak and freight trains, was completed last year. The project cost $154 million, all paid with federal funds. Half consisted of federal stimulus funds, the other half came from Amtrak’s capital fund, which is also financed by the federal government. The One Rail Coalition also highlighted other rail projects it said made passenger rail travel safer, faster, and less costly. But Congress has not authorized a central source of funding for passenger rail. Funding comes from various sources and is not dependable, said Amtrak spokeswoman Petra Todorovich Messick.
“Our funding in unpredictable, and it’s difficult to initiate capital projects,” she said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Turner Construction Company announces development of program to accelerate payments to subcontractors
Turner Accelerated Payment Program improves subcontractor cash flow and strengthens their balance sheets
New York, NY (PRWEB) December 02, 2014
Turner Construction Company announced today that it has worked closely with Textura Corporation (NYSE: TXTR) and Greensill Capital to develop a new program that accelerates payments to subcontractors. The Turner Accelerated Payment Program™, which the company anticipates it will begin rolling out in early 2015, will significantly accelerate payments to subcontractors thereby improving their cash flow and strengthening their balance sheets. Textura will provide the systems platform for this program via its Construction Payment Management™ (CPM™) program, while Greensill will perform the underwriting and provide the funding.
Turner recently began a company-wide implementation of Textura CPM™ to make the payment management process more efficient for Turner, its contractors, and its clients, and to facilitate deployment of the Accelerated Payment Program™.
“Turner signs more than 24,000 contracts with contractors on 1,500 projects on a total of $10 billion of construction projects annually. We developed this program because improving cash flow to subcontractors addresses one of their challenges and we expect it will reduce risks and lower costs for Turner and our clients,” said Karen Gould, chief financial officer of Turner. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Black Rock apartments taking shape
BRIDGEPORT -- While a pair of long-delayed Black Rock developments look to be on track, the wait continues on a heavily trafficked neighborhood corner.
Two lots -- one vacant, the other with construction stopped for years -- are to be the site of apartments that supporters hope will add foot traffic and support local businesses.
At 3336 Fairfield Ave., not far from the Fairfield line, a lot that backs on Ash Creek saw construction come to a halt after the housing crash and recession of 2007. But a recovering economy brought the project back, and final approvals were granted last month. Construction has restarted on 56 market-rate units with two parking spaces for each. Public waterfront access will also be provided.
Up the street, an empty lot on Fairfield Avenue between Courtland Avenue and Clarkson Street has received final approvals for 50 rental units with on-site parking. Earlier plans had called for condominiums, but an abundance of units in the area and difficulty in attracting financing led to the revised proposal. Local leaders say they are encouraged by the developments.
"It's been very active on Fairfield Avenue," said Gerry Manning, president of the Black Rock Neighborhood Revitalization Zone. "Things have really heated up." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Town manager drafts letter of intent for East Hampton gas pipeline
EAST HAMPTON >> Once natural gas service is brought to town, the goal is to continue expanding the service area in coming years, Town Manager Michael Maniscalco said on Monday.
Maniscalco is continuing to work with Connecticut Natural Gas to iron out details of a proposal to install nine miles of a gas line through the center of town beginning in 2015. At the direction of the Town Council, Maniscalco has prepared a Letter of Intent that has been sent to CNG for their approval and signature. Once the letter of intent is signed by CNG, Maniscalco said, the two sides will then prepare formal service contracts that will clear the way for CNG to begin laying pipe in the spring of 2015.
Once the service contracts are signed, CNG will go along the pipeline route “and contact major developments along the route and ask them, ‘Do you want to sign up to be connected?’” Maniscalco said. If so, the company will provide an estimate of the costs to tie-in to the system, the manager said.
In the coming years, the company will contact other existing developments and/or neighborhoods in town and ask residents there, too, if they would like to tie in, Maniscalco said. “That’s the plan,” for the coverage area to grow wider in each succeeding year,” Maniscalco said. The preliminary plans calls for the pipeline to come out of St. Clements Castle the followed Route 66 to the split where it will then follow Route 16 east until it turns north and runs up through the Village Center along Main Street to rejoin Route 66 and continue on through town along Route 66 to Marlborough. A line will branch off at the intersection of East High Street and Main Street to tie in to the high school. In all, the proposed pipeline will be approximately nine miles long. Installation is projected to cost some $5.7 million, according to information provided to the town by CNG. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Southington secures $1M grant for library project
SOUTHINGTON — Expanding and renovating Southington’s 40-year-old library building is one step closer to a reality after the town received a $1 million grant from the Connecticut State Library Board. The grant will likely be put toward library renovations expected to cost up to $13 million. The project calls for an addition of about 23,000-square-feet to the library with larger and more meeting rooms, and the expansion of the children’s library. Remodeling the library would also make it compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. “Now that money is set aside for us, we have three years to raise the rest of the funds necessary to build a new building,” library Executive Director Sue Smayda said. “It’s wonderful to have that money in our pocket, but now the real, big work starts.” The state board approved the grant application at its Nov. 25 meeting. Smayda hopes to raise about $500,000 in local donations toward the project. The rest of the money would come from the town and must be approved at referendum, she said. If the money is not raised within three years, the library loses the grant. “When you look over some of the information that was important in terms of the need, Southington’s population has increased 30 percent since the current library building was built,” said John Barry, a town councilor and chairman of the State Library Board. “We know that there are space needs and infrastructure problems. It’s important that we’re providing more space for the collections. The demand is out there.” Each year, the state distributes between $3 million and $4 million to libraries for construction purposes. Smayda said the grant process is competitive. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
ConnDot resurfaced 305 miles in 2014
The Connecticut Department of Transportation resurfaced 305 two-lane miles of roadways this construction season, a 26 percent increase over last year.
The additional mileage was the result of an extra $11.9 million spent by the state this year. In total, Connecticut spent $68.9 million resurfacing roads in 2014, up from $57 million in 2013.
ConnDOT typically resurfaces 225-250 miles annually out of its 4,100 roads and highways. The extra effort this year is the result of more focus on keeping the state's transportation systems in a state of good repair, ConnDOT Commissioner James Redeker said.
Edgerton Street Culvert Project in Manchester Completed
MANCHESTER — Bigelow Brook is flowing from Center Springs Pond through the newly installed Edgerton Street culvert, and the long-closed road will be reopened to traffic by the end of the year. The project will also include a pedestrian bridge spanning a wide cut in the old rail embankment that runs between Center Springs Park and Broad Street. The culvert was installed at the bottom of that cut. The entire project is expected to be completed by early summer, 2015, Public Works Director Mark Carlino said Tuesday. Last week, the section of Edgerton Street that had been torn up during construction was repaved, Carlino said. Over the next two weeks, crews will install signs, trim trees and do other maintenance work, he said. The $1.5 million project was prompted by the failure of the Edgerton Street drainage system, which became obvious when a sinkhole opened on the road in 2009. Soon after the street was closed, the redevelopment agency, as part of an overall plan to revive the Broad Street commercial area, recommended connecting Center Springs Park and Broad Street by opening the rail embankment, which carries the Cheney Rail Trail. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE