Time is overdue for transportation improvements
We're looking forward to Wednesday and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's promised plan for bold, long-term improvement of Connecticut's squeezed and wheezing transportation systems.
These systems, notably the woeful Metro-North rail line and the sclerotic arteries of interstates and parkways as they pass through the state's cities, are increasingly serious impediments to vibrancy in this small, strategically located state.
These systems pose near daily problems that prod us toward quick, specific fixes. And to be sure, ongoing work is needed. But the larger challenge is - and the governor seems prepared to stare it down - is to look not weeks, months or years ahead at serial repairs, but to conjure a vision for the future and decide how transportation is going to shape, complement and drive the future of Connecticut and the region.
In his inaugural address last month, Malloy "We know that transportation and economic growth are bound together. States that make long-term investments in their infrastructure can have vibrant economies for generations. States that don't will struggle. It's that simple," he said.
"We have more to do, because traffic congestion still costs the average person an extra 42 hours away from your family each year. And for our economy, it's the equivalent of $97 million in lost time and wasted fuel, each and every day. All told, roads and bridges that are either deficient or overly congested cost Connecticut drivers a total of $4.2 billion annually."
Malloy has already proposed a fix for a systemic ailment that has, at least in part, brought transportation to its lowly position: the irresistible impulse by politicians of all stripes - and in all locales - to dip into various funds designated for a specific purpose and to use that money to pay for something else. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Options for a bigger, better XL Center
HARTFORD — Consultants studying how the city's XL Center can be turned into a modern, competitive arena will offer three options — two arguing for the addition of a second concourse — and raise the question, once again, of bringing back big-time professional hockey.
The consulting team, headed by SCI Architects of New York, will formally present these options to the board of the Capital Region Development Authority on Thursday:
•Work within the current arena.
•Expand the arena out to Trumbull Street or over Church Street, or both.
•Demolish the existing structure and construct a larger building on the same site.
"If we don't want to do any of these, then the fourth option comes," Michael W. Freimuth, the CRDA's executive director, said. "This building is on, for all intents and purposes, a slow glide path to closure. The current configuration just doesn't make business sense. But I think we bought ourselves a little time to make this decision with the investment we just completed."
The recent $35 million in renovations — sprucing up a drab interior, opening a fan club facing the arena, and adding "premium" seating lower in the arena — will carry the now 40-year-old arena for the next three to five years. SCI's study focuses on the future going into the next decade.
Moving the arena elsewhere isn't an option, under the SCI study. The city has said it wants the arena to stay where it is, rather than leave a big, gaping hole downtown. The new location that would have made the most sense, Freimuth said, is off the table: Downtown North, where ground will be broken Tuesday on a minor-league baseball stadium.
The stakes are high for the XL Center. The venue already is losing concerts — big moneymakers — to the casinos in southeastern Connecticut. And with the prospect in the next few years of another casino in Springfield, just 20 minutes away, the competition will only intensify, Freimuth said, even if it isn't creating new concert space. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Power plant to save you $34
OXFORD — Connecticut residents would pay about $34 less per year for their electricity if the proposed CPV Towantic Energy Center is built.
According to an exhibit submitted to the Connecticut Siting Council by Massachusetts-based Competitive Power Ventures, Connecticut customers would save $34.12 if the 805-megawatt natural gas power plant went online."We think every bit helps and it's much better that prices are going down than the other way, which is usually the case," said Steve Sullivan, a spokesman for CPV.
Sullivan said the savings could end up being more than $30 per year, depending on the region's capacity markets."By virtue of the fact that we were accepted into the market last week suggests that we will reduce capacity costs as well; we can't just state definitively how much," Sullivan said. "It depends on how many facilities retire and come online. It's a simple law of supply and demand. We're adding in another 800 megawatts of supplies so that will push down capacity prices."
The calculations for the savings were based on projected energy price reductions to Connecticut customers in 2024 with and without Towantic. According to the document, the savings were incorporated directly into the monthly bill calculation as a reduction to the Generation Service Charge.
WAYNE McCORMACK, a leader of an opposition group called Stop Towantic Power, said he's not impressed with the projected savings.
"I didn't have a number in mind, but when I did the calculation it came to a little less than 2 percent of electrical expense," McCormack said. "From my personal standpoint, I wouldn't approve of the plant if it saved me half my electric bill. I feel that strongly about the health and environmental aspects of it, as well as the ecological aspects. And from a personal standpoint, I feel the value of my home will go down far more than what my electrical bill would be worth."
ISO New England regulates the wholesale electricity markets and operates the high-voltage electricity distribution system across Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. There are approximately 32,000 megawatts of resources among the six states.
ISO estimates that up to 8,300 megawatts of older coal- and oil-fired facilities could retire by 2020. Owners of more than 4,000 megawatts of resources have already notified ISO that they will be retired.CPV has previously claimed the plant would supply enough electricity to power 750,000 Connecticut homes. Andrew Bazinet, director of development at CPV, said on its own, Connecticut has a surplus of electricity capacity, but that's not the case across the region."It's not just us on an island saying, 'This is needed,'" Bazinet said. "The proposal that we put in front of you is satisfying both a regional current need, and a forecasted local need, as well."It will be months before the siting council reaches a decision on whether to allow the plant to be built in Oxford's northwest corner. The council, along with all parties and interveners, must complete their cross-examination of CPV. After that, the parties and interveners are entitled to present their cases, but will also be cross-examined by the council and the certificate holder.
THE COUNCIL has until May 12 to rule on the project, but it may request a 180-day extension from CPV.
The project has already been approved based on permits from 1999 allowing for a smaller, 512-megawatt plant on 26 acres in an industrial zone a half-mile due east of the airport. CPV wants to build the larger plant at the same location.
In a report commissioned by CPV, the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis at the University of Connecticut estimated that the construction of the plant will create 2,300 construction jobs and 1,800 jobs during operation. CPV has estimated that the facility will generate $1 billion in private infrastructure investment, nearly $22 million in sales tax revenue during construction and $56 million in property taxes over 18 years.
BHS renovation project plagued by problems
BERLIN — Renovations at Berlin High School continue to progress, but it’s been a bumpy road this school year.
There have been notable problems, including a leak in the roof where the new building and old building meet, a non-toxic odor coming from the gymnasium as the floors were being finished, and new desks and chairs coming apart. While those have been addressed, others have come along all too often.
Berlin High School Principal Francis Kennedy said that, while things aren’t all that bad, the administrators, teachers and staff have come to expect issues.
“It’s probably a daily event that something happens,” he told the Board of Education. “Each individual thing is probably not as intense as the public reaction to it. But it’s the duration, the constant onslaught.”
Kennedy admits that when he’s driving to work each morning, he fully expects another problem connected to the renovation to await him.
Most recently, School Business Manager Roman Czuchta — who serves as a quasi-liaison between the board and the team doing the construction at the school — said cracked tiles had been found in at room temporarily being used by athletic coaches. Due to asbestos concerns, the room had to be closed off.
There has also been an issue with the heat in the new wing. School Superintendent David Erwin said teachers reported that the temperature in one classroom had topped 90 degrees, while in another it was only 50..
While he has consistently said the end result will be worth it, Erwin added that many have begun to lose faith.
“[Teachers have come and asked] how it can continually be reported that things are going well with the high school building project. They said things aren’t going well,” Erwin said. CLICK TITLE T CONTINUE