HARTFORD — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy will release a 30-year, $100 billion transportation plan Wednesday that includes a five-year, $10 billion buildup to get the projects started.
The plan includes highway, bridge, rail and bus proposals, along with $100 million for bike trails. But the initial plans are largely for design, not construction, as planners determine exactly what is feasible and what projects might ultimately cost. The proposed projects include extending the CTfastrak busway from Hartford to Manchester by sending buses on the high-occupancy vehicle lanes on I-84.
The plans also hold the possibility of digging a third tube for the West Rock Tunnel on the Merritt Parkway in New Haven so that two tunnels can remain open while the original tubes are undergoing major repairs that could take years.
Transportation Commissioner James Redeker said Tuesday during an exclusive briefing with The Courant that the five-year buildup includes widening I-84 from exits 3 to 8 in Danbury and improving Metro-North Railroad.
Malloy, in a 12-page brochure to be released Wednesday, said the state has been operating a patchwork system to solve transportation crises without a long-range vision.
"With few exceptions, the transportation system has reacted to inadequate investment, infrastructure failures, insufficient capacity and transit service crises,'' Malloy wrote. "Transportation plans have been constrained to address only the most critical safety issues and infrastructure performance priorities. "We cannot afford to repeat history. I will not repeat history.''
The five-year, $10 billion program includes $3.8 billion in state funding that is already anticipated, $2.8 billion in new state funding and $3.4 billion in expected federal funding.
Redeker said projections of receiving $682 million a year in federal funds for each of the next five years is realistic because that's what the state is currently receiving.
"It is a continuation of current levels,'' Redeker said. "This is not an unrealistic assumption. I'm hopeful we get more.'' The five-year buildup will not be as expensive as future years because the major construction will take place later, he said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Grant awarded to assess hazardous materials at Fairfield Hills
NEWTOWN — Officials have announced that a big step has been taken in an ongoing effort to tear down some of the buildings on the former Fairfield Hills Hospital. A $200,000 state brownfield assessment grant has been awarded to determine the types and amount of hazardous waste present in these structures and how best to safely handle it.
“The grant will provide the funds needed to assess how much it will cost to clean up and remediate the hazardous materials so that they can be taken down,” said Christal Preszler, the grants administrator for the town’s Dept. of Economic and Community Development.
The grant was awarded by the state Dept. of Economic and Community Development.
Crews battle the elements in the midst of high school reconstruction projects in Meriden
MERIDEN — Weeks of bitter cold temperatures and regular snow accumulation have made challenging work of simultaneous construction projects at the city’s two public high schools. Still, project leaders say they expect work to be completed within the expected time frame.
Both Platt and Maloney high schools are in the second of four-phase renovation and construction projects that will leave both schools without much semblance to their original footprints.
At Platt, construction of a 45,000-square-foot vocational-technical building is under way. The wing will include a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) lab; wood shop; drafting rooms; weight and fitness rooms; locker rooms; custodial areas; and a cafeteria and kitchen. It’s part of the school’s $111.8 million reconstruction project.
The curved cafeteria and kitchen stick out prominently in the back of the building, and when the final four panes of glass are installed this week, plastic sheets insulating the construction will be dropped to reveal views of the school’s football field and track.
With the foundation for that section having been poured for months, and the roof already in place, crews from the Torrington-based O&G Industries were working to complete duct and electrical work Tuesday in an environment much warmer than for some of their coworkers thanks to industrial heaters in the nearly enclosed space.
“In here, we can plug along. Once we get the slab in and the roof on, we can go,” said Project Superintendent Steven M. Baranello. “That’s what we’re fighting to get going” across the hall, where the future vocational-technical wing is thus far plumbing and steel beams over a dirt floor. “We’re fighting frozen ground, and we keep getting these weekend snowstorms” that mean shoveling off the steel decking overhead, Baranello said.
Metal roofing structure covers the expanse of the wing though water drops through the steel deck from melting snow sitting overhead.
“Whatever snow settles in the flutes of the metal, during the day when the sun hits it, it melts and drips down here,” Baranello said.
That dripping snow melt freezes overnight, meaning crews have to sand the area every morning in order not to slip. Additionally, digging out trenches for the underground plumbing that’s going in also means more effort. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Gold Star Bridge public meeting set for February 26th
New London - The state Department of Transportation will conduct a public information meeting about the rehabilitation of the south bound portion of Gold Star Memorial Bridge at 7 p.m. Feb. 26 in the City Council Chambers.
In the event of inclement weather, the meeting will be held on March 12.
The project is in the preliminary phase of design, according to the release, and construction is anticipated to begin in spring 2017. The total estimated construction cost for the project is $21.3 million and funding will be a combination of state and federal funds, according to a DOT news release.
The plan is to repair deteriorated elements of the bridge to ensure an extended service life, and also to replace three overhead sign structures, according to the release. Most of the funding is slated for repairs on the bridge itself, with about $2.3 million for repairs of the Exit 84S offramp from the bridge into New London, according to DOT spokesman Kevin Nursick. Nursick said the repairs are not related to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's budget presentation today. He said funding for the repairs was allocated in the past and that plans have been underway for some time, probably for years. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
State interested in hooking into Pomfret's planned sewer line
POMFRET — Pomfret officials met with their private, federal and neighboring counterparts Friday as part of an ongoing discussion on a proposed multi-million dollar sewer line that could now include accepting waste water from a state facility. The U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2013 approved $4.4 million in loans and $1.5 million in grants to construct a sewer line that would be open to the Pomfret and Rectory schools and Loos & Company, which manufactures aircraft rope and wire.Pomfret First Selectwoman Maureen Nicholson said the state Department of Transportation has now expressed interest in hooking onto the planned line. "They operate a facility at the corner of routes 169 and 101 and they're looking to upgrade," she said. "And as part of that upgrade plan, the state's discussing tying into the new line." Officials are still working out the line's final route, which is currently set to run south on Route 169/Route 44 from The Rectory School, past the Pomfret School, to Route 101, picking up Loos & Company. The line would then cross over a portion of the Airline State Park Trail to the Putnam waste water treatment plant. Putnam Town Administrator Doug Cutler said the town, which recently underwent an $18 million upgrade to its waste water treatment system, has laid out its parameters for a hook-up."The associated parties would pay for construction and pay for us to accept that flow," Cutler said. "There's no issue with us taking the extra waste water. This new system is more efficient, which in turn lets us take in more sewage." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Alterra-Rocky Hill owners erect second apartments in town
The developer of Rocky Hill's first new apartments in two decades has broken ground for its second rental complex in town, with an estimated $26 million development price tag.
New Jersey developer/landlord Continental Properties, owner of the 144-unit Alterra-Rocky Hill apartments, is erecting the 144-unit Montage-Rocky Hill apartments in five, three-story buildings on 12 acres of newly created Sagamore Lane.
Completion is set for fall 2016.
Despite differences in elevation and certain amenities, the design and floorplan of the Montage's 54 one- and 90 two-bedroom units mirrors much about Alterra at 11 Kensington Lane, which opened in November 2013. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Shovels hit the ground at stadium site
HARTFORD — Shovels hit the dirt Tuesday, marking the first step toward construction of the $56 million minor league baseball stadium north of downtown Hartford. The project must be substantially completed by March 2016, according to city documents. The New Britain Rock Cats are expected to begin playing there in April of that year. "I don't remember the city breaking ground north of I-84 here on a major project that will have such a catalytic impact," council President Shawn Wooden said at a ceremonial groundbreaking on Main Street. "We are moving development northward, and we are looking to see revitalization in every neighborhood, every corridor, every area of this city. And we stand here today not at the end of a process, but we're still at the beginning of turning this city around." Mayor Pedro Segarra said the development will take the city in a new direction.
"For too long these barren parking lots were not really servicing the needs of our city," he said, referring to land just north of downtown. "For too long things were just not going in the right direction. … [This] will be a new direction for a city that has not seen this type of development in quite a long time." Officials said Tuesday that a municipal authority formed to own and finance the stadium reached an agreement with Wall Street underwriters for bonds to pay for the ballpark. Under the deal, the authority will issue $62.45 million in bonds, some taxable and some tax-exempt.
Payments will average $4.26 million a year for 26 years starting in 2017, an amount just barely below the maximum set by the city council when it established the authority. In addition, the authority will make an interest-only payment in the first year, totaling $2.8 million, to cover the cost of the money during construction. The city will lease the stadium from the authority, a quasi-public group, and will sublease it to the Rock Cats. The franchise will pay Hartford $500,000 a year for the first 15 years of a lease, and $600,000 annually for the final 10 years. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
In the event of inclement weather, the meeting will be held on March 12.
The project is in the preliminary phase of design, according to the release, and construction is anticipated to begin in spring 2017. The total estimated construction cost for the project is $21.3 million and funding will be a combination of state and federal funds, according to a DOT news release.
The plan is to repair deteriorated elements of the bridge to ensure an extended service life, and also to replace three overhead sign structures, according to the release. Most of the funding is slated for repairs on the bridge itself, with about $2.3 million for repairs of the Exit 84S offramp from the bridge into New London, according to DOT spokesman Kevin Nursick. Nursick said the repairs are not related to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's budget presentation today. He said funding for the repairs was allocated in the past and that plans have been underway for some time, probably for years. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
State interested in hooking into Pomfret's planned sewer line
POMFRET — Pomfret officials met with their private, federal and neighboring counterparts Friday as part of an ongoing discussion on a proposed multi-million dollar sewer line that could now include accepting waste water from a state facility. The U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2013 approved $4.4 million in loans and $1.5 million in grants to construct a sewer line that would be open to the Pomfret and Rectory schools and Loos & Company, which manufactures aircraft rope and wire.Pomfret First Selectwoman Maureen Nicholson said the state Department of Transportation has now expressed interest in hooking onto the planned line. "They operate a facility at the corner of routes 169 and 101 and they're looking to upgrade," she said. "And as part of that upgrade plan, the state's discussing tying into the new line." Officials are still working out the line's final route, which is currently set to run south on Route 169/Route 44 from The Rectory School, past the Pomfret School, to Route 101, picking up Loos & Company. The line would then cross over a portion of the Airline State Park Trail to the Putnam waste water treatment plant. Putnam Town Administrator Doug Cutler said the town, which recently underwent an $18 million upgrade to its waste water treatment system, has laid out its parameters for a hook-up."The associated parties would pay for construction and pay for us to accept that flow," Cutler said. "There's no issue with us taking the extra waste water. This new system is more efficient, which in turn lets us take in more sewage." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Alterra-Rocky Hill owners erect second apartments in town
The developer of Rocky Hill's first new apartments in two decades has broken ground for its second rental complex in town, with an estimated $26 million development price tag.
New Jersey developer/landlord Continental Properties, owner of the 144-unit Alterra-Rocky Hill apartments, is erecting the 144-unit Montage-Rocky Hill apartments in five, three-story buildings on 12 acres of newly created Sagamore Lane.
Completion is set for fall 2016.
Despite differences in elevation and certain amenities, the design and floorplan of the Montage's 54 one- and 90 two-bedroom units mirrors much about Alterra at 11 Kensington Lane, which opened in November 2013. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Shovels hit the ground at stadium site
HARTFORD — Shovels hit the dirt Tuesday, marking the first step toward construction of the $56 million minor league baseball stadium north of downtown Hartford. The project must be substantially completed by March 2016, according to city documents. The New Britain Rock Cats are expected to begin playing there in April of that year. "I don't remember the city breaking ground north of I-84 here on a major project that will have such a catalytic impact," council President Shawn Wooden said at a ceremonial groundbreaking on Main Street. "We are moving development northward, and we are looking to see revitalization in every neighborhood, every corridor, every area of this city. And we stand here today not at the end of a process, but we're still at the beginning of turning this city around." Mayor Pedro Segarra said the development will take the city in a new direction.
"For too long these barren parking lots were not really servicing the needs of our city," he said, referring to land just north of downtown. "For too long things were just not going in the right direction. … [This] will be a new direction for a city that has not seen this type of development in quite a long time." Officials said Tuesday that a municipal authority formed to own and finance the stadium reached an agreement with Wall Street underwriters for bonds to pay for the ballpark. Under the deal, the authority will issue $62.45 million in bonds, some taxable and some tax-exempt.
Payments will average $4.26 million a year for 26 years starting in 2017, an amount just barely below the maximum set by the city council when it established the authority. In addition, the authority will make an interest-only payment in the first year, totaling $2.8 million, to cover the cost of the money during construction. The city will lease the stadium from the authority, a quasi-public group, and will sublease it to the Rock Cats. The franchise will pay Hartford $500,000 a year for the first 15 years of a lease, and $600,000 annually for the final 10 years. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE