New Bridgeport train station to cost $146M
BRIDGEPORT - How much will it cost to building a second train station in Bridgeport?
The total cost for the Barnum Station project is estimated to be $146.1 million, “including environmental review, design and construction.” the state Department of Transportation said.
Previous estimates had the price as low as $48 million, but apparently did not include the all the costs of cleaning up the contaminated parcel on seven acres off Barnum Avenue.
That price tag was was contained in a grant application the state Department of Transportation has submitted for federal money.
It remains unclear where all the funding will be coming from to pay for the higher cost of a new Bridgeport station.
Part of it will come from Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s ambitious $100 billion vision for Connecticut's transportation future. The roposal starts with a five-year, $10 billion plan, including $2.8 billion in new capital funding for a variety of improvements, from $18 million for better bus service to $32 million in commuter rail upgrades.
Bridgeport’s second station will feature two center island platforms in order to provide the flexibility to serve both local and express Metro-North and Amtrak trains.
The station will also have about 1,000 parking spaces.
The grant application was submitted earlier this month under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) competitive grant program. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Connecticut transportation session focuses on partnership, trust
NEW HAVEN >> Public-private partnerships and whether the public can trust that transportation money will be used for that purpose were two main themes of a meeting of the Governor’s Transportation Finance Panel on Tuesday. The panel, which met in the Board of Alders’ chambers in City Hall, was given the task of gathering input on Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s long-range transportation plan. The plan will be largely financed by a 0.5 percent apportionment from the 6.35 percent state sales tax, and is expected to cost $100 billion over 30 years.
Michael Likosky of the New York-based group 32 Advisors, was among those who advocated public-private partnerships, or P3’s, as a way to leverage private money and spread the risk of major projects. “My view is that it’s a question of thinking about the needs holistically in the state and then thinking about how best to meet those needs,” he said. “One of the things that has to be thought about is what discipline does private equity bring to the table in order to move it along.” He said the next five years will be critical.
Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney, D-New Haven, assured the panel that the recently passed two-year budget will not be altered in a special session to change the amount designated for transportation. “There is a stream of revenue now dedicated to transportation purposes beginning in 2016. … While adjustments might be made, I don’t think there will be any changes or backpedaling on that part of the budget,” he said.
Looney talked not just of highway spending but of building the New Haven-to-Springfield, Massachusetts, commuter train line and of looking at the way bus travel has changed, with more people busing out of New Haven to work in the suburbs, when they used to commute into the city. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
State stops work at 2 New Haven construction sites over alleged labor issues
NEW HAVEN >> Construction has been stopped at two work sites in the city, one for a new, private mixed-use apartment building that just starting seeking tenants and the other a four-story residence owned by Yale University Properties, which is undergoing renovation. The state Department of Labor, in a sweep of sites in the city, which has seen an uptick in construction in recent years, issued stop work orders for 9 Dixwell Ave., which is owned by Yale and for Novella apartments on the corner of Howe and Chapel streets, and developed by Randy Salvatore. Nancy Steffens, spokeswoman for the Labor Department, said Ruben Hernandez Enterprises of Waterbury was cited Friday for alleged lack of proof of insurance showing worker’s compensation coverage and for not reporting workers on the books at 9 Dixwell Ave. and misclassification of workers as independent contractors. Steffens said a lack of payroll records means the Labor Department does not know if the workers were paid the correct amount, while the state is not provided with necessary tax information.
Yale is renovating the 18 apartments on the upper three floors at 9 Dixwell, while the first floor will be a commercial space. The contractors who were cited at both sites have 10 days to seek a hearing on the charges before the labor department if the issues are not resolved before that. A message was left for comment with a contact listed on the secretary of the state’s filing for Ruben Hernandez Enterprises. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Hamden BOE approves funding for West Wood. Sheppard Schools
HAMDEN >> Long-awaited projects that will renovate two elementary schools and move the school district’s offices will soon be going out for requests for proposals after the Board of Education Monday approved the funding requests. In a special meeting after Hamden High School’s graduation, the board approved a $3.9 million bond request that will go toward design plans to renovate West Woods and Shepherd Glen elementary schools to “like new” condition. It also approved allocating up to $85,000 for architectural and engineering expenses for the Central Office move from its space at 60 Putnam Ave. to the Hamden Government Center. The renovation funds are only the beginning of a long process to remodel the two schools, each of which was built in the 1970s. The figure is about 7 percent of what it is expected to cost for the work at the schools, which is the industry standard, according to Facilities Director Mark Albanese. The cost of the Shepherd Glen project is estimated at $25 million, and for West Woods it’s $29.9 million. Of those amounts, the town is expected to be eligible for 67.86 percent reimbursement, making the town’s share of the projects $9.6 million. Of the $3.9 million for design costs, about $2.7 million will be reimbursable, he said.
Once the funding is in place, a School Building Committee will be appointed to oversee the work, board Chairman John Keegan said. “Years and years ago we started work on this,” said board member Adam Sendroff, “and we are just about there.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE