CT Construction Digest July 31, 2015

Congress passes 3-month highway, transit aid patch

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress sent President Barack Obama a three-month bill to keep highway and transit money flowing to states on Thursday, one day before the deadline for a cutoff of funds.

Earlier in the day, the Senate passed a sweeping, long-term transportation bill, setting up discussions with the House this fall on what the future course of transportation policy should be and how to pay for programs.

The Senate approved the short-term bill by vote of 91 to 4. The House passed the same bill a day earlier, and then left for its August recess.

Lawmakers said they hope the 3-month patch — the 34th short-term transportation extension since 2009 — will be Congress' last. It extends the government's authority to process aid payments to states through Oct. 29. Without congressional action, that authority would have expired at midnight Friday.

The bill also provides $8 billion to shore up the federal Highway Trust Fund through mid-December. The fund's balance was forecast to drop below a $4 billion cushion necessary to prevent disruptions in payments to states in early August.

The extension bill also fills a $3.4 billion hole in the Department of Veterans Affairs' budget. The money gap threatened to force the closure of hospitals and clinics nationwide

The $350 billion long-term bill, approved by vote of 65 to 34, would make changes to highway, transit, railroad and auto safety programs. However, its sponsors were only able to find enough money to pay for the first three years of the six-year bill. That's not as long as many lawmakers and the White House wanted, nor as much money, but it was enough to win the support of many state and local officials, transportation related industries, and labor unions who have been imploring Congress for years to pass to bill that will provide states the certainty that they can count on federal aid as they plan major construction projects. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
 

Drivers delayed by I-84 work invited to offer ideas

 

WATERBURY — Commuters, local motorists, neighbors and businesses are invited to offer their suggestions on Saturday for minimizing traffic disruption from the four-year-long widening of a stretch of I-84.

Construction is fully underway at the site just east of the I-84 and Route 8 interchange known as the Mixmaster, and traffic backups have become frequent.
The state transportation department and its contractors are trying to schedule the work as efficiently as possible to reduce delays, but acknowledge that there's no way to do massive reconstruction of nearly 2.7 miles of a major interstate without creating backups.
But if there are a few schedule changes or other adjustments that could help, the Department of Transportation wants to hear about them. It's convening what it calls a "public listening session" on Saturday from 8 to 11 a.m. at the Brooklyn Baking Co., 464 Reidville Drive.
"The overall I-84 Waterbury widening project design is complete and the project is under construction. However, we do want to receive feedback and listen to ideas about helping with the daily commuting experience," said Chris Zukowski, project engineer with the DOT.
As part of widening I-84 to three lanes and a shoulder between Washington Street and Pierpont Road, the DOT and its contractors are realigning the roadway near Harpers Ferry Road to eliminate an S-curve. Workers are reconfiguring ramps, relocating parts of the Mad River and Beaver Pond Brook, building or replacing eight bridges and reconstructing stretches of seven Waterbury streets. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Nicole Jefferson rebuts allegations by New Haven officials

NEW HAVEN >> An executive session of the board of directors of the Commission on Equal Opportunities Thursday broke up after CEO staffers and a union representative walked in and pointed out that the board had not followed the rules on a quorum.
With the meeting over, emotions were running high, with some staffers yelling at the board chairman, Juan Scott; Lil Synder, interim executive director at CEO; and Matthew Nemerson, the city’s economic development administrator.
When the yelling continued, the police were called, but by the time they arrived it had subsided, with the CEO staff members and Edward Jefferson, husband of CEO Executive Director Nichole Jefferson, leaving the building.
Nichole Jefferson and Cherlynn Poindexter, union president of Local 3144, told the board members that in a pre-termination hearing on Wednesday, personnel from the city labor relations office dropped three of the five charges against her.
Labor Relations Director Marcus Paca had no comment when asked about this after the CEO meeting. Nemerson said, “we are reviewing material Nichole gave us. Michael Bayonne stands by his entire report.” Bayonne was one of two attorneys hired to investigate Jefferson and the one who wrote up the charges against her.
Jefferson, who has been on administrative leave since March 18 as the city looked into allegations, presented her defense Wednesday and is waiting for a ruling by the city on her employment status, which usually takes 10 days.
There were tensions between Mayor Toni Harp’s administration and Jefferson thoughout 2014 as it looked into the relationship between the nonprofit Construction Workshop Initiative 2 and the CEO. Staff worked for both, an arrangement established under the previous mayoral administration. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Blumethal, Murphy back short term highway bill

Washington – Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy on Thursday both voted for short-term and against long-term legislation that would keep hundreds of millions of dollars in federal highway money flowing to Connecticut.
The law that authorizes the federal government to send transportation money to the states expires on Friday, but Congress has been tied up in knots about how to reauthorize it.
So on Thursday, the Senate approved, 91-4, a three-month bill that keeps the funds flowing from Washington to the states while Congress continues to argue over a longer-term solution.
Blumenthal and Murphy voted for the short-term “patch.”  So did Connecticut’s House members when the bill when it was voted on in that chamber Wednesday.
But Blumenthal and Murphy rejected a bipartisan, six-year highway bill that was also considered in the Senate Thursday. The bill, approved on a 65-34 vote, is expected to lay the groundwork for discussion with the House on a long-term solution to Congress' transportation woes.To Blumenthal , the bill approved by the Senate Thursday is “indeed a mere shadow of what it should be in protecting the safety of car drivers and passengers, rail riders, truckers, workers, and many others who depend on our nation’s transportation system.”
The so-called "Drive Act"  -- Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy -- would allow twin 33-foot trucks that are 17 feet longer than those now allowed on Connecticut highways. It would also allow some states to reduce the eligible age for an interstate commercial truck driving license from 21 to 18. The trucking industry says more drivers are needed to relieve a shortage. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Tri-state transportation campaign

According to Census journey-to-work data, 27 percent of New York State commuters, and 11 percent of New Jersey commuters, use public transportation to get to work each day. That makes New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie the chief executives of the nation’s two most transit-dependent states.
But you’d hardly know it based on the way they’ve governed.
Until recently, Governor Cuomo has been unwilling to help close the gap in the MTA’s 2015-2019 capital program. It wasn’t until the MTA revealed some cost-cutting measures that the governor pledged to help close the gap — on the condition that the New York City increase its annual MTA contribution from $100 million to
$125 million$300 million$325 million.
It’s welcome news that Governor Cuomo will fill the MTA’s funding gap, but exactly how he’ll do so is yet to be determined. For a moment it seemed like the recent debate about Uber-related congestion might advance the MoveNY plan, but the governor and MTA Chairman Tom Prendergast have expressed doubts about the plan’s political feasibility.
Earlier this week the governor announced a major investment to rebuild LaGuardia Airport, which served roughly 27 million passengers in 2014. Cuomo described LaGuardia as “‘un-New York,’ because it’s considered “slow, dated, [and] almost universally derided.”
But couldn’t he say the same about the Port Authority Bus Terminal, which handled more than twice as many passengers as LaGuardia last year? Or New York City’s subways, which handle 27 million passengers every work week? Second Avenue Sagas‘ Ben Kabak writes: CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

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CT Construction Digest July 30, 2015

Town Hall project to finish with $18m budget

Town officials estimate the nearly complete renovation of New Canaan Town Hall is expected to be about $100,000 less than the projected $18 million construction and soft costs budgeted for the work.
The largest contributing factor to the surplus in the bonded money was about $200,000 not spent on new furniture and fixtures in the new building, while demolition costs ran $50,000 less than projected, according to a breakdown of the project costs.
Overall construction costs, originally projected to be $13.1 million, are estimated to be $13.94 million, according to the analysis. The figures were shared with the volunteer Town Hall Building Committee held Monday night.
“We have about $100,000 that we don’t expect to spend,” Assistant Public Works Director Mike Pastore said Tuesday.
The town also saved about $20,000 on construction management and remediation funds to cover costs of phone calls, travel, and other everyday expenses for the construction and architectural firms on the project, according to the breakout.
The project is finished except for minor touches, Pastore said, after more than a year and a half of work. The project, which included $13 million in construction costs, preserves the building's historic elements, including the Main Street facade, as it was in the 1909 design.
The new building, designed by KSQ Architects, includes a new main entrance and about 10,000 square feet of additional space, with the building’s total size being about 35,000 square feet. The building also is handicapped accessible.
The town is now expected to complete the move the final town departments still at other sites into the new facility within three weeks, Pastore said.
Starting August 5, the Office of the First Selectman along with the finance and human resources departments will be moved from the second floor of the New Canaan Police Department at 174 South Ave. into their new space.  CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Danbury community health center construction begins

DANBURY — The former site of a school and police station will soon be a downtown health care facility catering to those in need.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Mayor Mark Boughton and others lifted ceremonial shovels Wednesday afternoon to endorse the start of construction on the 36,000-square-foot, four-story Greater Danbury Community Health Center at 120 Main St.
“What we’re doing today — bringing additional services in a one-stop venue — assures a continuum of health care available not just for the wealthy, but for everyone in the community,” Malloy said. “It both enhances community health care and also provides a major economic boost to the city’s downtown.”
Jim Maloney, Connecticut Institute For Communities president and CEO, noted the support Malloy and Boughton have given for the CIF project. Maloney said the governor is highly committed to health care, particularly for those in most need.
“This would not have been possible without Mayor Boughton,” Maloney added. “This property was formally the site of the Danbury police station, before that of Danbury High School and before that Main Street School. This site has long been owned by the city and it is thanks to the mayor’s vision to work with us that’s made this building possible.”
The Community Health Center will house pediatric and adolescent medical and behavioral health services; women’s health services; patient intake, enrollment and insurance assistance; and a phlebotomy suite; full-service pharmacy, and administrative offices for the Health Center and headquarters for CIFC. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Stamford developer's hotel expansion moves ahead in Danbury

The development of a new boutique hotel for Danbury’s west side is moving forward with the recent sale of property to the developer, RMS Cos., of Stamford.
Plans for the Hotel Zero Degrees, a brand that’s already been successful in Stamford and Norwalk, were recently approved by city land-use boards, including the Environmental Impact Commission, according to city land-use officials.
Hal Kurfehs, vice president of Bethel-based Coldwell Banker Commercial, Scalzo Group, said RMS closed on the property last week. RMS purchased the approximately 9-acre lot from WCI Communities for about $1.2 million, he said. The hotel will be across the street from the Regional Hospice of Western Connecticut.
“The new hotel will provide Danbury with the luxurious facilities that top executives expect and will bring the city to the next level of hospitality,” Kurfehs said.
The hotel, according to its website, offers a combination “of Old World hospitality and modern-day amenities.” Plans call for 111 rooms, a 100-seat restaurant and a 120-seat banquet facility.
The hotel is the latest development here by RMS Cos.’ Randy Salvatore, who has invested more than $100 million in the Danbury area in recent years. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Residents express support for new Town Hall building

NEWINGTON — While residents expressed both positive and negative feedback regarding the planned Town Hall renovation, a majority of speakers agreed a brand-new facility would be the best way to go.
Dozens came to a public hearing Tuesday night to speak on two plan concepts — one for a new $37 million facility and the second, a $44 million renovation with additions.
Many speakers thanked the building committee for its work over the last nine months before endorsing the top-to-bottom construction plan, which they said was the better option by far.
“I totally support a brand new building — it’s time and we need it,” Mary Udice, a member of the board of parks and recreation, said.
As a parent of a child with special needs, she commended the committee for their consideration of the Newington Transition Academy. The school, which prepares physically and mentally-challenged young adults for life after high school, would have its own entrance off Garfield Street in the plan. Since the current entrance is in the usually full Town Hall parking lot, student pickup and drop-off can become congested.
The Mortensen Community Center would also have its own entrance on the lower level of the campus, adjacent to the police station.
“This way people can enter [the community center] during Town Hall’s off hours on evenings and weekends,” pointed out Chuck Boos, CEO of Kaestle Boos, the project’s architect.
Along with committee Chairman Alan Bongiovanni and construction manager Ed Moriarty of Downes Construction, Boos gave a brief presentation on both plans before Tuesday’s hearing. The trio agreed that a new facility would be the town’s best bet, calling it the cleaner and more economical option. The existing building is around 110,000 square feet, but renovations with additions would bring it to nearly 126,000 square feet. The plan to build new, on the other hand, calls for a smaller, 100,000-square-foot facility. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Plan for new town center in Avon is presented

AVON — A developer on Tuesday presented plans for a development that could dramatically transform the center of town, filling it with apartments along with more stores and other businesses.
That development would be on 92 acres encompassed by West Main Street, Simsbury Road and Climax Road. Town officials, along with the land's owner, Ensign Bickford Realty Corp., envision a town center that would be a gathering spot in addition to a place where people live, work and shop. The planning and zoning commission approved a conceptual plan for this new center in 2012.
Businesses and stores, including potentially a large retailer that would anchor the development, are a key component of the plan. But officials said on Tuesday that just as important is the public space included in the plan. Those include a new town green and a 15-acre wooded park. Other public gathering spots would be built and Neil Middleton, an architect working on the project, said the goal is to make the development as pedestrian oriented as possible.
Construction would be done by the Rhode Island-based Carpionato Group and on Tuesday its representatives outlined their plans to the commission.
Joe Pierik, a representative of the Carpionato Group, said the plan could take years to fully develop and cost as much as $220 million.
"This is a generational project," Pierik said. "This is not a case of built it, sell it and move on to the next project."
There is already some development on the land and the parcel includes the town hall complex. In a presentation to the commission, Carpionato's representatives said that once work is done there would be more than 1 million square feet of new apartments, offices, stores and businesses. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Engineers see flaws with tunnel to replace I-84 viaduct

HARTFORD — No decisions have been made yet, but engineers studying ways to replace the I-84 viaduct in Hartford said Wednesday that two options — a tunnel or a newer version of the towering elevated highway — appear increasingly impractical.
The prospect of rebuilding a roughly milelong stretch of I-84 at ground level or in a slightly lowered trench has seemed the most likely choice for many months, and everything that state engineers and consultants said at a public planning session Wednesday evening suggested that's still the case.
There has been sizable public support in Hartford for a Big Dig-style tunnel, mostly because it would eliminate vehicle noise, remove the unsightly viaduct and its many elevated ramps, and open acres of wasted real estate to use for development or parkland.
But the cost projections and construction complexities appear to worsen each time engineers study the idea in greater depth, and Wednesday's figures were the worst of all. Engineers said that a tunnel could cost as much as $12 billion, more than twice the next costliest choice.
They concluded this summer that a tunnel could be constructed in only one spot: Directly under the existing highway. Building either to the north or south would require acquiring pieces of the expensive Capitol Avenue or Farmington Avenue commercial properties alongside the highway, they said. But digging a tunnel beneath the highway would add immense expense because crews would have to strengthen the existing viaduct to keep it safe enough to handle traffic during construction. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Middletown needs additional $15M to complete pump station

MIDDLETOWN — Voters will likely be asked to approve up to $15 million in additional funding to complete the pump station portion of the project that will link the city with the Mattabassett District in Cromwell.
City officials said initial estimates from engineering firm CDR Maguire were inadequate, and that prices for labor and materials are now estimated far higher than when the firm designed the project.
Voters in 2012 approved $37 million for the pump station, a pipeline to make the connection to the Mattabassett facility and demolition of the city's municipal sewage treatment plant, and the common council approved $3 million more in 2014.
Cost projections for the full project have ballooned to about $50 million, plus $5 million more as an emergency contingency to cover any future funding shortfalls.
The common council will hold a special meeting in mid- to late-August to consider adding a referendum question for additional funding on the November ballot.
"There's no alternative," said council Democratic Majority Leader Thomas Serra. "If we don't do this we can't complete the project."
The pump station will be built on East Main Street at the site of the fire training center. The engineering firm initially estimated the pump station would cost about $24 million, city officials said, but after the city opened the project for construction bids in March only one firm bid, with a $28.9 million price tag.
Water and Sewer Director Guy Russo said the city is planning to seek new bids in the fall so construction can begin in the spring.
Russo said 20 percent of the project costs are eligible for state grants, and the other 80 percent will be paid for with a 2 percent interest, 20-year loan from the state.
Mayor Daniel Drew said the large, built-in contingency in the additional $15 million will avoid having future funding shortages. He said there could still be better news once construction bids are received. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Legislators resist granting Malloy his transportation lockbox

While Gov. Dannel P. Malloy watched his transportation initiative take another step forward Tuesday, it remained uncertain whether legislators are willing to insulate transportation funds from future budget cuts.
That’s because, according to top legislative leaders, lawmakers also want to safeguard what they see as an equally important initiative to boost municipal aid and mitigate property taxes. And giving one project a fiscal advantage over the other, they said, doesn’t make sense.
After the State Bond Commission approved the first $25 million in financing for “Let’s Go CT,” the initial stage of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's massive proposed transportation initiative, the governor said he still plans to ask lawmakers to support a constitutional amendment to safeguard transportation funding.
But with another major state deficit projected starting in July 2017, is it fair to insulate transportation from cuts while leaving the new town aid program – and much of the rest of the state budget – on the table?
“I think it is fair,” the governor said. “We’re asking the people of Connecticut to make a massive investment in transportation.”
Malloy unveiled plans in February to start Connecticut down a 30-year path to invest $100 billion in state and federal funds on its highways, bridges, railroads, bus lines, air and sea ports and bike paths.
The bonding for Let’s Go CT includes $795 million in this fiscal year and next combined and another $2 billion for the three fiscal years after that, running through 2019-20. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

New tax and highway tolls discussed at capital

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Not only are highway tolls on the table in Connecticut, a completely new tax based on how many miles you drive may be in the cards as well.
So called “mileage fees” and modern electronic highway tolls were on Wednesday’s agenda before the special committee Governor Malloy appointed to figure out how to pay for his $100 billion transportation plan.
“No cash, no toll collectors, no barriers, no toll booths, and no stopping. It’s ‘highway speed’ toll collection,” said Kevin Hoeflich, Vice President and Toll Market Leader for HNTB Corporation, an engineering consultant firm.
Representatives of the highway tolling industry say a new highway tolling system in Connecticut would be mounted high above the roadway and not impede traffic in anyway. The modern systems communicate with a transponder in your car at any speed, and you just pay the bill at the end of the month.
If you don’t have a transponder, the system takes a picture of your license plate and sends you a bill in the mail. If you don’t pay it, you face a fine, and if you don’t pay that, you could lose your license.
The representatives also told the panel that studies in other states show that initially some people will go to other roads to avoid the tolls, but that doesn’t last.  CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

What's in the 6-year Senate transportation bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is moving toward the likely passage this week of a sweeping, six-year transportation bill, but the House is putting off consideration of the measure until this fall.
With a Friday deadline to prevent a cutoff of highway and transit aid to states, House and Senate Republican leaders say they will also pass an $8 billion short-term bill to shore up the federal Highway Trust Fund through late October. That will give the House about two months after it returns from its August recess to weigh in on a long-term transportation bill.
Business and transportation industry lobby groups are urging their members to ask their congressmen and senators to support the Senate bill. Industry officials said the $350 billion Senate bill isn't ideal — not as much money as they would like and only three of the six years paid for — but they are desperate for at least a few years certainty rather than another short-term patch.
Since 2009, Congress has passed 34 short-term transportation extensions. Five states — Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming — have delayed or canceled $1.5 billion in construction projects because they couldn't count on federal aid, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials said.
Some highlights of the Senate bill: CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE


 

CT Construction Digest July 29, 2015

House, Senate move toward passage of transportation patch

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House and Senate are moving toward passage of three-month patch to keep federal highway and transit aid flowing to states while lawmakers seek the right mix of policy and revenue to achieve a long-term transportation deal.

The House is expected to take up the short-term, $8 billion bill on Wednesday before leaving town for Congress' August recess. The Senate plans to take up the House bill later in the week, but before a midnight Friday deadline when authority for the Department of Transportation to process aid payments to states will expire.

Lawmakers said they were loath to take up yet another short-term transportation funding extension — this will be the 34th extension since 2009. But Republicans and Democrats don't want to see transportation aid cut off, and they are eager to pass an amendment attached to the extension bill that fills a $3.4 billion hole in the Department of Veterans Affairs' budget. The money gap threatens to force the closure of hospitals and clinics nationwide.

Before taking up the short-term extension, Senate GOP leaders say they are determined to first pass their own sweeping, six-year transportation bill. The $350 billion bill would make changes to highway, transit, railroad and auto safety programs, but only provides enough funds for the first three years.

The bill also renews the Export-Import Bank, which makes low-interest loans to help U.S. companies sell their products overseas. The bank's charter expired on June 30 in the face of opposition from conservatives, who call it corporate welfare.

Senate GOP leaders have been struggling to complete work on their long-term transportation bill before the August recess in the hope that the House would pass it and send it to the White House. But their Republican counterparts in the House have made it clear they won't be hurried into accepting the Senate measure. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

 

State OK's money for I-84 widening

 

Although it will years before any of these major highway projects are completed, the state Bond Commission took a big step Tuesday to fund the design and engineering to to help ease traffic bottlenecks that have bogged down Connecticut motorists for decades.
The funding was the first round of Gov. Dannel P, Malloy’s $100 billion vision for the state's transportation future intended to replace aging infrastructure, clogged highways and improve public transportation in gridlocked Connecticut.
Among the approved funding that will, in the least, get these projects started on paper are:
$10 million toward the design and engineering for widening I-84 in Danbury between Exits 3 and 8. The widening of the highway in both directions and will ease rush-hour traffic along that heavily congested section of the highway. The project is much smaller in scope than an orginal plan to widen I-84 from the New York border to Waterbury- a distance of more than 30 miles. Last year, state officials abandoned that plan citing the $4 billion-plus cost of the project and the limited availability of money for infrastructure improvements.
This spring, work began on another I-84 project that will help unsnarl another bottleneck in Danbury: the reconstruction of the interchanges at Exits 5 and 6 and widen a stretch of Route 37, south of the highway and Padanaram Road north of it. The $15 million project is scheduled to be completed in summer 2017.
And the downside to all this I-84 work? Years of traffic delays from the work that’s intended to relive bottlenecks.
$1 million toward the design and engineering of the “eventual replacement” of “The Mixmaster” at the I-84 and Route 8 interchange in Waterbury. One of the more complex and confusing designs in western Connecticut, the Mixmaster is decades past its intended life. Just past the Mixmaster from downtown Waterbury, the four-lane highway is being widened for about 3 miles. Blasting of rock ledges, replacement of eight bridges and excavation by heavy equipment has made this area resemble a war zone. And that will continue for years. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Funding OK'd for first phase of highway plan. including I-91, 691 and route 15 interchange

The State Bond Commission approved spending $1 million Tuesday to study and engineer solutions to a confounding triangle merging Interstates 691 and 91 and Route 15 in Meriden, known to cause bottlenecks and accidents.

The $1 million recommendation for Meriden was part of a $24 million first-batch round of funding for Let’s Go CT, a transportation infrastructure improvement initiative introduced by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and approved by the legislature this past session.

Other highway projects approved Tuesday include: $10 million for design and engineering to widen a portion of Interstate 84 in Danbury; $1 million to study the I-84 and Route 8 “mixmaster” interchange in Waterbury; $900,000 to study and move forward on improving bus transit; $4 million to design, engineer and build a new dockyard on the Danbury rail line; $7 million to install GPS tracking devices on public transit buses for use with mobile devices; and $500,000 to study centralized transit service coordination statewide.

The Meriden project is estimated to cost $88 million and was chosen because of “very high traffic volume at a very complex interchange,” Department of Transportation spokesman Judd Everhart said last winter.

Plans call for work to the northbound and southbound sides of I-91 between exits 15 and 20, (Country Club Road to Wallingford) and an additional lane in each direction to allow for better traffic flow for vehicles getting on and off Route 15.

“It’s a major step forward in that area,” said state Rep. Emil “Buddy” Altobello, D-Meriden. “It certainly is a confusing area when coming up from the south. There is a lot going on. We’re happy to see Malloy and Commissioner (James) Redeker put it in the first part of Let’s Go CT.”

Altobello said commuters have told him there is a regular bottleneck in the area from 7 to 8 a.m. heading north through Meriden.

“It’ll be much safer and much less confusing,” Altobello said. “It will definitely help our businesses along these routes and on the parkway, East Main Street and even downtown, and help commuters.”

The $88 million project was among $5 billion in highway work between New Haven and Springfield selected in February. At the time, City Manager Lawrence J. Kendzior said the area was historically tricky. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Bond commission approves $5.8M for Glasgo Pond Dam repairs

 

GRISWOLD – Starting in September, Glasgo Pond will go from a popular swimming area to somewhat of a mud hole. The state Bond Commission this week approved $5.8 million to repair the Glasgo Pond Dam after the project was delayed in December.The money will be used to improve the spillway, construct a higher capacity outlet structure to eliminate public safety risks and repair the access road leading up to the pond for recreational use.All this will require the state to drawn down the water in the pond.Jennifer Perry, supervising environmental analyst inland water resources division with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said the scale of the project is significant and will take 10 to 12 months to complete.  In October 2014, the DEEP conducted a 5-foot drawdown of the pond to evaluate the condition of the 146-year-old dam, which caused many private wells around the pond to go dry.Randy Bronson who lives on Shore Drive in a waterfront property said his shallow-dug well was dry for weeks.“My wife and I lived six weeks without water and we ended up using bottled water,” he said. “Eventually another neighbor with a well system let us connect to theirs so we could get water.”The residents were only given a two week notice from DEEP before the drawdown, which they said didn’t give them enough time to find a backup water source. Many of the houses around the pond have shallow-dug wells.Selectman Steven Mikutel was state representative for the area at the time of the initial draw down.“DEEP did not have any plans in place to help the residents affected by the drawdown,” Mikutel said. “They had to deal with it on their own and that’s where I had the issue. We couldn’t even get them to provide water.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

 

Mixmaster fix to cost $10B

 

BY PAUL HUGHES REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

HARTFORD — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy says replacing the stacks of highway bridges that comprise the Mixmaster interchange in Waterbury will cost $10 billion, based on the latest estimate.
The State Bond Commission on Tuesday approved $1 million for a design and engineering study for reconfiguring the geometry of the Route 8 and Interstate 84 interchange, notorious for its cumbersome left-lane entrance and exit ramps.
The state Department of Transportation has determined that the deteriorating conditions of the highway stacks rule out its complete rehabilitation.
"The Mixmaster is going to have to be replaced," Malloy said after chairing the bond commission meeting.
The $1 million preliminary study is part of the first round of projects to be funded through as part of Malloy's five-year "Let's Go CT!" initiative, the ramp-up to the governor's 30-year, $100 billion plan for overhauling the state's aging and ailing transportation system.
In all, the bond commission approved $24.9 million for three highway projects and six public transit initiatives. Lawmakers from Waterbury applauded the funding for the Mixmaster reconstruction.
"The Mixmaster is crumbling, thus a thorough analysis of the structure is desperately needed," said Rep. Selim G. Noujaim, R-74th District.
Malloy said the bond commission will be approving funding for more Let's Go projects in the coming months. There is $2.8 billion authorized for the first five years of the governor's 30-year plan.
The governor's office had estimated the cost of replacing the Mixmaster interchange would be slightly more than $7 billion when Malloy rolled out his long-term transportation plan.
Malloy said Tuesday the latest estimate is that the project could cost upward of $10 billion.
"It is a long-term project, but we have to begin the work," he said. DOT Commissioner James P. Redeker said the Mixmaster is one of the most complicated highway interchanges in the state.
While the DOT develops a plan for replacing the Mixmaster, the department is going to shore up the highway stacks in the interim.
The rehabilitation of the structure includes replacing decks, upgrading parapets and repairing steel superstructures, concrete piers and abutments. The DOT expects this work to start in 2017.
Malloy did not have a timetable for when the final plan for replacing the Mixmaster would be ready, when work would commence and when the project would be completed. "We can't give you specific answers about the Mixmaster," he said.
Meanwhile, a 2.7-mile section of I-84 between Washington Street and Pierpont Road is being widened to three lanes in each direction. The project began in April, and it is expected to be finished in 2019 or 2020. As the Let's Go projects are rolled out over the next five years, Malloy and Redeker said, the DOT will work to minimize traffic congestion and disruptions through construction scheduling and other management efforts.

 

 

CT Construction Digest July 28, 2015

Today's State Bond Commission Agenda


Malloy talks trains

New Haven — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Monday hailed the state’s final purchase of new M8 rail cars for Metro-North, marking an end to the first phase of improving the commuter railroad.
“This is a celebration of a stage completed,” Malloy said during a news conference on a platform at Union Station with one of the new rail cars in the background.
“Now we have to get the signals done, get the bridges done and modernize the system,” Malloy said, referring to billions in work still to be undertaken.
The M8 represents a $1.2 billion investment by the state, which began buying 405 of the Kawasaki-made cars in 2006. The M8 is considered the safest, most comfortable and modern rail car to travel the New Haven Line.
“We are thrilled with these cars and that there is a major transformation of the system underway,” said John Hartwell, vice chairman of the Connecticut Rail Commuter Council.
“These cars are reliable and very comfortable,” Hartwell added.
Malloy, along with state Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker, toured a new car, looked over the shiny red and tan seats and posed for television and still cameras.
Still, Malloy admitted much work remains, including replacing 100-year-old rail bridges which often fail, stranding local commuters and backing up trains throughout the Northeast Corridor.
The governor also said the state is working to meet a federal deadline at the end of the year to install Positive Train Control on the New Haven Line. The high-tech safety system can automatically stop an out-of-control train, and the state could face fines for failing to comply.
“We are concerned about every deadline,” Malloy said. “We are doing everything we can to bring systems in on time.”
The governor reminded the media and others gathered at the train station of his plan to spend $100 billion over the next 30 years to modernize Connecticut’s rail, road and bridge systems. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

A new $4B LaGuardia Airport is coming

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Monday a massive $4 billion overhaul of LaGuardia Airport, set to kick off next year.
"New York had an aggressive, can-do approach to big infrastructure in the past — and today we’re moving forward with that attitude once again," Cuomo said at a luncheon.
"We are transforming LaGuardia into a globally renowned, 21st-century airport that is worthy of the city and state of New York," he said.
Cuomo made the announcement alongside US Vice President Joe Biden, who in 2014 infamously likened LaGuardia to a "third-world" experience.
"I wish everything I said that’s truthful but controversial turned out this way," Biden said.
According to CNBC's Reem Nasr, Cuomo told the audience that many of the approvals that would have taken years to complete were expedited by the vice president's office.

"An outdated, overcrowded, and poorly designed facility is holding back LaGuardia's employees," Biden said.

The LaGuardia overhaul is expected to break ground next year and take 18 months to complete, CNBC reported.
The new airport will feature one large terminal building, instead of the current collection of smaller facilities, and will be structured to provide more space for flight operations.
The project is expected to generate 8,000 construction jobs and another 3,700 jobs at a planned new airport hotel. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

UIL Holdings puts $80M into proposed gas line project

new haven >> UIL Holdings is making an $80 million investment in a natural gas transmission line project being proposed for New York, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
The investment by the utility holding company, which was announced Friday after the close of U.S. financial markets, will give UIL Holdings a 2.5 percent ownership stake in the Northeast Energy Direct pipeline project proposed by Kinder Morgan, a Houston-based energy company. Plans call for the natural gas transmission line to extend 188 miles from upstate New York State, through western Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire before terminating in Dracut, Massachusetts.
Construction of the $3 billion project is expected to start in 2017 with the pipeline becoming operational in November 2018. Northeast Energy Direct is part of a larger, 412-mile transmission project that would bring natural gas from the Marcellus Shale deposits of north central Pennsylvania to the population centers in southern New England.
The proposed pipeline is one of several being proposed to alleviate constraints in the natural gas transmission network that have been exacerbated by the number of power plants in New England that run on natural gas. Over 60 percent of the electricity generated in the region comes from power plants fueled by natural gas, according to regional power grid operator ISO-New England. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

House, Senate on collision course in highway debate  

Washington (AP) — Senators overruled heated conservative opposition Monday and added a measure reviving the federal Export-Import Bank to must-pass highway legislation. But House Republicans declared the transportation bill dead on arrival.
The developments set the two chambers on a collision course days ahead of a crucial highway deadline in the midst of the summer driving season. And the ultimate outcomes on the highway bill and the Export-Import Bill were unclear.
As House members convened Monday for their final days of work before an annual August recess, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy ruled out taking up the Senate's highway bill, which cleared a procedural hurdle Monday and is headed for completion in the next several days.
"We're not taking up the Senate bill," the California Republican told reporters at the Capitol, adding that the Senate should instead take up the bill already passed by the House. "My best advice to the Senate is to get our highway bill moved forward," he said.
Hours later, in a hectic late-night session, the Senate voted 64-29 to include the provision reviving the Export-Import Bank as an amendment to its version of the highway bill. The bank, a federal agency that underwrites loans to help foreign customers buy U.S. goods, expired June 30 amid conservative opposition.
Supporters in the business community say the bank is necessary for U.S. competitiveness, but conservatives say it amounts to corporate welfare, and their objections pushed the vote Monday well past 10 p.m.
Presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who has led an angry charge against the bank and clashed with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell about it, lashed out at McConnell over the outcome. "He turned his back on the American people and allowed one of the worst examples of corporate welfare our nation has ever known to be resurrected from the dead," Cruz said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

West Hartford plans transit-oriented development on New Park Ave

The West Hartford Housing Authority (WHHA), fresh off the debut of its newest mixed-market rate housing development in town, is readying its next building project.
The housing authority, through its nonprofit development arm Trout Brook Realty Advisors, is preparing to transform the vacant, former Pontiac Center site at 616 New Park Ave. into a $19 million, four-story building with ground-floor retail and community space and 54 living units on its three upper floors.
As previously reported, the WHHA in late 2014 acquired the approximately two-acre dealership site that sits next door to the newly opened New Park/New Britain Avenue stop for the CTfastrak busway.
Such transit-oriented development is an intended offshoot of the busway's development, according to state and local transportation and economic development officials. Locating housing close to transit stops and transportation corridors enables a diverse range of households to reside in wealthier communities like West Hartford, they say.
Housing authority Executive Director George Howell said the pricetag for the development — known internally for now as "6-1-6'' — will be financed through a combination of low-income housing tax credits, state housing grants and a conventional mortgage.
Around 15 units would be earmarked for working residents with qualifying incomes, with their rents tied to the town's median household income; the other 49 would be leased at market rates, Howell said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

First steel in the water for wind farm off Block Island

NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. — Construction has begun off Rhode Island's coast on the nation's first offshore wind farm, a milestone that federal and state officials say will help the fledgling U.S. industry surge ahead.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell said Monday that lenders, regulators and stakeholders can now see a path forward. "It's great to witness a pioneering moment in U.S. history," she said during a boat tour of the site. "We are learning from this in what we do elsewhere. I think it will help the country understand the potential that exists here."
Deepwater Wind is building a five-turbine wind farm off Block Island, Rhode Island, which it expects to power 17,000 homes as early as next year. It began attaching the first of the steel foundations to the ocean floor Sunday. The first one touching the seabed is known in the industry as the "first steel in the water."
Deepwater Wind CEO Jeffrey Grybowski said it was a "spectacular" moment. The company took officials and project supporters to the site by boat Monday to celebrate.
They saw the first of two steel pieces for the first foundation in the water. It has four legs and braces like a stool and rises about 30 feet above the waterline. An installation barge with a large crane was next to it, and two barges carrying additional foundation components were nearby. The foundations will be installed by mid-September, Grybowski said.
The wind farm should be operational in the summer of 2016, Grybowski said. Deepwater Wind also plans to build a wind farm of at least 200 turbines between Block Island and Martha's Vineyard.
"We want to build more and larger offshore wind projects, up and down the East Coast," Grybowski said.
Gov. Gina Raimondo said Rhode Island is a leader in a fast-growing industry that is creating jobs.
"It's the beginning of something great in Rhode Island," Raimondo said.
The offshore wind industry is far more advanced in Europe. Developers and industry experts say it has been slow to start in the U.S. because of regulatory hurdles, opposition from fossil fuel interests and the trials and tribulations of doing something for the first time. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

CT Construction Digest July, 27, 2015

Congress pushes ahead on highway bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers are pushing forward on must-pass highway legislation after an amendment reviving the federal Export-Import Bank provoked a heated clash on the Senate floor.

The amendment advanced over a procedural hurdle by a vote of 67-26 in an unusual Sunday session, and was likely to win approval Monday to be included on the highway bill. But that was only after senior Senate Republicans publicly rebuked Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, who last week accused Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of lying to him about whether there was a deal to allow the vote on the Export-Import Bank.

Conservatives strongly oppose the bank, calling it corporate welfare, and are trying to ensure that it stays dead after congressional inaction allowed it to expire June 30.

Three of the Senate's highest-ranking Republicans rose after the Senate convened Sunday afternoon to counter the stunning floor speech Cruz gave on Friday in which he attacked McConnell, R-Ky.

"Squabbling and sanctimony may be tolerated in other venues and perhaps on the campaign trail, but they have no place among colleagues in the United States Senate," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the Senate's president pro tempore. Cruz is running for president. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
 

Summer brings big changes to CCSU this summer

 

NEW BRITAIN — Buildings, sidewalks and landscaping at Central Connecticut State University are undergoing transformations this summer in preparation for the fall semester, as part of an estimated $150 million in renovations happening over the next seven years.

Chief Administrative Officer Dr. Richard Bachoo briefly explained each project in an interview last week, including the most obvious undertaking — a new, $82 million residence hall located between the Student Center Garage and Ella Grasso Boulevard. The new seven-story, 220,000-square-foot building will house about 637 students and is scheduled to be completed in time for students to move in next month. Construction has been ongoing since 2011.

The university is also planning to have a new dining facility completed in early 2016. The $10 million project will be located in the north end of campus near existing residence halls. The structure will take up approximately 22,000 square feet and will include areas for food preparation, serving and dining for about 1,400 students.
Another large project in the works is an “infill” that will connect Willard and DiLoreto Halls. The $61 million project involves renovating and connecting both buildings to provide upgraded space for students. This connector will include a new main entrance, along with additional classroom space and offices. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

DOT to tell the latest about I-84 Viaduct plan

HARTFORD — State engineers will report the latest details on planning for the massive I-84 Hartford viaduct replacement at a public forum July 29.
It will be the first of three sessions in the city between now and Sept. 22 to review the current alternatives and get public suggestions about how to go forward.
The state hasn't committed to a particular strategy for replacing the half-century-old elevated highway, and isn't yet ready to commit to a firm timetable or budget. Engineers are currently estimating construction would begin in 2020 and continue through 2025, but they emphasize that's not a solid schedule yet.
In these preliminary stages, engineers and designers are gathering information to use when working out the specifics of what to build and where, and exactly how to manage the construction work.
The biggest question is whether Connecticut will simply put up a modern viaduct roughly where the current one stands, replace it with an underground tunnel in a smaller version of Boston's Big Dig project, or lower the roadway to surface level. The option getting the most discussion lately combines two of those models: Part of I-84 west of the I-91 interchange would be built as a tunnel or in a trench, while the rest would be at ground level.
No matter how the job is designed, the work promises to be the most far-reaching traffic project in the capital city in decades. It brings the likelihood of years of heavy construction, detours, temporary lanes and ramps, and serious upheaval for traffic patterns between East Hartford and West Hartford. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Hands-on classes aim for union jobs in New Haven

POMFRET >> Sapphire Birdine is 5 feet tall and weighs 115 pounds. The jackhammer she was using to break up concrete was 90 pounds. “There’s no fluff here,” said Ralph Inorio, business manager, secretary/treasurer of the laborer’s union Local 455, as he watched the latest class at the New England Laborers Training Academy go through their paces.
Hands-on instruction in welding was taking place in another location on the expansive grounds of the former Jesuit facility, as some students learned about mason tending and how to build a scaffold.
The class consisted of five graduates of the pre-apprenticeship program run by the Construction Workshop Initiative 2 in New Haven, led by Nichole Jefferson, as well as five students from H.C. Wilcox Regional Vocational Technical High School in Meriden.
For the four-week general construction session, they are up at 6 a.m. and on the job by 8 a.m., dressed in safety gear as if heading to a real work site. The training goes on all day until 4:30 p.m. with a short break for lunch.
Inorio said for the past 15 years, Local 455 and other trades — which have their own training facilities — have teamed up with CWI 2. Their graduates come for an interview and those they consider ready and pass a drug test are taken into the program. The sessions are always geared to a demand for work in the field, Inorio said. “I make sure I take in the proper numbers. They are up here for four weeks putting their lives on hold, away from their families,” he said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Aging infrastructure plagues nation's busiest rail corridor

In Maryland, a century-old rail tunnel needed emergency repairs this winter because of soil erosion from leaks, causing widespread train delays.

In Connecticut, an aging swing bridge failed to close twice last summer, stopping train service and stranding passengers.

And last week, New Jersey Transit riders had a truly torturous experience. There were major delays on four days because of problems with overhead electrical wires and a power substation, leaving thousands of commuters stalled for hours. One frustrated rider, responding to yet another New Jersey Transit Twitter post announcing a problem, replied: “Just easier to alert us when there aren’t delays.”CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

               

 

 

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CT Construction Digest July 24, 2015

State to aid rehad of a city fire station

BRISTOL — The community is getting an unexpected financial boost.
The State Bond Commission is slated to give the city $260,000 Tuesday to help pay for a $600,000 renovation of the Mix Street firehouse needed in part so it can accommodate female firefighters.
Mayor Ken Cockayne said the allocation will reduce the amount the city has to spend on the project.
Cockayne said the overhaul of the Engine 5 station will add sleeping quarters and showers so that women can easily serve in the traditionally male crew.
The mayor said three state representatives — Betty Boukus, a Plainville Democrat, and Bristol Republicans Cara Pavalock and Whit Betts — were successful in corralling the state cash.
He said Boukus, who heads a key bonding committee, played a crucial role even though her 22nd District no longer includes any Bristol voters. Even so, the mayor said, she “is always good to Bristol and has been outstanding to work with.”
The renovations include repairs to the roof, exterior walls, the interior and more, including the heating system that’s been in place since the building was erected in 1964.
Officials agreed to spend almost $200,000 extra to make sure the building could accommodate women. But they turned down plans to also add an additional truck bay that would have added another $140,000 to the project total. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Ideal Forging almost completely raised

SOUTHINGTON — The former factory that dominated lower Center Street is now mostly piles of bricks, steel and wood.

Construction crews have brought down nearly all the buildings at the Ideal Forging site on Center Street during demolition this year. There is still debris cleanup and the removal of slabs on the property but owner Howard Schlesinger said the progress has been excellent.

“We’re in great shape,” he said Thursday. “We’re closing in on it.”

On Thursday, only a portion of the main Center Street building remained containing a stone block inscribed with “1926.”

John Smigel, the town’s chief building official, said the main building on Center Street by the linear trail is about 80 percent demolished.

“It should only be getting cleaner from here on out,” he said.

Asbestos abatement has been completed, Smigel said, but the environmental company Stantech is still monitoring the air quality during the work. Police are also on hand to close the road if demolition needs to take place along the street.

Smigel and other town officials meet with representatives from Standard Demolition and Stantech every other week.

Ideal Forging is a former metal etching company.

Most of the removal of hazardous materials occurred in 2013. Weston Solutions Inc., an environmental consultant and redevelopment company, supervised the removal of manufacturing chemicals, oils, acids and fluorescent light ballasts from the Ideal Forging site. Groundwater cleanup was done the same year. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

 

Stonnington celebrates completion of $18M upgrades to waste water treatment plants

 

Stonington — Town and state officials gathered at the Mystic wastewater treatment plant Thursday morning to celebrate the completion of the $18 million upgrade of the town’s three aging treatment facilities, a project that was completed on time and just under budget.
In addition, they had a surprise for former Water Pollution Control Authority Director Harold Storrs, announcing that the upgrade would be dedicated to him and a plaque would be placed at the plant in honor of his 17 years of service to the town, much of which involved planning the project. Storrs retired just before construction began.
“We, as a board, thought the honor should be his as a lasting memory of not just what he did for us as a board but for the town,” WPCA Chairman James Sisk said. “He devoted 17 years of his life to the Town of Stonington.”
In November 2010, voters approved $18.3 million in bonding to pay for rehabilitating and replacing the equipment in the Mystic plant and installing a Biomag system to remove nitrogen from sewage to meet state standards.
While most of the money was spent on improvements at the Mystic plant, systems at the borough and Pawcatuck plants also were replaced, resulting in less chlorine being discharged into the Pawcatuck River and Stonington Harbor. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

FedEx Ground proposes regional hub at former Aetna site in Middletown

MIDDLETOWN — FedEx Ground has proposed building a 500,000-square-foot facility with more than 500 employees at the old Aetna site.
The company is planning to build a regional hub for New England deliveries, and would receive packages at the facility that would then be sent to smaller facilities for home delivery.
"We've been looking for a new hub in New England," said Andrew MacDonald, a real estate project specialist for FedEx Ground. "We've determined this is our priority site we're working on."

MacDonald said the company has been looking for a new location for several years, and settled on the former Aetna site because of its proximity to I-91 and to community colleges, which would ensure a qualified workforce.

FedEx Ground has applied for a special exception to build the hub and has applied for a four-lot subdivision of the Aetna property. The company will buy all but a 22-acre parcel, one of the four proposed lots that Aetna will retain for a data center it owns there.
Of the remaining three lots, the facility will be built on lot A and lots B and C will remain undeveloped, said Dorian Famiglietti, an attorney representing FedEx ground for the zoning application. She said the company has no current plans for the smaller lots. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Heavy duty bridge prep

WATERBURY — A red crane visible from Interstate 84 west of Harpers Ferry Road isn't just being used to lift equipment from one place to another as part of the ongoing highway reconstruction project.
It also carries a vibratory hammer capable of pressing 1,000-pound metal sheets into the ground.
"It's delicate work and yet it's heavy duty," said Project Engineer Christopher J. Zukowski, of the state Department of Transportation. "You have to finesse the sheets in, even though they're very heavy sheets."
Before a new bridge can be built carrying a realigned portion of I-84 over the Mad River, contractors working on the state DOT project are building a cofferdam to isolate the area from water.
The cofferdam, which will take another two to three months to construct, will consist of more than 200 interlocked steel sheets that form a frame around the excavation site for a bridge footing.
Each sheet is 25 feet tall and weighs half a ton. Workers use a vibratory hammer suspended from a crane to push the sheets about 24 feet into the ground.
The hammer rotates rapidly to create an eccentric force that jostles each sheet into place.
On Thursday morning, the device took about 10 minutes to push one sheet into the ground.
The cofferdam will keep the area dry and hold back the stream, allowing workers to excavate the area and install a concrete footing for one of the bridge abutments.
The footing will be supported by 125 H-shaped beams that sit against the bedrock underground.
The new bridge over the Mad River is part of the highway widening project between Washington Street and Pierpont Road, which began in April and is scheduled to be finished by 2020. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

 

          

 

          

CT Construction Digest July 23, 2015

Senate moves forward on 6-year highway, transit bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate agreed Wednesday to take up a sweeping transportation bill a little over a week before states will face a cutoff of highway and transit aid in the middle of the summer construction season.

The GOP-drafted bill would set policy and authorize transportation programs for six years, but provides only enough to pay for the programs for three years.

The vote was 62 to 36. Sixty votes were necessary to proceed.

Despite an array of concerns Democrats voiced with the bill over the past two days — including that some provisions may undermine safety, that transit programs didn't received their fair share of funding and that the spending offsets include budget gimmickry — 14 Democrats and two independents joined with 46 Republicans to go forward with the bill.

"The bill still needs some fixing but tonight it was a question of whether or not we even have a bill to fix," said Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla. "If we don't have a long-term highway funding bill, we won't have the money we need to repair and build roads and bridges."

The vote puts the Senate on a path toward likely passage of the measure by the middle of next week. That would set up a possible confrontation with the House, which has passed a five-month extension of transportation programs. GOP leaders there expressed reluctance to take up a Senate bill of more than 1,000 pages that they've only had days to consider. They say they could do a better job of drafting a long-term bill themselves if given a few more months. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
 

New Danbury hotel moving forward

 

DANBURY — The development of a new boutique hotel for the city’s west side is moving forward with a recent sale of the property to the developer, RMS Companies of Stamford.
Plans for the Hotel Zero Degrees, a brand that’s already been successful in Stamford and Norwalk, were recently approved by city land-use boards including the Environmental Impact Commission, according to city land use officials.
Hal Kurfehs, vice president of Bethel-based Coldwell Banker Commercial, Scalzo Group, said RMS closed on the propoerty last week. RMS purchased the almost 9-acre lot from WCI Communities for about $1.2 million, he said. The hotel, once built, will be located across the street from the Regional Hospice of Western Connecticut.
“The new hotel will provide Danbury with the luxurious facilities that top executives expect and will bring the city to the next level of hospitality,” Kurfehs said.
The hotel, according to its website, offers a combination “of old world hospitality and modern-day amenities.” Plans call for 111 rooms, a 100-seat restaurant and a 120-seat banquet facility. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Little-known history of how Meriden's Chauncey Peak got it's name

MERIDEN — Chauncy Hall was an innovator who at one point in Meriden’s history lived “in a little house on the road to Westfield.”

That’s according to the 1899 historical tome “Recollections of a New England Town,” by Frances A. Breckenridge. 

The road where Hall lived is most likely Westfield Road, which winds up toward Chauncey Peak. It’s likely the well-known peak derives its name from Hall.

“To the list of odd characters once in Meriden, the name of Chauncy Hall should be added,” according to “Recollections.” “He was an inventor and went by the name of ‘Quizzy.’”

Quizzy was something of a visionary. In the 1830s, he “conceived the notion of ‘stone shingles,’” Breckenridge writes. About the same time, he came up with the concept of a wire fence, and also the notion that silk would one day become a common enough a commodity that “every servant girl would have a silk dress.”

The book continues, “Silk gowns are plenty and cheap these days, and so are wire fences and tiled roofs.”

A separate historical account, “Transactions of the Scientific Association, Meriden, Conn.” compiled in 1885 notes that a “semi-detached” portion of Lamentation Mountain “is known to the old inhabitants as Chauncy Hall Peak.”

It’s not clear how Chauncey Peak gained an ‘e’ in its spelling, nor when the peak was named for Hall.

It’s less clear how Lamentation Mountain, on which the peak sits, gained its name.

“Recollections” notes “...versions of the origin of Mt. Lamentation have been current at different times.” The story told by many in the early 1800s was that at some point in the 1700s “a Wallingford man was missed from his home and never after heard from. A few years later, a skeleton was found on the mountain, and it was thought to be the remains of the missing man.”   CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

 

State Bond Commission considers funding for Norwich, New London projects

 

Two Norwich city schools, the Bethsaida Community Inc. in Norwich and the New London Homeless Hospitality Center are in line to receive state bond money for renovation projects, according to the state Bond Commission's July 28 special meeting agenda.
Bethsaida Community Inc., which operates the Katie Blair House and the Flora O'Neill Apartments, is scheduled to receive a grant through the state Department of Housing for $385,754 to renovate seven supportive housing units for women.
The John B. Stanton and Uncas elementary schools in Norwich are among 18 Commissioner's Network schools statewide in line to receive capital improvements funding from the state Department of Education.
Network Schools, which receive state funding for educational improvements, also are eligible to apply for capital projects including alterations, repairs, improvements, technology and equipment and for health and safety projects.
Uncas would receive $200,000 and Stanton $180,186 to continue renovations funded in previous years through the Network Schools program, Superintendent Abby Dolliver said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Horseshoes instead of shovels at Capewell ceremony

Kenneth R. Gosselin
If you've seen one groundbreaking, you've seen them all: dignitaries using gold-painted shovels to scoop and toss a bit of dirt.
Not so at Wednesday's ceremony at the former Capewell Horse Nail Co. factory where there was a different kind of tossing: gold-colored horseshoes in a regulation-size pit.
A dozen guests — including Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra, Capital Region Development Authority Chairman Suzanne Hopgood and Corporation for Independent Living Chief Executive Kent Schwendy — stepped up to pitch the horseshoes.
It was a nod to the factory's history of manufacturing horseshoe nails.
The ceremony marked the completion of a financing package for a $26 million conversion of the building into 72 apartments and 5,000 square feet of commercial space.
There were a lot of smiles, but not much clinking of horseshoes against the two metal stakes.

Cancer treatment center approved in Manchester

MANCHESTER — The planning and zoning commission has approved a new cancer treatment center on Tolland Turnpike.
The center will be part of a network of cancer-care facilities run by Hartford HealthCare, the parent of Hartford Hospital and four other acute-care hospitals in the state. About 30 patients are expected each day and employees are expected to include five doctors and 40 to 45 medical staff members.

"This is a movement to redesign the way in which we provide care," Hartford HealthCare spokeswoman Rebecca Stewart said Wednesday. "We are creating a seamless path for our patients, bringing the highest quality care closer to home."

The three-story structure, a project of Hartford HealthCare, will be built on 1.47 acres of vacant land at 376 Tolland Turnpike and on the 0.76-acre site of the neighboring India Kitchen, a vacant restaurant that will be demolished.
The glass and brick veneer building, to be called East Point Cancer Center, will share an entrance with the adjacent East Point medical office building site at 360 Tolland Turnpike. The center height of the new building would be 48 feet, a feature that required a variance from the zoning board of appeals. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Expansion of New Haven's State Street station part of new Hartford line

NEW HAVEN >> Looking ahead to the rail service that will bring train riders from New Haven to Springfield, Massachusetts, the state Department of Transportation on Wednesday unveiled plans for an expanded State Street station.
The so-called Hartford Line already is under construction, with double-tracking being completed and stations being built in Wallingford, Meriden and Berlin, and others in planning stages, Bruce Olm­stead, project manager for the DOT, said during a public hearing at the Ives Memorial Library.
The Meriden station “broke ground less than two weeks ago,” Olmstead said. “The construction has started. We’ve started the construction of the double track, we’ve started the construction of the stations and we’re moving forward.”
“Our goal is to have seamless, peak-hour trains” with 25 daily round trips running the 62 miles between New Haven and Springfield, Olmstead said. During the startup phase beginning in 2017, there are 17 planned trains to Hartford, with 12 going on to Springfield, up from six now. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

School, college in line for funds

BY PAUL HUGHES and MICHAEL PUFFER REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN 
HARTFORD — The State Bond Commission is expected to approve more than $6.5 million for campus improvements to Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury next week, and give $360,000 more for upgrades at two struggling Waterbury schools.
These items are among 43 requests the bond commission is set to take up for state and local agencies during a special meeting on Tuesday. In all, $975.4 million worth of projects and initiatives are up for approval. Large chunks of this money will cover the annual cost of state assistance to cities and towns for school construction, and for state transportation projects.
At NVCC, the money will pay for reconfiguring the awkward entrance on the east side of the campus, by Founders Hall. It will also pay for repair to an associated parking lot, paving of the college's perimeter road, new lighting, improved disability access, lighting and upgraded sidewalks.
"All I can say is the college is living its mission," said NVCC President Daisy Cocco De Filippis. "We are working really hard to respond to the needs of the workforce. We are eternally grateful to Governor Malloy for noticing the work we do."
De Filippis also credited Waterbury Mayor Neil M. O'Leary, Sen. Joan Hartley, D-15th District, and Rep. Jeffrey J. Berger, D-73rd District, the House chairman of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, calling them strong advocates for the college.
"This is by far the biggest installment of funds that will serve to enhance NVCC that is instrumental in training workers for 21st century jobs," Berger said.
These state dollars, if approved as expected, come on the heels of $44 million approved by the state for complete reconstruction of Founders Hall.
The commission is also scheduled to vote on assistance for various struggling schools across the state, including $200,000 for Waterbury's Crosby High School and $160,000 for Walsh Elementary School. Both schools are enrolled in a state school reform program.
This bond money is meant to complement those reforms, paying for new equipment and building upgrades. At Walsh, the money will pay for replacement SmartBoards, carts full of iPads, intercom repairs, new classroom furniture in about a third of the building and additional recess equipment, according to Paul Whyte, turnaround supervisor for Waterbury schools.
At Crosby, a portion of the bond money will pay to reconfigure the main entrance — making it more prominent and welcoming to visitors, while helping office staff keep a better eye on the foyer, Whyte said. The money will also be used to buy new furniture for ninth grade classrooms, aimed at assisting with a new learning approach focusing on collaborative projects, Whyte said.
The bond commission agenda also includes: n $1 million for the Department of Transportation to finance a design and engineering study for improvements to the interchange of Interstate 84 and Route 8 in Waterbury.
n $24.6 million for a new Joyner Hall building at Northwestern Community College in Winsted. This project consists of a 24,400-square-foot new building that will house a veterinary technology program and classrooms.
n $265,000 grant to the town of Seymour to complete improvements to athletic fields at Seymour High School.
n $1 million for the town of Burlington for renovations to the town library.
n $1.3 million loan to Microboard Processing Inc. in Seymour to assist with plant upgrades and machinery and equipment for expansion. The company will retain 90 jobs and create 20 new jobs.
The loan will be provided at an interest rate of 2 percent for 10 years. The company will be eligible for loan forgiveness of $625,000 if it creates the 20 new jobs and retains them for two years.