The promise of Steel Point, beyond the immediate benefit of jobs and local spending, has long been predicated by local officials on benefits for Bridgeport beyond its 50-acre footprint. A thriving waterfront enclave, while welcome, would not fulfill years of politicians’ promises if its successes were cut off from the rest of the city.
It’s a particular geographical challenge at a peninsula that is separated from the rest of Bridgeport by water in two directions and an elevated expressway to the north.
But with a wildly successful opening night last week of Bass Pro Shops — the development’s anchor tenant — and visible work beginning south of Stratford Avenue, there are signs that economic activity could start to flow outwards.
Construction company O&G Industries, which has a recycling plant at 1225 Seaview Ave., is reportedly in negotiations to move the facility elsewhere in the city, opening up a prime location for future development.
“It’s close to Steel Point, very visible from the highway, and it’s on the waterfront,” said Paul Timpanelli, president of the Bridgeport Regional Business Council. “What is there now is not the highest and best use of that site.”
O&G, which is based in Torrington, had been in discussions to close the site, but with a change in administrations the talks were put on hold, Timpanelli said. Mayor-elect Joe Ganim takes office Dec. 1, succeeding two-term Mayor Bill Finch. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Bethel’s long-delayed solar project finally moves forward
BETHEL — A proposed solar energy project that has been entangled in bureaucracy for years could finally get underway early in 2016.
Officials expect that a proposal to build a “solar farm” on the site of the town’s old landfill will finally come to a vote soon, allowing construction to begin in the spring. The plan is to have nearly 3,100 solar panels installed on four acres on Sympaug Road, just south of the town’s highway garage.
The project would generate electricity for sale to Eversource’s power grid, which would cut the town’s cost for electricity and reduce its carbon emissions.
“This thing has been dragging through the regulatory process for literally years,” First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker said. “It was painful. Our energy committee kept trying and running into roadblocks.”
However, with recent changes to state law, the availability of new clean-energy incentives and the approval of tax credits for the town, the project could go to the Planning and Zoning Commission before Christmas, Knickerbocker said.
The preliminary design calls for a 954-kilowatt array comprising 3,078 photovoltaic panels, each rated at 310 watts. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
I-95 Stratford bridge now at ‘full capacity’
Just in time for one of the busiest travel periods of the year, I-95’s Moses Wheeler Bridge over the Housatonic River is now open at full capacity.
It’s a completely new bridge between Stratford and Milford that’s taken six years to build and $270 million to pay for it.
“Getting this bridge back to full capacity just before one of the busiest weeks of travel in the year - and before winter sets in - is a great achievement,” said Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker. “I want to commend the hundreds of DOT employees, our designers, contractors and inspectors on achieving this milestone of providing full-width travel lanes about a month before originally expected.”
But don’t expect construction workers to be suddenly gone from the area. There’s some additional work to do, including completion of median work, repaving of the entire bridge, removing the existing bridge pier, and construction of a new parking lot and boat launch in Milford in 2016.
None of that work, however, will cause any major traffic disruptions before everything is completed next year.
Building a new bridge wasn’t easy. First, there was building a new foundation into the Housatonic’s riverbed and banks. Then, there was building the new span, one deck at a time and removing the old bridge.
The new Moses Wheeler is the second major I-95 bridge to be finished this year. The Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge, aka, “The Q Bridge,” in New Haven was finished after the southbound lanes opened on Sept. 28.
At a price of $591 million, the New Haven bridge’s cost was nearly double the cost of the Moses Wheeler. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Malloy: $3.9B rail investment will bring billions in return, thousands of jobs
NEW HAVEN — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is calling for $3.9 billion in rail upgrades, and promising a nearly 250 percent return on investment. But where the state will find the money is still up in the air.
On Friday, Malloy publicized a Boston-based Economic Development Research Group study forecasting that an overhaul of the New Haven Line could yield 4,000 to 6,000 construction jobs as the upgrades progress, and between 2,000 and 3,100 new permanent jobs.
Were the improvements to go forward, Malloy suggested that service could double during peak hours, cut travel time from New Haven to New York City by 15 minutes, quadruple the numbers of express trains and quintuple the numbers of local trains.
“The New Haven Line has the potential to carry thousands of additional commuters, and do so at a faster and more frequent rate,” Malloy said in a prepared statement. “That means we will be far more attractive to businesses — our economy will benefit greatly from these investments.”
The governor’s figures anticipate having four tracks in use at all times, rather than two or three at a time. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
US utilities see ability for drones to inspect lines, towers
BLENHEIM, N.Y. >> U.S. utilities see great potential in the use of remote-controlled drones to do the often-dangerous work of inspecting power lines and transmission towers but strict regulations have so far slowed adoption of the technology.
The remote-controlled devices make the work of linemen safer, more efficient and less expensive, according to the Electric Power Research Institute, which last month put on a three-day workshop to help nearly a dozen utilities choose the best machines for the job. Miniature helicopter-like drones, some equipped with cameras and other sensors, conducted demonstration inspections of transmission lines at a hydroelectric plant in the Catskill Mountains.
“We want to start using drones next spring when the inspection season begins,” said Alan Ettlinger, research and technology director for the New York Power Authority, who attended the workshop.
Utilities spend millions of dollars inspecting power lines, which are often in hard-to-reach places. The industry has been interested in the potential use of drones for years, but has been slower than European companies to adopt the technology because of U.S. regulatory restrictions. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Rate of contingency spending on Maloney High School project causing ‘conservative trepidation’
MERIDEN — With contingency funds being depleted quickly, some officials are concerned about finishing work at Maloney High School under budget.
“We’re getting to the point, with less than a year left in this project, where we’re going through contingency at a rate that’s getting close to not having any contingency left,” Assistant Superintendent Michael S. Grove said this week.
The school, like its crosstown counterpart, is in the midst of a multi-million dollar renovation and new construction project. Both schools will be left nearly new once work is complete. Work at Maloney is being done on a $107.5 million budget.
Grove was referring to contingency funds that are built into the total cost for construction projects and set aside to cover unforeseen expenses or expenses incurred by errors or omissions.
At both schools, the city holds a contingency fund to cover design errors and omissions, owner-requested changes, and unforeseen changes. The construction company also holds a contingency fund to cover work-related expenses.
At Maloney, the city budgeted $4,015,466 for its own contingency fund, and $1,935,649 to be held by the Glastonbury-based Gilbane Building Co., the construction company overseeing work at the school. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE