The House and Senate conference committee on surface transportation reauthorization released this afternoon its final report. The revised H.R. 22, the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, now heads to the House and Senate for final approval. National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) President Mike Acott released the following statement: The FAST Act has been a long-time in coming, but it gives road builders and the driving public a level of predictability that we haven’t seen in a decade. The House and Senate conferees deserve credit for funding a full five-year program that provides the states and federal agencies the flexibility necessary to seek innovative solutions to our transportation needs. Important in this bill is reauthorization and funding of the Accelerated Implementation and Deployment of Pavement Technologies Program (AID-PT) through 2020, which will speed the uptake and deployment of innovative practices, materials, and techniques that deliver smoother, higher performing roads today. Our roads and highways have gone without necessary maintenance and improvement through years of short-term surface transportation bill extensions. But this bill gives the states and industry the certainty needed to move forward aggressively to improve safety, performance, and drivability. Funding for the current surface transportation authorization expires on Friday, Dec. 4. NAPA urges the House and Senate to move swiftly to approve the FAST Act and for President Obama to sign the bill into law.
Congress Forges 5-Year Highway Bill Compromise
The House-Senate conference committee charged with writing a compromise highway bill announced completion today of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, which transportation leaders on Capitol Hill hailed as “a fully funded five-year plan for surface transportation reauthorization.”
The bill would spend some $205 billion on highway and $48 billion on transit projects over the next five years.
The FAST Act resulted from ironing out differences between the STRR Act passed by the House last month and the DRIVE Act passed by the Senate in July. Both of those bills were to run for six years, but the Senate measure would have only authorized three years of funding.
The House and the Senate are expected to vote on the compromise FAST Act this week so this final bill can be sent to President Obama for signature before the current short-term highway bill funding extension expires on December 4.
Specific to motor carriers, the FAST Act reauthorizes the programs of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration through FY 2020 and includes “several reforms to improve truck and bus safety while reducing regulatory burdens,” according to the bicameral conference committee’s explanatory statement.
These include: CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
US construction spending rises to highest level in 8 years
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. construction spending jumped in October, fueled by solid gains in home building and the largest increase in federal construction in nine years.
The Commerce Department said Tuesday that construction spending rose 1 percent in October from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of more than $1.1 trillion. That's the highest level since December 2007 when the Great Recession began.
More Americans are buying new homes or renting apartments, driving greater residential development. And federal, state and local governments, spurred partly by greater tax revenue, are building more roads and schools. Construction spending has increased 13 percent in the past 12 months.
The construction of single-family homes and apartments climbed 1 percent in October, also reaching their highest level since December 2007. Manufacturers boosted their construction spending by 3 percent. And federal government building soared 19.2 percent, the biggest increase since October 2006.
Americans are staying in rental apartments for longer, rather than buying a home. That spurred a nearly 28 percent jump in apartment and condo construction in October from a year earlier. Nearly a third of buildings completed so far this year were apartments and condos, compared to just 27 percent before the recession began in late 2007.
At the same time, low mortgage rates and three years of solid job gains have boosted home sales, including purchases of new homes, which have jumped more than 15 percent year-to-date compared with last year.
That boosted construction spending on single-family homes 1.6 percent in October and 11.4 percent in the past year. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
WALLINGFORD — A consultant hired by the town to help with long-term planning is recommending the town consider a new police station.
Milone & MacBroom, a Cheshire-based consulting firm, was hired by the town to help update its Plan of Conservation of Development, a document that outlines a 10-year plan.
The town’s community facilities subcommittee reviewed data at a meeting earlier this year. Police station space needs and any potential fire station improvement priorities were discussed as projects to consider, according to Milone & MacBroom’s presentation.
But Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. and Police Chief William Wright said the existing police station, at 135 N. Main St., suffices.
“Right now, as we speak today, we’re in good shape,” Wright said. “... We do the improvements and necessary maintenance as we have to and watch very carefully over the building.”
“I’m not anticipating anything very immediate,” the mayor said. “That would be a very expensive project to put up a whole new facility. At this point, that is not at a level of trying to move forward.”
Another consultant hired by the town also recommended a new police station in 2009 on the nearby Wooding-Caplan property. The project was estimated to cost upwards of $20 million.
Town Councilor Craig Fishbein said that there was nothing before the Town Council about a new police station, adding “the burden is on the mayor to come to us and say, ‘I’d like to explore building a new police station.’” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Yale argued in its Nov. 25 request that new facts, including the impending closure of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Massachusetts, should spur the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission to reconsider its August decision.
At the time, PURA ruled that the $50 million combined-heat-and-power plant would not qualify for incentives, including a natural gas rebate and "demand ratchet waiver," because the 15.8-megawatt project would remove 2.5 megawatts of capacity from the electric distribution system.
United Illuminating, which would supply power to Yale during the retirement of the old plant and construction of the new one, asked PURA to deny Yale's original petition, arguing that the plant would not benefit customers because it reduced capacity and added load to UI's system. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
UConn Again Looking To Bring A New Hotel To Storrs
The University of Connecticut is encouraging hotel developers to take a new look in and around the Storrs campus, with UConn possibly providing the land — but not the financing — for one or more hotels.
The university said it seeks a three- or four-star hotel "upscale enough to ensure that the hotel adds to the character of the Storrs community but not at a deterrent price point to university customers," according to a posting on UConn's website.
Potential university-owned locations include the "Depot Campus," the former Mansfield Training School, on Route 44 and the former Bergin prison site across the street. In addition, there is land along North Hillside Road, near the university's technology park, which is now under construction.
There is no timetable for construction, and the size, scope and cost of any project would have to be determined by the developer, said Alan Calandro, special projects manager at the university."There is enough demand that it warrants a hotel," Calandro said. "We want to make sure that anyone who needs a hotel doesn't have to travel to Manchester or Vernon; [we want] something that would be more convenient."
A hotel is an amenity that a university the size of UConn needs to offer, Calandro said.
Calandro said the university would likely lease the land, an arrangement similar to the one that preceded construction of the Nathan Hale Inn & Conference Center on the campus in 2001. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Unionville Apartment Complex Seeks State Permits To Move Forward
FARMINGTON — Developers of a new apartment complex on a long-vacant property in Unionville plan to spend most of the winter working on getting the appropriate permits after getting the green light from town officials last month despite concerns from residents.
The town plan and zoning commission on Nov. 9 unanimously approved a zoning regulation amendment that will allow Hartford-based CenterPlan Development to build a $60 million, 268-unit apartment complex next to Union School, at 19 Perry St.
CenterPlan CEO Robert Landino said Tuesday that developers now must work with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the Office of the State Traffic Administration to get approval to clean up the property. That process will take most of the winter, he said.
Landino said that there won't be any significant updates until the spring and that while there's no set timeline for the project, they hope to break ground in the summer."Not much has changed [since the project was approved]," Landino said.
"Nothing will happen for the next several months," he added. "We're still in the throes of finalizing our approvals. Nothing is going to physically happen for a while."
Landino said developers will provide a community update as soon as there is more information available. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
New federal transportation bill would boost funding to CT
Washington – Congress unveiled a final, five-year transportation bill on Tuesday that would boost money to the states and change the way Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor routes are funded.
The $281 billion bill that would authorize spending for roads, bridges and mass transit is a long-awaited compromise between House and Senate bills that were approved earlier this year.
The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act would raise transportation funding to the states by 5 percent in fiscal 2016, rising to more than 15 percent in 2020.
“The increase in funding is welcome news,” said Connecticut Department of Transportation spokesman Judd Everhart. “Most importantly, a five-year bill provides a basis for planning and advancing projects which has been absent for the program for the last several years.”
Inability to agree on a way to bolster the Highway Trust Fund, which is used to fund road and transit projects, has forced Congress to approve a series of short-term bills to keep federal transportation money flowing to the states.
The nation’s governors, including Connecticut's Dannel P. Malloy, have been pressing Congress to approve a long-term bill to facilitate the planning of large infrastructure projects.
The FAST Act is expected to be approved by the House and Senate this week, before the latest transportation “patch” runs out on Friday.
The bill would set funding levels for dozens of programs and make changes to federal transporation policy. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Friends Work on Historic Lime Rock Park
For many motorsports fans in the Northeast, Lime Rock Park in Salisbury, Conn., is the pinnacle of race tracks and a destination not to be missed. Why? One reason is the track’s unique set up. The 1.5-mi. (2.41 km), up-and-down track accommodates any type of racing, including NASCAR and IndyCar. The track also has a history of attracting many of the top names in the sport.
But perhaps the most significant draw is the setting itself. The track is located in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains, about two hours north of New York City and two-and-a-half hours west of Boston. Another unique aspect of the park is that spectators at Lime Rock don’t sit in a grandstand — they view the action from a hillside. It’s a beautiful, historic and family-friendly environment that few other tracks in the country can match.
Opened in 1957, the track is undergoing major renovations to help enhance the spectator’s experience and track safety. Fans will enjoy improvements to walkways, hospitality areas and restrooms, as well as updates to the infield hillside that will improve viewing. Safety improvements are also slated for this summer. The drivers paddocks are receiving a complete facelift, roadways are being widened, a new guardrail is being built around the track and a new drainage system is being installed to help eliminate standing water issues. The entire track surface was repaved in 2008. The improvement project, called “Road to 60,” is already under way and is scheduled to be completed in 2017, the 60th anniversary of the track. Two friends, Jon Sweeney and Sean Wendell, both of whom started lawn mowing businesses while they were still in high school, are among the contractors working on the Lime Rock “Road to 60” project. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE