Everyone,
THE LOCATION FOR THE PRESS CONFERENCE FOR TODAY HAS CHANGED TO NEW HAVEN!Senator Murphy and Senator Blumenthal have invited us to join them at a press conference on the passage of the Federal Transportation reauthorization – FAST Act…
TODAY 10am
NEW LOCATION: UNION STATION, NEW HAVEN, CT
I hope that you, and others from your organization, can join us as we show our support for our Senators, as they comment on the passage on the first long-range surface transportation bill in a decade!
Engineers favor reducing Hartford city exits on I-84
EAST HARTFORD — Engineers working on a reconstruction project for a portion of Interstate 84 through Hartford are giving serious consideration to removing several exits and entrances in the area around the Capitol.
Department of Transportation principal engineer Richard Armstrong told an audience Wednesday at the Raymond Library on Main Street that doing so would help traffic flow, according to studies and design models.
“It’s not a given, we’re not sure because we haven’t made any final decisions,” Armstrong said after the meeting, which 25 to 30 residents attended. “As we showed in the presentation, we believe the best performing alternatives don’t have any ramps on Broad Street, don’t have any ramps on Asylum (Avenue).”
Armstrong also said the analyses show positive impacts when ramps are removed from High and Trumbull streets.
Armstrong is heading a team that is looking to replace a roughly 2-mile stretch of I-84 that runs from the downtown Hartford area to just west of the Sisson Avenue exit.
The portion of I-84 consists of a series of bridges, collectively known as the viaduct, that were built in the 1960s, and Armstrong told the audience the structure is nearing the end of its 50-year life expectancy.
Engineers, though, also are taking the opportunity to fix problems with a highway that was designed prior to federal guidelines that were put into place in 1970 and largely remain in place today.
Among those concerns are the high number of exits and entrances in a short distance, left-hand exits, and lane drops that cause weaving on a highway that handles roughly 175,000 cars daily, or three times its intended capacity. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Bridgeport factory conversion financing in place
With its final piece of financing in place, a Bridgeport project to remake an abandoned factory along Interstate 95 into apartments is nearly ready to begin.
The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority on Nov. 19 approved $40 million in financing as part of a $130 million plan to turn a block of derelict buildings into what will eventually be 311 residential units, with a school, open space and potentially other amenities on the Cherry Street site. Construction is set to begin in March and take about two years.
“We’re grateful to CHFA and looking forward to getting going,” said Gary Flocco, managing partner of Corvus Capital Partners, of White Plains, N.Y., which is developing the site.
CHFA on the same day also approved $18.6 million for the construction of eight two-story buildings in Fairfield that will contain a total of 50 units, replacing an existing complex on Pine Tree Lane.
The first phase of construction in Bridgeport involves a low-rise section that will house Great Oaks Charter School as well as the high-rise building on the north edge of the site. The oldest and most dilapidated buildings, clearly visible to northbound drivers on I-95, will wait for phase two.
But they will start looking better long before that, Flocco said. “We’re planning to put some kind of slipcover over the whole building,” he said, describing the cover as a mesh fabric that will include a rendering of what the building will look like when it’s finished. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Himes praises transportation bill
U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th, is praising a long-term $305 billion transportation bill passed Thursday by the House.
“Securing long-term transportation funding is absolutely essential for the continued economic security of amilies in Southwestern Connecticut and for our sustained growth as a state and country,” Himes said.
“Today, I voted for the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, or FAST Act, which will provide $305 billion to fund construction and maintenance of our country’s roads, bridges and rail for the next five years,” Himes continued.
“This stability will allow us to plan for the future with more certainty, create living-wage construction jobs that workers can depend on, and help alleviate the traffic and congestion that costs our region so much time and money,” he said.
Construction underway on linear trail section in Cheshire
CHESHIRE — Work is underway on the final stages of a section of the linear trail between West Main and Jarvis streets, one of three stretches that once completed will allow walkers, runners and bikers to travel from the Southington line to Hamden.
The 1.5 mile length under construction will be paved next week according to Bob Ceccolini, the Parks and Recreation director. Work was complicated by wetlands in the area.
“They had to work through the permits and find what work could be done,” Ceccolini said. The trail has passages under it to allow animals to the wetlands.
“They were very sensitive to the environment they were passing through,” he said.
Once the section is complete, there will be nearly three miles to finish the trail and link with Southington’s and Hamden’s trails. Next year, the 2.5-mile section between Jarvis Street and the Southington border will be completed with state funds. Ceccolini said in 2017, the last .7-mile stretch between Cornwall Avenue and West Main Street will be finished, also with state money.
The state also provided land to build a parking lot off Jarvis Street for trail users.
That final section had been held up for years due to legal wrangling with a nearby property owner Dalton Enterprises. An agreement was signed with the town in 2009. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
The hotel, which will also have a climate-controlled atrium, is estimated to cost anywhere from $70 million to $100 million, the Board of Selectmen were told on Wednesday.
The permitting process is likely to take some time, and actual construction of the hotel is not likely to begin until 2017, said Robert G. Tedeschi, the team leader for the engineering firm of Weston & Sampson.
The proposed hotel, which will be called the Port-Hampton Villages of the Welcomes, “will provide a stimulus for the town of Portland and the entire area,” Weston & Sampson’s vice president and regional manager Christopher B. Wester told the selectmen.
“The real prize for the community will be the jobs and building that facility,” Tedeschi said.
The proposed hotel is just the latest in a series of similar large-scale projects that have been proposed by the castle’s owner.
The hotel “will meet a need that is greatly dictated by patrons,” who number some 40,000 people a year, Wester said.
The facility will also contain “a wonderful Irish pub where you will be welcome,” Wester told the selectmen.
“I’m excited,” First Selectwoman Susan S. Bransfield said.
“The cost is sizable,” she said, adding that she appreciated St. Clement’s decision to go forward with such a major project in Portland.
“This is a good economic driver,” Selectman Frederick R. Knous said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
CT wraps $650M ‘GO’ bond sale
Connecticut earlier this week sold $650 million worth of bonds to pay for infrastructure improvements and upgrades, including classrooms and the state's pending new downtown Hartford office space, the state treasurer says.
State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier said Thursday that the bond sale that closed on Tuesday drew the most retail interest in nearly 18 months and left taxpayers with an overall interest rate of 3.26 percent, an attractive cost of funds.
According to Nappier, proceeds from the general obligation (GO) 2015 series F bonds will fund $300 million in local school construction grants; $125.2 million for various state building projects, including $63 million for ongoing renovations to 450 Columbus Blvd. in Hartford and $38 million for upgrades to the CORE-CT accounting system; $100 million for the Connecticut State University System, including $35 million for technology upgrades and smart classrooms; $30 million for the Town Aid Road program, $15 million toward the Local Capital Improvement Program; and $14.8 million for various grants programs.
In addition, proceeds of the GO 2015 Series G - Green Bonds will fund $65 million in grants to local municipalities for Clean Water infrastructure projects statewide. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Transportation bill will boost CT road funds and help Amtrak
Washington – Congress approved a massive five-year transportation bill Thursday that would send Connecticut more than $3.5 billion in federal transportation money, bar the rental of cars under recall and commission a study that would determine an impairment standard for drivers who have smoked marijuana.
The bill would provide $281 billion, mostly distributed by formula to the states, for highway and transit projects, and it authorizes another $24 billion for transportation grants and other programs.
Over five years ending in 2020, Connecticut is slated to receive more than $3.5 billion from the federal government for highway and transit projects, about $310 million more than it has over the past five years.
With the support of all members of Connecticut’s delegation to the House of Representatives, the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, or FAST Act, was approved by the House on a 359-65 vote. The Senate was approve the bill late Thursday on a 83-16 vote.
The bill is the result of a rare bipartisan compromise. It ends years of short-term measures that many governors, including Connecticut's Dannel P. Malloy, said made planning for large infrastructure projects difficult.
“This is not a perfect bill, but it represents an important step toward rebuilding our deteriorating physical infrastructure and the possibility of restoring the compromise that is so important to our broken political process,” said Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
College to start work this week on new veterinary building in Winsted
WINSTED — Construction of the long-awaited veterinary technician building at Northwestern Connecticut Community College is expected to start this week.
Steven R. Frazier, the college's dean of administration, said the $28.7 million project should be completed in the spring or summer of 2017. The building would go into use for the 2017 fall semester. Lawrence Brunoli Inc. of Farmington is the general contractor.
The new two-story, 24,000-square-foot building will house the only accredited veterinary tech program in the state, along with medical assisting classes, a computer lab, and the veterinary tech surgical and dental lab facilities. It will be built on the parking lot next to the Joyner Learning Center, which will be demolished.