NORWALK — The Walk Bridge replacement project moved to the big screen Monday evening, as the Connecticut Department of Transportation whittled down its design alternatives in a public information meeting at The Maritime Aquarium’s IMAX Theater.
Chris Brown, senior project manager with HNTB, the consultant firm engaged by the DOT, was well aware that many local residents and business owners would prefer to see the existing 120-year-old structure repaired or replaced with a fixed bridge.
“I know that there’s some question about why don’t we just lock down the bridge and not make it movable anymore,” Brown said. “Well, doing that doesn’t address everything on the bridge that needs to be done.”
If the state were to repair the bridge’s worn elements, Brown said, it still would be left running a modern railroad on an old bridge, “and the two don’t always mesh.”
More than 100 people, including DOT Commissioner James P. Redeker, attended the meeting, which was held by the state to explain how it arrived at a 240-foot, vertical-lift-span bridge as its preferred replacement after considering 70 design concepts.
On the IMAX Theater screen, Brown showed the alternatives, ranging from rehabilitating the existing bridge to replacing it with a movable, or a low-, mid- or high-level fixed bridge.
Brown said a low-level fixed bridge would work if the DOT were starting with a clean slate. With the existing bridge in place, however, that would require construction of a temporary “run-around bridge” to allow train traffic to continue, he said.
Under such a scenario, he said, “You’ve got a bridge there now and you’ve got to keep those trains going, and you’re working in close proximity to the operating railroad.”
Brown said a high-level fixed bridge would be most costly and carry “dire impacts” for the city. With railroad bed grade increases limited to 1 percent, such a structure would require altering the approaches from the East Norwalk to South Norwalk Train stations, and replacing the latter station, he said.
The DOT’s preferred design, which is also known as Option 11C, would provide the most advantages and fewest disadvantages, according to a fact sheet produced by the DOT. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Contractors like Trump's infrastructure push
HARTFORD — Construction employment declined or was stagnant in one-third of metropolitan areas between October 2015 and October 2016 amid diminishing public-sector investments in infrastructure and other civil works, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released last week by the Associated General Contractors of America.
Association officials said a new infrastructure proposal being crafted by the incoming Trump administration could, if structured properly, help add construction jobs in many areas.
“Too many construction firms that build vital infrastructure projects are finding less work to bid on today than just a few years ago,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist, adding that spending nationally on public construction dropped by 2.2 percent during the first nine months of 2016 compared to the same period in 2015. “There is little doubt that many more construction workers would be earning high wages in metro areas around the country if the public sector were investing more in aging infrastructure.”
The construction employment decrease in Connecticut was negligible in comparison to other regions, according to the report. In the year leading to October 2016, a reported 800 jobs were lost, 700 of them in the greater Hartford region.
Construction employment decreased in 73 out of 358 metro areas and was stagnant in 62 areas during the past year, the construction economist noted. The largest job losses were in the Houston area, 9,700 jobs. The Baltimore area followed with a loss of 2,400 jobs. The Los Angeles region lost 2,100 construction positions.
Meanwhile, construction employment increased in 223 metropolitan areas between October 2015 and October 2016. The largest job gains occurred around Denver, where a reported 10,800 jobs were added.
Association officials said a new infrastructure investment program under consideration by Trump that could invest up to $1 trillion has the potential to boost construction employment in many parts of the country. It also could create tens of thousands of manufacturing, mining and service-sector jobs as equipment makers, aggregate firms and construction suppliers book higher orders. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Facts, not emotion, will determine fate of power plant plan
Opponents of a planned natural gas power plant in Killingly make a strong emotional argument against building another generating facility in the area. But as the developer continues going through the state approval process, facts, not emotions, will rule.
That is not to say that NTE Energy, which wants to build a 550-megawatt plant not far from the existing Lake Road Generating facility, shouldn’t heed residents’ concerns. It should. But if state regulatory bodies such as the Connecticut Siting Council does wind up approving the proposal, opponents will be better served by seeking out the best possible deal they can get for their community.
Others, such as an inconclusive link between Windham County’s asthma rate and a “cluster” of generating plants within a 31-mile radius of the proposed NTE site, are less convincing. Other factors — such as the county’s highest-in-Connecticut smoking rate — may have contributed to its high asthma rate, for example.
Advocates contend that the burden of proof in this regard is on the state — that it must prove existing plants are not materially responsible for local public health issues. They say the state exists to protect the public, not to serve business interests such as NTE’s
Blueprints Approved For Proposed Development Of Former Campus Of The Hartford In Simsbury
Town officials approved a blueprint for the proposed development at the site of The Hartford's former Simsbury office complex.
The zoning commission on Monday authorized New Jersey development firm The Silverman Group to move forward with crafting a more detailed site plan, after unanimously approving a master site plan for the development at 200 Hopmeadow St.
Director of Planning and Community Development James Rabbitt explained that the approved master plan lays out the groundwork for the proposed project.
"The evaluation of any proposed site plan will be predicated with compliance on the master plan," Rabbitt said.
The development, The Ridge at Talcott Mountain, was designed using The Hartford-Simsbury Form-Based Code. The document was adopted by the town in collaboration with The Hartford in August 2014. Form-based code provides a developer with the town's expectations in the scope of use. The code's purpose, according to the 63-page document, is to "implement a long-term, sustainable redevelopment strategy for the Hartford site."
A group of residents from abutting condominium complex Riverwalk Drive addressed the commission and cited concerns of preserving the views of the ridge and Heublein Tower, unsustainable traffic and property setbacks.
Commission members explained that those concerns would have had to been addressed during the creation of the code, and the commission could only decide whether the proposal complied with the code as written.
T.J. Donohue, the attorney representing The Silverman Group, said the developer "intends to give Riverwalk every consideration and courtesy" to address concerns.
The Silverman Group plans to build 280 residential units, to include several townhouse units with various layouts and facades, as well as four luxury apartment buildings with elevators, a clubhouse, and a 120-bed assisted living facility.
The proposal also details a combined 11,600 square feet of retail and a walking and bike trail that would connect to the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail.
The developers say the project "replaces an obsolete suburban corporate office asset that no longer is viable with a master-planned, mixed-use community."
About 46 percent of the 40-acre property will remain open space, according to the plan.
The anticipated timeline for the project details groundbreaking in June and completion in January 2018. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
CT Unemployment Rate in Construction Industry Improving, But Remains Among Highest in US
Connecticut’s unemployment rate in the construction industry remained among the highest in the U.S., ranked 39th among the 50 states in October, although the year-over-year change was the 12th best in the country. Connecticut’s October unemployment rate in the industry was 6.7 percent, higher than the U.S. average of 5.7 percent, according to data released by the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC).
The state’s construction industry unemployment rate nudged downward from 7.1 percent in September, but was 6.4 percent in July 2016. In recent years, the rate ballooned to 18.1 percent in October 2010, at the height of the recession, from a low of 5.8 percent in October of 2008.
Overall, the U.S. construction industry added 19,000 net new jobs in November and has now added jobs for three consecutive months, according to analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data compiled by Associated Builders and Contractors.
Industry employment is up by 2.4 percent on a year-over-year basis, considerably faster than the overall economy’s 1.6 percent job growth rate. Construction industry employment growth would likely be much sharper if more suitably skilled or trainable workers were available to fill available job openings, according to the ABC.
The data indicate that skilled labor shortage nationally appears to be impacting nonresidential activity more than residential. The nonresidential sector added 1,100 net new jobs in November, while the residential sector added 19,600 positions. Heavy and civil engineering lost 2,100 jobs for the month.
“The demand for construction talent was strong before the election, and the outcome has improved the near-term outlook for private and public construction activity,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “The implication is that demand for construction workers is positioned to remain high, which will translate into gradual reduction in industry unemployment and significant wage pressures. In the state-by-state numbers, calculated for October, the states with the lowest estimated not-seasonally-adjusted construction unemployment rates were North Dakota, Massachusetts, Colorado, Utah, New Hampshire and South Dakota. October not seasonally adjusted (NSA) construction unemployment rates were down in 33 states, including Connecticut, on a year-over-year basis. Connecticut’s October 2015 unemployment rate in the construction industry was 8.0 percent. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
A group of residents from abutting condominium complex Riverwalk Drive addressed the commission and cited concerns of preserving the views of the ridge and Heublein Tower, unsustainable traffic and property setbacks.
Commission members explained that those concerns would have had to been addressed during the creation of the code, and the commission could only decide whether the proposal complied with the code as written.
T.J. Donohue, the attorney representing The Silverman Group, said the developer "intends to give Riverwalk every consideration and courtesy" to address concerns.
The Silverman Group plans to build 280 residential units, to include several townhouse units with various layouts and facades, as well as four luxury apartment buildings with elevators, a clubhouse, and a 120-bed assisted living facility.
The proposal also details a combined 11,600 square feet of retail and a walking and bike trail that would connect to the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail.
The developers say the project "replaces an obsolete suburban corporate office asset that no longer is viable with a master-planned, mixed-use community."
About 46 percent of the 40-acre property will remain open space, according to the plan.
The anticipated timeline for the project details groundbreaking in June and completion in January 2018. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
CT Unemployment Rate in Construction Industry Improving, But Remains Among Highest in US
Connecticut’s unemployment rate in the construction industry remained among the highest in the U.S., ranked 39th among the 50 states in October, although the year-over-year change was the 12th best in the country. Connecticut’s October unemployment rate in the industry was 6.7 percent, higher than the U.S. average of 5.7 percent, according to data released by the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC).
The state’s construction industry unemployment rate nudged downward from 7.1 percent in September, but was 6.4 percent in July 2016. In recent years, the rate ballooned to 18.1 percent in October 2010, at the height of the recession, from a low of 5.8 percent in October of 2008.
Overall, the U.S. construction industry added 19,000 net new jobs in November and has now added jobs for three consecutive months, according to analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data compiled by Associated Builders and Contractors.
Industry employment is up by 2.4 percent on a year-over-year basis, considerably faster than the overall economy’s 1.6 percent job growth rate. Construction industry employment growth would likely be much sharper if more suitably skilled or trainable workers were available to fill available job openings, according to the ABC.
The data indicate that skilled labor shortage nationally appears to be impacting nonresidential activity more than residential. The nonresidential sector added 1,100 net new jobs in November, while the residential sector added 19,600 positions. Heavy and civil engineering lost 2,100 jobs for the month.
“The demand for construction talent was strong before the election, and the outcome has improved the near-term outlook for private and public construction activity,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “The implication is that demand for construction workers is positioned to remain high, which will translate into gradual reduction in industry unemployment and significant wage pressures. In the state-by-state numbers, calculated for October, the states with the lowest estimated not-seasonally-adjusted construction unemployment rates were North Dakota, Massachusetts, Colorado, Utah, New Hampshire and South Dakota. October not seasonally adjusted (NSA) construction unemployment rates were down in 33 states, including Connecticut, on a year-over-year basis. Connecticut’s October 2015 unemployment rate in the construction industry was 8.0 percent. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE