The Connecticut Department of
Transportation (CTDOT) today released its $12.1 billion five-year Capital Plan –
covering fiscal years 2019-2023 and including projects in all modes of
transportation – highways and bridges, public transportation, facilities and
bicycle/pedestrian enhancements. CTDOT updates the plan annually, detailing
spending plans for 2019 and planned investments through 2023.
The DOT anticipates utilizing $2.6 billion in total Capital Program funding in federal fiscal year 2019, which began October 1. This amount includes approximately $1.0 billion for bus and rail assets and $1.6 billion available for highway and bridge infrastructure.
During the 2019 fiscal year, the Department anticipates bidding 62 projects at roughly $512 million in contract value.
Over the five-year plan, $7.4 billion, or 62 percent is for highway and bridge projects; $4.4 billion, or 36 percent is for public transportation; and $218.5 million, or 2 percent, is for facilities.
“The Department has leveraged state and federal resources to advance one of our largest construction programs in recent years,” said CTDOT Commissioner James P. Redeker. “Investment in transportation is an investment in our economy and creates thousands of jobs in Connecticut.”
Along with the Capital Program, the Department is releasing a report entitled, “Transportation Capital Infrastructure Program, Annual Capital Plan Report, November 2018.” The report reviews the performance of CTDOT in delivering capital investments. The goal, Commissioner Redeker noted, is to optimize the capital funding for all its transportation modes and to improve continuously its ability to deliver maximum infrastructure improvements for each dollar expended. The Department is achieving this by delivering projects on time and on or under budget. Continuously improving project delivery and using innovative construction techniques also have increased CTDOT’s capacity to provide the state with higher quality transportation improvements that maximize the state’s return on its investment.
• “Transportation Capital Infrastructure Program Report” can be found here.
• The Five Year Capital Plan dashboard and spreadsheet can be found here.
• The Advertising Schedule of Projects for 2019 can be found here.
Costco proposal clears last town hurdle
East Lyme — A proposal for a Costco big-box store near Interstate 95's Exit 74 cleared its final municipal hurdle Tuesday night, allowing developers to potentially break ground in early 2019.
The Water and Sewer Commission voted 8-1 to approve a 7,650-gallon daily sewage capacity for the more than 158,000-square-foot store.
The store would serve as the initial phase of the retail component proposed for the Gateway Commons development, a 200-acre site between Exits 73 and 74. Gateway developers have built 280 apartments near Exit 73 as part of that development, and recently proposed an additional 120 rental units to be built over upcoming years.
Before approving the sewage capacity Tuesday, town officials expressed caution about tapping into the town’s finite sewage capacity and questioned how to properly allocate that capacity moving forward — especially with other residential and commercial developments associated with the Gateway Commons in the pipeline.
Costco’s proposal, however, would use a “modest” percentage of the town’s remaining capacity — approximately 3 percent of an estimated 262,000 gallons still available daily. As contracted with the city of New London, East Lyme is allowed up to 1.5 million gallons of sewage per day, all of which is sent to New London's treatment plant.
“Costco’s application is a small amount. It’s the future developments that we are trying anticipate,” said Municipal Utility Engineer Bradford Kargl before Tuesday’s meeting. “There are a lot of other projects coming through, and all of that will have a significant impact on the scope of what’s available. We are trying to gauge how to best approach that.”
Tuesday’s final approval comes years after initial negotiations for the development began between the town and The Simon Konover Co. of West Hartford, which is developing the Gateway site with KGI Properties of Providence. The zoning commission first approved their master development plan in 2008.
Last month, the Costco proposal still needed town approval for a building permit, as well as other permits from the state Department of Transportation and Office of the State Traffic Administration.
Building Official Steve Way said Tuesday he reviewed the developer’s application and expects to sign off on it in coming weeks, saying that Tuesday’s sewage capacity approval was the last major hurdle the development needed on the municipal level. The approval was needed for Way to approve the application. CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
Officials eye growth for Groton-New London, Bradley airports
Kimberly Drelich
New London — The Connecticut Airport Authority's executive director sees the potential for growth at Groton-New London Airport, calling it one of the airports in the state that shows the most promise.
Not only is Groton-New London the only one of the five general aviation airports in the state that has the certification to handle commercial service, but its location in an area with a unique mix of companies and the casinos also is a plus, the executive director, Kevin Dillon, said Tuesday.
Dillon and Tony Sheridan, chairman of the authority's board of directors, spoke to The Day's editorial board during an hourlong interview.
Dillon said he wants to restore commercial service at Groton-New London, with service to Washington, D.C., being a goal that makes sense for the airport to pursue. Though the restoration of commercial service has been an elusive goal so far, he said he has a good sense that there is commitment from local businesses to support such service.
Corporate aviation, a sector that is growing overall, is currently the mainstay of the airport, he said. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the airport had 43,744 total operations in 2017.
The authority recently was working with a carrier interested in starting commercial service from Groton to the Washington, D.C., area, he said. But the authority wasn't able to move forward because the carrier's planned acquisition of another carrier to provide the aircraft capacity fell through.
Dillon said the authority is in conversations with a number of carriers about the potential for commercial service at Groton-New London. When Dillon speaks to carriers about Bradley International service, Groton-New London is always in the mix of those conversations, too, but the service may be more attractive to niche carriers, he said.
Sheridan said Groton is a "classic example" of the economic development opportunities connected to airports, because of the significant amount of developable land nearby.
Dillon said the authority has "a couple of irons in the fire" for Groton-New London: the potential of hotel development and additional hangar construction.
Bradley International
Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks also is poised to grow and is selling the "convenience factor" to passengers, who have other choices in New York and Boston, said Dillon.Dillon said many people in Connecticut are looking to avoid the hourslong trip to Boston or New York. But he said the trick in getting those people to come to Bradley, particularly those in the business community, is ensuring that they are comfortable with the consistency of flights there. Also, enough people have to take the flights currently available at Bradley to show there's demand for more. CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
Despite naysayers, Larson won’t bury the tunnel idea
Two years ago, U.S. Rep. John B. Larson stunned many in Connecticut with an idea to build a system of highway tunnels under Hartford and East Hartford longer than Boston’s “Big Dig.”
Reactions to his plan ran from “brilliant and necessary” to “the mother of all pipe dreams,” but Larson plowed ahead and asked state Department of Transportation officials to study the tunnel idea.
They did. In an analysis released in September, DOT traffic engineers said, in effect, that they don’t think it will work.
Undeterred, Larson convened two forums on tunnels in the past two months, one featuring business and civic leaders from Seattle, which is replacing an aging highway viaduct with a tunnel, and another with a national tunneling expert.
So, does Connecticut cue Big Bertha and start drilling, or not?
Now that Democrats have taken control of the U.S. House of Representatives, Larson envisions a path forward. He said in a recent interview that he expects his party to bring out an infrastructure bill in the Spring, the first in eight years. As a member of the Ways and Means committee, Larson believes he is well positioned to bring some of the infrastructure spending to Connecticut.
But is a tunnel system with a price tag in the billions the best way to spend it?
Larson said he is trying to solve problems created by the placement, age and design of the 1960s-era highways: traffic congestion, neighborhood isolation, impeded connection to the Connecticut River and economic development, and decaying dikes along the river. He said in a recent statement that he thinks “tunneling is the best option for the Hartford Region” and would continue to advocate for it “until a better solution is presented.”
State planners, however, think they have a better solution — to bring the I-84/I-91 interchange out of downtown to the North Meadows, allowing through traffic on I-84 to go around downtown and over a new bridge before reconnecting to the existing highway in East Hartford.
Aging viaducts
The tunnel story starts with efforts to replace the 2.5 mile series of viaducts that carry I-84 through much of Hartford. About 80 percent of the 1960s-era roadway was built on bridge stanchions that are now past their projected 50-year lifespan.
Early in the last decade the DOT considered repairing the viaduct in place. But a citizens group, the Hub of Hartford, formed and urged a different solution, one that would undo some of the damage the highway had done to the city.
The city, regional planners and eventually the DOT got behind the idea. Maintenance repairs were done — and continue — on the viaducts, but in 2012 the department also initiated a widely praised public planning process.
After looking at several options, the planners determined in 2017 that a highway at or slightly below grade was the best way to replace the viaduct system. It would, for example, allow city streets to cross over the roadway, diminishing the walling effect of the elevated highway.
This plan is moving ahead. The original highway was built on bridges in part to accommodate the railroad. The first step in bringing the highway to ground is to relocate some of the tracks and build a new station. Planning has started, and construction is a decade or more away.
But replacing the highway doesn’t by itself improve worsening congestion. I-84 was built to carry 55,000 cars a day through Hartford; it now carries 175,000. In addition, I-84 shrinks from three lanes to two in both directions around the Bulkeley Bridge, constricting rush-hour traffic.
Another 100,000 vehicles traverse I-91 each day. The I-84/I-91 interchange, with 275,000 cars a day, is the worst bottleneck in the state, the second worst in New England and the 24th worst in the country, according to the American Transportation Research Institute.
Well aware of the problem, DOT Commissioner James Redeker in 2016 initiated a study of the I-84/I-91 interchange. The study began by focusing on three long-term options to reduce congestion: widening the historic stone-arch Bulkeley Bridge, moving the I-91/I-84 interchange north of downtown and building a new bridge over the Connecticut River, and running a highway across the southern tier of the city to connect with the Charter Oak Bridge.
At this point, in the winter of 2016-2017, seemingly out of left field, came the congressman with his tunnel concept.
Big plan
Larson, who was easily re-elected to an 11th term last week, pays close attention to infrastructure issues. He has been trying for years to get federal funds to repair the flood control system along the Connecticut River. All applaud this effort; the 1940s system of dikes, pumping stations and conduits is in an “unacceptable” state of repair, according to a 2013 inspection by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Should the levees fail, Hartford could suffer a Katrina-like catastrophe. CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE