Bids for new Bridgeport Congress St. Bridge millions over budget
BRIDGEPORT — Twenty-six years after the Congress
Street drawbridge got stuck in the open position, 13 years after the structure
was demolished, and three years after construction was planned to begin on a
replacement, the city has run into yet another significant hurdle — inflation.
The project's estimated $24 million pre-COVID pandemic
budget has unsurprisingly exploded, based on bids submitted by the June 29
deadline by a handful of interested contractors.
According
to documents on BidSync, the website Bridgeport uses to seek
competitive prices for goods and services, the updated costs to install a new
fixed Congress Street span reconnecting downtown and the East Side stand at
$42.55 million, $48.04 million, $56.93 million and $57.63 million.
Now what?
Mayor Joe Ganim ran the city when the moveable bridge broke
— his first tenure in office lasted from 1991 until 2003 — and has made
restoring it a priority since voters returned him to office in 2015. Proponents
argue a new, but cheaper, fixed bridge is not just an economic need but
important to improve response times for emergency services.
Thomas Gaudett, a top aide to the mayor, on Thursday said
the higher bids were anticipated and City Hall will be reviewing them to see if
there is any way to make price-cutting changes through "value
engineering" while also consulting with state and federal lawmakers for
potential funding assistance.
"We're just as committed to the project as ever,"
Gaudett said. He said it may even be possible for some initial work to start in
the meantime.
U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, a Democrat like Ganim who has
tried to help Bridgeport restore the bridge since he first joined Congress in
2008, expressed his strong disappointment Thursday with city
officials, adding
that as of last October ground was to be broken last month.
"I'm sitting here wondering if they're going to start
construction in June of 2024, 2025?" Himes said. "It's
enormously frustrating. It's gotten to the point of embarrassment, right?
I ran on this 15 years ago. And this is not a big bridge."
In
2019 when he was last up for re-election Ganim announced that the
state had agreed to split the then-estimated $24 million cost and that work
would start the following year. Then in March 2020 the COVID pandemic
struck Connecticut and that crisis, plus legal issues and a lengthy state and
federal permitting process, slowed the bridge's replacement further.
And while COVID has been beaten back, there has been
stubborn lingering inflation.
Still, a
year ago Ganim's economic development director, Thomas Gill, in an
interview said they were cognizant of construction cost increases and were
tracking them. At the time he said "we're still within the ballpark"
of that original $24 million figure.
But, over the last few months as the city
launched the bidding process, then extended the deadline for contractors to
respond from late May until late June, reality was setting in that $24 million
would not be enough.
"It's certainly no surprise," Himes said Thursday.
"And in fact I've been asking the city for months now what the Plan B is
because construction costs have risen dramatically. That $24 million bid was
way stale."
Though allies, Himes in the past has criticized the Ganim
administration over the lack of progress on the Congress Street Bridge. Last
fall, as
he faced a campaign attack from then-Republican challenger Jayme Stevenson
about the lack of a new span, Himes noted his "sense" was the
project had been more of a priority under Ganim's predecessor, Bill Finch, who
had the old structure torn down in 2010 to make way for a new one.
It was at a pre-election press conference on Oct. 31,
touting the issuance of a key federal permit, that Himes, flanked by the mayor
and members of his administration, said, "I'm told we'll see construction
on this bridge in June of next year."
The budget overrun is sure to factor into Ganim's own
re-election this year. One of his three Democratic challengers, former aide
John Gomes, in
May posted a video of himself posing on Congress Street, lamenting the lack
of the "pivotal connection between downtown and the East Side" after
years of promises.
Himes said he will try to see if any more federal dollars
are available to help cover the cost increase, but added, "This is not an
incremental difference we might be able to finesse. If it were $3 million or $4
million or $5 million there might be some way to cobble it together. But this
is huge."
"Big federal money doesn't just appear," he said.
"It's a process of years."
City Councilman Scott Burns, a Democrat and co-chairman of
the budget committee, said Thursday he did not know where the additional
dollars would come from, but also noted, "Time is money, and the longer
these projects get dragged out, the steeper they get."
State Rep. Antonio Felipe, also a Democrat,
represents the downtown and the East Side neighborhood at the other end of
Congress Street. He said it was obvious to him that a fixed replacement would
no longer cost $24 million.
"It's a post-COVID world," Felipe said.
He continued that he and other state lawmakers from
Bridgeport have had some conversations with the Ganim administration about
obtaining additional state aid, but added the challenge is the city is seeking
competitive financing from Connecticut for other needs as well.
"So you don't want to go to the well too many
times," Felipe said.
He suggested perhaps construction could at least begin while
the hunt for additional money is on.
"If you can use the first $24 million now, and six
months from now get the rest," Felipe said. "It's a conversation
worth having."
Stamford's new West Main Street Bridge is delayed; pedestrian-access reopens temporarily
STAMFORD — For a limited time only, Stamford residents can
walk across the West Main Street Bridge before its replacement arrives.
The city reopened the once-purple bridge recently as
officials wait for a new pedestrian bridge to arrive in Stamford, engineer
Domenic Tramontozzi said. The new bridge, which was supposed to open by the Fourth
of July, could arrive by the end of the month, after being delayed due to
"utility coordination."
"We reopened the existing bridge for pedestrians
temporarily as the work that had to get done prior to the pedestrian bridge
arriving has been substantially completed," Tramontozzi said.
The deteriorating 135-year-old bridge closed for
construction in February. It had been labeled hazardous by city officials last
July, with pedestrians
advised to walk only on specific parts of the structure. The temporary
bridge is a $1.6 million stopgap, which will be placed just north of the
existing structure.
The city, in years past, has attempted to make the Purple
Bridge pedestrian-only permanently. But some West Side residents and their city
representatives have argued
that a bridge closed to cars cuts the neighborhood off from the rest
of the city and increases emergency service response times on the way to
Stamford Hospital.
Representatives for the city and Mill River Park, which the
bridge abuts, have consistently argued that cars would interrupt the largest
pedestrian path in Downtown Stamford and create a five-way intersection on the
West Side. In addition, the bridge affects city planners' long-term goal to
expand Mill River Park and create a riverside walking path connecting Scalzi
Park to Kosciuszko Park, they argue.
Bloomfield library project $9 million over budget before work starts: 'Disappointing, ugly, scary'
BLOOMFIELD — The cost of the Bloomfield library construction
project is $8.8 million over budget, the chair of the Library Building
Committee reported Monday, and the future of the project is now uncertain.
Bloomfield has been working to gather funding and prepare to
relocate the libraries for long-planned construction on the Prosser and McMahon
libraries, but the bids submitted by contractors came as a shock to the council
and the building committee.
The bids on the Prosser Library were $4.8 million over
the estimates and the bids on the McMahon Library were $3 million over the
estimate. The recent reduction
of a state library building grant put the project another $1 million
in the hole.
"This is disappointing, ugly, scary," said Mark
Weisman, chair of the Library Building Committee, on Monday. "We are in a
bad situation here."
Weisman, speaking to members of town council at the
Administration and Education Subcommittee meeting, said there are a
"lot of reasons" why the town is facing "crazy numbers"
like these.
"I could say that based on my experience, the number
one reason is the bid environment," Weisman said. "But there are a
lot of things combined here. We need to figure out how to get to where we need
to go."
Interim Town Manager Phil Schenck said he is "kind of
in shock about it." He outlined several steps the town is taking in hopes
of determining how to proceed.
The council will hear a report from the building committee
on July 24. Additionally, bond attorney will be present at the July 24 meeting
to discuss flexibility in the bond resolution passed in November 2021 for the
project.
"They will discuss whether the council has flexibility
in terms of whether they're required to do two projects, whether they can do
one project or the other project and exactly what flexibility they have,"
Schenck said.
The possibility of a referendum is not off the table,
according to Schenck, but the decision about whether the town will see
additional money via an election must be decided by August. Voters approved the
original referendum for the project with a total budget of $36.3 million, with
$27.6 million going to the Prosser Library and $8.6 million for the McMahon
Library.
Another complicating factor in the situation is the fiscal
year 2023-34 budget did not include funds for maintenance or operations related
to the project.
"If they have to move back, we don't have the money to
pay for the utility bills and other things that that would happen,"
Schenck said.
The Library Building Committee will meet again on July 12
about the bids. In his presentation to the Administration and Education
Subcommittee, Weisman outlined some possibilities of his own.
The first is to proceed with one of the two building
projects, but which project would proceed is unclear. The second is to
delay both projects. He said there is little the committee can do to
reduce the scope of the projects.
"I feel like based on what the town asked us to do,
what the library board of trustees asked us to do — I feel like we are pretty
close to the minimum, but nothing is going to get us there on that line item
alone," Weisman said.
Mayor Danielle Wong responded with "shock and
hurt" to the report Monday. She said it is the job of the town to maintain
municipal buildings and that she plans to take a "holistic" approach
with taxpayers in mind when brainstorming a solution.
"Ultimately the plan is to land on options for the Town
to consider — which could include an adjusted project timeline and value
engineering activities," Wong said in a statement.
The library has already begun its relocation to the
temporary headquarters at Cigna, and the library is temporarily
closed in the interim.
The journey to fund the library has been an uphill climb. On
top of the $29 million approved by taxpayers, the town received a $5 million
grant from the Community Investment Fund, narrowly avoiding the use of American
Rescue Act Plan funds on the project.
Additionally, it took the town two years to appoint a
Library Building Committee, according to Councilor Kenneth McClary.
McClary said he is supportive of the project, but
fears that going to referendum to approve more funding for the project may
burden taxpayers.
"Working families cannot afford more debt on the
books," McClary said.
It’s hard to build transmission lines in the Northeast, so 8 states are asking the feds for help
Many states in the Northeast have ambitious clean energy
goals to help fight climate change. In the coming decades, they plan to add a
lot more renewable energy like wind and solar to the grid, and to use
electricity instead of fossil fuels to power vehicles and heat buildings.
But right now, the electrical transmission system — the web
of big power lines that move high voltage electricity over long distances —
isn’t robust enough to make these plans a reality.
Most existing power lines are at capacity, and in many
places, the buildout of renewable energy will require a lot of new transmission
lines to major population centers. What's more, some parts of the Northeast
grids aren't fully connected to each other, which makes sharing power
challenging.
"It's generally understood that we will need more
transmission to help all of our states achieve our clean energy goals,"
said Caitlin Peale Sloan, vice president of the Conservation Law Foundation in
Massachusetts. "But it's very difficult to do."
It's challenging to site energy infrastructure in the
crowded Northeast and expensive to build it, she said. So to help make sure the
region moves forward in a smart and cost-effective way, the six New England
states, along with New York and New Jersey, are looking to the federal
government.
Last month, they sent a letter to the Department of Energy, asking it
to fund and coordinate an interregional transmission planning collaborative.
The effort would bring together the states, regional grid operators and,
possibly, representatives from Canada. On June 28, the federal government wrote back to say it’s interested in moving forward.
There are still a lot of details to be figured out, but
broadly speaking, this unprecedented collaborative will assess onshore
and offshore transmission needs and help find ways to
improve the flow of power between the New England grid and the grids in New
York and New Jersey. The goal is to increase electric reliability, make the
grid more flexible and reduce electricity costs.
“We could do this individually as states, or potentially
through our respective grid operators,” said Jason Marshall, Massachusetts’
deputy secretary for federal and regional energy affairs. “But there’s a big
advantage in having federal leadership participate in the process.”
Specifically, the federal government employs a lot of
technical experts and has set aside millions of dollars for regional transmission
planning.
“We’re fortunate to have partners at the U.S. Department of
Energy and in the Biden administration that are really focused on upgrading the
grid and supporting clean energy,” Marshall said. “We're looking to take them
up on their invitation and work really closely together to explore potentially
different options for for interregional projects.”
There are a lot of challenges to building transmission
infrastructure on land in New England.
Though it’s helpful to picture the transmission system
across the country as a web of power lines, it’s not a totally accurate
metaphor. It’s more of a patchwork of separate webs. New England has its own
web, New York has a web and New Jersey is part of a larger mid-Atlantic web.
There are some connections between them, but not enough.
New England, for example, can currently share about 1,700
megawatts of power with New York, Marshall said. But the draft of a federal study released earlier this year,
which modeled likely growth in clean energy and electrification, found that the
regions probably need to be able to exchange between 3,400 to 6,300 megawatts.
New England and New Jersey currently have no direct ties.
More connection means greater electric reliability and
cheaper power. To illustrate why, imagine that an offshore wind farm connected
to Massachusetts unexpectedly goes offline on a day when electricity demand is
high. Perhaps New York or New Jersey have a surplus of solar power that they
can sell to New England to help meet the need. This keeps the lights on and
could prevent New England’s grid operator from dispatching a more expensive
coal or oil-fired “peaker” power plant.
“You're creating the ability for more of that [renewable]
power to flow over our borders and to displace more costly fuels or fuel-based
power,” Marshall said. He added that a number of studies have found that
interregional transmission planning has benefits like “increased reliability
and operational flexibility, and lower power prices.”
The Texas grid, which is not connected to outside
regions, famously failed in winter 2021 during a prolonged cold
snap. The cost of power spiked and there were massive power outages. Over 200
people died, many from hypothermia. Had Texas been able to import
power, the outages may have been less severe.
Having more interregional connections isn’t just important
for when things go wrong. It can also mean fewer power lines, in general.
Consider the case of offshore wind: Right now, offshore wind developers are
planning to tie each individual wind farm into the grid onshore with its own
subsea power line. As WBUR has previously reported, this system is not ideal.
The alternative, a planned ocean grid, would result in fewer
power lines in the ocean and require less work to upgrade the onshore
transmission system. It would also be a lot less expensive.
In a "meshed" offshore transmission system, the
offshore collector platforms are connected (left). And in a
"backbone" transmission system, all of the offshore projects are
connected but there could be fewer landing sites. In reality, the Atlantic
offshore transmission system of the future will likely include elements from
all of these scenarios.
The transmission collaboration is an example of how Gov.
Healey's administration “is looking to pursue innovative new approaches to
accelerating our clean energy transition,” Rebecca Tepper, the state's energy
and environmental affairs secretary, said in a statement. Massachusetts'
climate plan calls for net-zero emissions by mid-century, which will require a
substantial buildout of renewable energy.
“We’re grateful to our neighboring states and regions for
joining together to propose this concept,” Tepper added.
The request from the eight states comes as Congress and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission are considering
whether to establish "minimum-transfer requirements" between grid
regions. The Department of Energy is also undertaking a two-year study of offshore transmission potential in the
Atlantic Ocean.
Marshall, a state energy official, called the request from
the states “complementary” to these efforts.
“We're trying to pull every lever we can to explore options
to build out a cleaner grid,” he said. “If we see all these potential benefits
from inter-regional planning, why don't we try to do something proactively?”