Local Officials Cheer as South Fork Wind Begins Churning Out Electricity
Francisco Uranga
Anthony Nolan caught sight of a turbine at South Fork wind
farm for the first time, and smiling like a kid at a science fair, pointed out
the ferry window.
“There we can see it. I’m going to get my camera,” said
Nolan, a state representative from New London, and a Democrat. “It’s not the
same seeing it in pictures on the Internet as coming in person here. It helps
us to understand the impact.”
The turbine blades turned slowly, the image of calm as the
ship shuddered in the open sea, far beyond the protection of Long Island Sound.
Breaking waves wet the windows but it was otherwise cloudless and sunny.
CT Examiner joined a number of state and local officials,
employees of Eversource and Ørsted, and union officials aboard the 143-foot
Cecelia Ann for what was for most their first look in person at South Fork
Wind.
With a maximum generating capacity of 132 megawatts, South
Fork is the only commercial-scale offshore wind farm operating in the United
States, producing about 6% of the electricity currently generated by
Connecticut’s only operating nuclear power plant, Millstone.
South Fork, which went online in March, is the first
offshore wind farm to be assembled and staged off the New London State Pier, a
project that dates to
2022.
Offshore wind energy development is a priority for the Biden
administration’s green agenda which incentivizes a transition to an electrified
economy and renewable energy. On the state level, the project is a small step
toward fulfilling Connecticut’s goal of
net carbon-zero energy for the grid by 2040.
The sight of South Fork in operation is also a rare piece of
good news for a project that has been plagued with
cost overruns, and which so far has produced few local jobs.
“I could never say the project was excellent,” said Nolan.
“But it’s paying off. It’s bringing in millions in taxes, creating local jobs
and bringing more activity to our businesses.”
After two hours underway, the Cecelia Ann paused close to
South Fork Wind’s 12 turbines. Each tower extended out of the water 788 feet,
about 56 stories or the height of the Woolworth Building in Manhattan – taller
than any building in Connecticut, according to a voice over a speaker, with
blades 319 feet long, longer than a football field.
Spaced a mile apart to ease navigation, the turbines seemed
closely spaced against an infinite empty blue plain.
Also visible is a substation that raises the voltage for
sending the electricity all the way to Southport, Long Island.
On deck, passengers took selfies like tourists. The mood was
joyful and triumphant.
State Rep. Anthony Nolan (far right) and various officials
posed for photographs of South Fork Wind (CT Examiner)
“If you can build this, you can build anything you want,” an
Eversource employee told one of his colleagues.
For Ørsted, the photo opportunity was a milestone, allowing
the world’s largest developer of offshore wind to show an audience of
stakeholders the first tangible achievements of the work out of State Pier,
according to David Ortiz, Ørsted’s head of Government Affairs and Market
Strategy for the Northeast.
“There were very few jobs and almost no economic activity at New London State
Pier before the state decided to make this investment to turn it into an asset
for the offshore wind industry,” said Ortiz. “The residents who are being
employed as a result of South Fork Wind, now Revolution Wind, Sunrise Wind and
projects to come for decades. That is a massive scaling-up of jobs and economic
opportunity at New London State Pier that didn’t exist before.”
Port Authority Chair David Kooris expressed pride in the
work done, after years of criticism for the project cost and delays.
“I am impressed to see the result of years of effort,”
Kooris said. “The turbines, the substation, the transmission lines, all the
engineering in a place that 99 percent of Americans will never visit, yet we
all benefit from what is done there.”
As the ferry returned to New London harbor, new turbine
towers for Revolution Wind could be seen arrayed on State Pier. The towers
arrived two weeks earlier and are part of the second Ørsted project to be
assembled at State Pier and installed offshore in 2024 and 2025. The first
blades are scheduled to arrive on May 23.
Revolution Wind will be constructed and installed at a
significantly greater scale – 65 turbines for a generating capacity of 880
megawatts. By 2026, Ørsted plans to start Sunrise Wind, an 84-turbine,
924-megawatt project.
In addition, in March, Ørsted presented yet another project,
Starboard Wind, at a wind energy auction held jointly
by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. If awarded, the 1,184-megawatt
wind farm would also be staged out of State Pier.
Offshore wind has the support of
labor leaders, who are currently in talks with developers to negotiate labor
conditions, according to Ed Hawthorne, president of the AFL-CIO Connecticut.
“As a labor movement, we are looking at it as the new
industrial revolution, where there are going to be good union jobs,” said
Hawthorne. ” We need to look at it as an investment in the future because, in
our eyes, climate justice and economic justice are one and the same.”
Removal of Route 9 traffic signals at dangerous Middletown exits could begin in spring 2027
MIDDLETOWN — The gravity of removing
traffic lights that bring Route 9 traffic to a halt in downtown
Middletown was evidenced during a state Department
of Transportation informational hearing late last month.
CTDOT Project Manager Stephen Hall delivered a presentation April 30 at
Wesleyan University on the draft proposal to reconfigure exits in the
often highly congested area near the Arrigoni Bridge and densely populated
North End.
The cost of the project aimed at easing the large number of
crashes in the area is estimated at $143 million. Eighty percent of the project
cost would be borne by the federal government and 20 percent by the state.
The state has been working on the effort to remove the
signals since the early 2000s, Hall has said.
Last month’s presentation on the draft proposal was similar
to one held over two days at City Hall in February.
Over the past three years, in that short stretch of highway at
exits 23C southbound and 23 northbound, 500 crashes have resulted in 161
injuries, Hall said. "It's a crash every other day, an injury once a
week," caused by wrong-way entrances, driver distractions and other
factors.
Removing the left turn from Route 9 North is the
"crux" of the design, Hall said.
Drones recorded traffic there during a two-hour stretch in
the middle of one day. In footage shown as part of the presentation, a motorist
travels slowly east on Washington Street toward Route 9. The individual takes
an erroneous, left-hand turn and heads north in the southbound lane of deKoven
Drive. After stopping just past the intersection and using a dangerous
maneuver, the motorist backs up and travels onto Washington Street heading
west.
"When you pull up to this intersection, that's
confusing," Hall told attendees at the Wesleyan presentation. "That's
not a normal intersection to see over a rail crossing.”
The motorist eventually made their way in the right
direction, Hall said. “How many times has this happened and we don't see the
result? How many near misses? How many wrong ways?"
The traffic signals are the only ones located on a state
highway in Connecticut, according to the CTDOT.
Monitoring the area has been a crucial element of the plan,
Hall said.
The CTDOT has eight cameras in Middletown near routes 9 and
66 streaming footage 24 hours a day, which staff observe at the Newington
operations center. "If there is an incident, then we know about it and
alert drivers with message signs,” the project manager said.
Several downtown CTDOT projects have been completed or are
underway, such as the pedestrian
bump-outs on Main Street, reconfiguration of St. Johns Square, work on
the Route
17 on-ramp to Route 9 North, and closing
access to Route 9 at Miller Street, Hall said.
A new, right-hand off-ramp will be built south of the Route 17 interchange and
north of Walnut Street at the intersection with River Road, with a roundabout
to reduce traffic flow and prevent accidents, according to Hall.
Other elements include turning Rapallo Avenue in the North
End into a one-way street going toward Main Street.
"While we had shown Rapallo Avenue as two-way during
our February workshops," Hall said Wednesday afternoon, "we received
feedback from the city and the business community that one way is more
desirable. The department agrees that a one-way configuration is most
appropriate to retain all on-street parking and improve pedestrian safety on
Main Street while maintaining efficient operations."
The much-heralded pedestrian bridge over Route 9 will
reconnect the downtown to the riverfront, an area undergoing long-term
redevelopment as part of the Return to the
Riverbend project.
The Route 9 project’s next steps include a Connecticut
Environmental Policy Act assessment, Hall said. It would determine
potential environmental impacts, evaluate alternatives and solicit public
involvement, according to the presentation.
The project has physical, natural and socioeconomic impacts,
Hall said. These include air quality and greenhouse gas emissions; noise,
traffic and energy use; erosion or sedimentation, ground and surface water,
wetlands, fisheries, plants and wildlife; public health and safety,
environmental justice and recreational resources.
If the public supports the proposal, Hall said, federal
design approval could be granted as early as December. Construction, expected
to take four years, could begin as early as spring 2027.
For more information, visit bit.ly/4bjjhF1. To watch the presentation, go
to bit.ly/4dFnrsy
West Hartford is 'refining' its town center redesign, moving forward with major roadway projects
WEST HARTFORD — Additional feedback from the public, as well
as more discussions with business owners, has the
town reconsidering its previously proposed plans to redesign West Hartford
Center.
The decision was noted in the most recent Department of
Community Development report prepared by the town planner and town engineer,
stating that town staff and its consultant are "incorporating public
feedback and refining the conceptual design plans for the reconstructions of
LaSalle Road and Farmington Avenue."
The response came after the town presented new plans in
April that some residents felt favored
cars over pedestrians and cyclists after the designs walked back plans
to reduce on-street parking.
Original
plans presented in November showed the town was ready to shift all
street parking from angled parking to parallel parking, which would decrease
the amount of street parking but mean more of the streetscape could be used for
wider sidewalks, expanded outdoor dining, and other amenities like street
furniture. Those plans also showed a buffered sidewalk-level bike lane on
Farmington Avenue that has also since been removed from designs.
Town Manager Rick Ledwith said on Wednesday morning at the
Town Council's Community Planning and Economic Development committee meeting
that the town has heard feedback from residents preferring the original plan
known as option A over the redesigns that were presented in April.
"After feedback and follow-up with some of the business
owners, we looked at potentially modifying that plan," Ledwith told the
committee members. "Since then, we’ve also received feedback from the
community expressing a strong interest in maintaining that original plan —
option A — from November."
Ledwith said it's likely that more details about the plans
will come at June's committee meeting. The town is expected to finalize plans
this year with the hope of starting construction in 2025.
"We’ve asked the consultant to pause on the redesign as
we continue to assess both of those options and we would be back with the
council with the recommendation probably for the June meeting," Ledwith
said.
Other major roadway projects
West Hartford Center is not the only busy commercial area
receiving potentially transformative redesigns.
Park Road, which last year was the subject of the
town's first Vision Zero road safety audit, is set to also be redesigned in
a way that would make the roadway safer.
Greg Sommer, the town engineer, said at Wednesday's meeting
that design plans are moving along, utilizing feedback they've received from
stakeholders. Previously, Sommer
told CT Insider that the town wants to make the area, which is a blend
of residential and commercial uses, more walkable. Construction on Park Road
could begin in 2025.
"We had previously met with the Park Road Association
and got some preliminary feedback on an early concept," Sommer said at the
meeting. "We’re in the process of developing a full concept for that whole
corridor that we’ll then take back to that stakeholder group and eventually the
public to get comments and feedback before we progress to a full design."
On New Park Avenue, the town is giving attention to what's
become a growing hotbed of new commercial and residential activity. Plans
are still in the works to give the street a road diet, which would bring the
number of travel lanes on part of the road down to two from the four currently
there. The town
has also been planning on incorporating protected bike lanes and a
two-way cycle track that would make the roadway more accessible for cyclists.
Sommer said a stakeholder meeting will be held in June, with
construction hopefully beginning in 2025.
"We’re excited to pilot that and see how that will
unfold," Sommer said about the cycle track on Wednesday. "We have
good support from the business community and the pedestrian bicycle commission
so we’re eager to see that project through."
East Windsor looks at several options to renovate or reconfigure its schools
EAST WINDSOR — With buildings built in the 1950s and '60s
and a declining student population, town and school officials are currently
looking into how to renovate or even reconfigure the town’s schools.
In February, a facilities study done by the Construction
Solutions Group determined that Broad Brook Elementary, East Windsor Middle
School, and East Windsor High School are too large for their current enrollment
sizes based on state construction standards and guidelines.
Superintendent Patrick Tudryn said regardless of their
sizes, the current school buildings are in need of major renovations.
"Our middle school and high school were both built in
1966. Our elementary school was built in 1959," he said. "Heating and
ventilation, roofing, electrical all need updating. The costs of these updates
to our existing buildings, according to the facilities studies, are likely to
be more expensive than if we were to build new buildings.”
There are several options laid out in the study to address
the renovation issues, in addition to the building sizes. The options range
from renovating all three schools as new and “right sizing” the buildings;
consolidating the middle and high schools by using either building and moving
the fifth grade to the elementary school; constructing three brand-new schools;
renovating all three schools with their current sizes; or doing the needed
renovations without changing the size of the schools.
The costs range from $94 million to consolidate the middle
and high schools using the high school building, to $196 million to renovating
all three existing schools as new with their current square footage. Each
project would be partially funded by the state.
Tudryn said that a team of district administrators will
study all of the options but no timeline has been set on the discussions.
CT roads need 38 new and expensive noise barriers. Why there’s no money to pay for them.
A study
of noise along Connecticut’s roadways has recommended that the
state Department of Transportation erect
38 new noise barriers along its interstate highways and state roads.
However, according to a DOT spokeswoman, there is no federal
or state money to pay for them at this point.
The study was conducted to bring the state up to date with
the Federal Highway
Administration’s noise regulations.
“Most of our highways were built in the ’50s and that was
before they really took environmental impact into consideration the way that
they do now,” said DOT spokeswoman Samaia Hernandez. “So noise impact on
communities was not looked at in the same way when those highways were first
designed.
“The National
Environmental Policy Act came about in the ’70s. And so now, this is
what the Federal Highway Administration requires. We realize that there are
some areas where noise is impacting communities,” she said.
“This is essentially a major first step to go back into
these areas and figure out what a priority list or heat map of … the worst
would look like,” she said.
The No. 1 priority is on Interstate 84 East in Manchester,
20 points above the No. 2 barrier, according to the report. The east end would
be at Slater street.
“Now the challenge is, there’s really no federal funding for
it and this program is completely optional for the Federal Highway
Administration,” Hernandez said. “It’s not required. So this is Connecticut
taking some major first steps.” For one thing, the assessment, known as a Type
II study, doesn’t take topography into account.
“If we wanted to go back and add barriers to some of the
places that were identified on this list, we’d have to go back and do another
study, which is considered a Type I study, to actually do that,” Hernandez
said. “So this is kind of a major overall look at the issue.”
According to the report, prepared by Harris Miller Miller & Hanson of
Burlington, Mass., and Fuss & O’Neill of
Manchester, the DOT started a noise-abatement program in 1973 but suspended it
in 1982 for lack of funds.
The agency reevaluated the program in 1985 and created a
priority list based on citizen complaints and population density, but that is
outdated, the new report states.
The study included 38 interstates and principal arterial
highways, covering 645 miles in all eight counties.
Half of the noise barriers recommended are located in
Fairfield County, 12 along Interstate 95. The other seven in that county are
along Route 7 in Norwalk, Route 8 in Shelton and Bridgeport and Interstate 84
in Danbury.
Seven barriers are recommended for New Haven County: along
Route 8 in Ansonia, Derby and Naugatuck, I-95 in West Haven and Milford, I-84
in Waterbury and Route 15 in Milford.
Five barriers are recommended for Hartford County: two
along I-84, in Manchester and West Hartford, one along Interstate 384 in
Manchester, one along Interstate 91 in Windsor Locks and one along Route 15 in
Wethersfield.
Four noise barriers are recommended for Middlesex County:
along I-95, Route 9, and Route 17 in Middletown and along Route 9 in
Cromwell.
Three noise barriers are recommended for New London
County: along I-95 in Waterford, Interstate 395 in Montville and Route 2
in Colchester.
The DOT also has a program to replace existing noise
barriers that have exceeded their service life, Hernandez said.
At 6 p.m. May 23, the DOT will hold a virtual informational
meeting about the report, where the public can ask the experts about their
conclusions.
“You’ll really understand from the experts that have been
digging into this,” Hernandez said. “The people who publish this report,
they’re going to break it all down for the public. It’ll be a virtual public
involvement meeting, which is basically a public town hall.”
To register for the meeting, which will be held on Zoom, go
to https://bit.ly/noise-meeting.
For instructions on how to access the meeting and ways to
provide comments and ask questions, go to https://portal.ct.gov/TypeIINoise.