CT Constrution Digest Friday October 3, 2025

Construction of new 'Flex Lane' on I-84 in Danbury – the first in CT – to start in 2028

Brianna Gurciullo

The state Department of Transportation is moving ahead with a proposal to turn the left-hand shoulder on Interstate-84 in Danbury into a lane that opens to cars during traffic jams.

Construction of the “Flex Lane,” which would extend about 4 miles between Exit 3 and Exit 7, is expected to begin in 2028 and finish in two to three years, according to DOT. It would be the first lane of its kind in the state.

DOT spokesman Josh Morgan said the Flex Lane, which is in the design phase, and other roadway upgrades in the corridor will cost roughly $250 million, according to preliminary estimates.

The project is a spinoff of a broader, longer term and more costly effort to overhaul the highway from the New York state line to about Exit 8.

“If you’re tired of getting stuck in traffic on I-84 in Danbury, we’ve got some good news for you,” says a voiceover for a video DOT posted to YouTube on Thursday. The video depicts a woman sitting in traffic and throwing her head back in frustration. 

The video explains the concept of a Flex Lane, describing it as an “innovative traffic solution” already in use in Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio. 

“The Flex Lane would allow vehicles to use the median shoulder as a temporary travel lane during times of congestion by providing an extra lane when traffic is heaviest,” the voiceover says. “The Flex Lane would reduce the potential for bottlenecks and sudden slowdowns that can lead to crashes.”

Once traffic dies down, the lane would convert back to a shoulder, according to the video. 

Signs on the highway would notify drivers when the Flex Lane is open to passenger vehicles. Trucks and buses wouldn’t be allowed in the lane.

If a sign shows a green arrow, car drivers can use the lane. If it shows a red “X,” the lane is closed, and if it shows a yellow “X,” the lane is closing soon, so drivers should merge with the rest of traffic.

Because the Flex Lane doesn’t involve the construction of a new roadway, “everyone can enjoy a better commute sooner,” the video says.

In a release, DOT Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto said drivers will see that improvement “within the next five years.”

Most days, the lane would be open during rush hour in the morning and afternoon, in whichever direction traffic is busiest, according to a website for the I-84 project. 

The Flex Lane also is supposed to benefit drivers, pedestrians and bikers on local roads because with traffic flowing on I-84, drivers won’t get off the highway and take detours through town.

The right shoulder would remain available to first responders, and the Flex Lane could return to being a shoulder during emergencies, according to the I-84 website.

A fact sheet on the website also notes that “additional wider emergency breakdown areas will be constructed in the right shoulder at various locations.”

Federal trial of former Connecticut school construction chief Kosta Diamantis set for Monday

Ken Dixon

Four years after a federal subpoena led to alleged irregularities in the oversight of several Connecticut school construction projects, a former seven-term member of the state House of Representatives will fight the charges in Bridgeport federal court starting Monday, facing up to a potential 20 years in prison for bribery, extortion and lying to investigators.

Konstantinos "Kosta" Diamantis, 69, was a veteran lawmaker from Bristol who jumped from the General Assembly to Gov. Dannel Malloy's budget office. There, he ran statewide school building projects until his October 2021 resignation from the Lamont administration, and was arrested in May 2024 on 22 criminal charges. The allegations include 14 counts of making false statements to law enforcement officials.

Charges include taking tens of thousands of dollars in bribes and kickbacks Diamantis coerced and accepted from Acranom Masonry Inc. of Middlefield and the owner of a consultant firm that hired his daughter, according to authorities.

Jury selection was scheduled to be completed Friday before U.S. District Court Judge Stefan R. Underhill, with well-known defense lawyer Norman Pattis representing Diamantis. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan Francis and David Novick have a list of dozens of potential witnesses, including three contractors – Salvatore Monarca, John Duffy and Antonietta Roy – who already have pleaded guilty in connection with the case.

Pattis on Thursday asked for a delay in the case because the federal budget shutdown "creates a risk that jurors will regard this trial as so important that it must proceed while those otherwise dependent on the government for salaries and benefits are required to go without. ... Finally, the government shutdown reflects a passionate disagreement about how federalism should function in the United States, a theme likely to emerge in this case, which involves a federal prosecution of state officials performing state jobs."

At about 5 p.m. Thursday, the court posted that Underhill, after a 14-minute telephone conference and hearing with the lawyers, denied the delay. Generally, government shutdowns do not affect federal courts.

Pattis on Thursday also added Gov. Ned Lamont to Diamantis' list of potential witnesses.

Pattis did not return requests for comment Thursday. In late August, he filed a motion in attempt to prohibit the three guilty pleas from reaching jurors in the case.

"Permitting the jury to learn of these pleas would unfairly prejudice the defendant," Pattis wrote. "Mr. Diamantis challenges what he regards as a gap in the law and raises the following question: Can a principal of a closely held corporation be guilty of the crime of trying to harm himself? It simply defies logic to say that a person extorts himself."

Monarca and Duffy, executives at Acranom Masonry, were involved with multimillion-dollar subcontracts at Weaver High School in Hartford and Birch Grover Primary School in Tolland. The criminal case against Diamantis includes charges that he threatened to end or reduce Acranom's role in the projects if he wasn't paid promptly.

"... And I always usually work at 5% of total, just FYI," the federal prosecutors quoted Diamantis in a pretrial summary of the case. "I'm asking for reasonable numbering on the team," Diamantis wrote when a $44,000 kickback was late, prosecutors claim. "Being on the team had value and it's not zero. 50 (thousand dollars) is fair. Zero is an insult to my character."

The prosecutors claim Diamantis "pressured" Tolland to hire D'Amato Construction Co. of Bristol as the project manager for the Birch Grove project. Diamantis became the head of school construction in May 2018. Prosecutors' evidence includes text messages, emails, bank deposit records, municipal records, contracts, receipts and testimony from witnesses and alleged co-conspirators, prosecutors said. Roy was the owner of Construction Advocacy Professionals (CAP) of Preston.

Witnesses could include Josh Geballe, the former commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Administrative Services; Stavros Mellekas, the former head of the Connecticut State Police; Thea Montanez, a former Hartford chief operating officer, now an adviser to Gov. Ned Lamont; Luke Bronin, the former Hartford mayor; Leslie Torres-Rodriguez, the former Hartford school superintendent; as well as state employees who worked with Diamantis, and owners and employees of several construction and architectural firms in Connecticut.

"As with Acranom, Diamantis induced Roy to make payments from CAP both under color of official right (namely, in exchange for helping CAP get work on projects in Tolland, New Britain and Hartford) and through fear of economic loss (namely, by threatening to blackball CAP in the school construction industry)," the prosecution's pretrial summation says.

Authorities claim Diamantis pressured Roy into hiring his daughter, Anastasia, for an administrative job at $45 per hour. 

"In exchange for Roy’s agreement to help his daughter, in April 2019, Diamantis suggested that the town of Tolland hire CAP as a construction administrator for the ongoing Birch Grove project," prosecutors said. "Understanding that her business’ success depended on keeping Diamantis happy, on July 8, 2019, Roy wrote a $1,000 check to Diamantis on behalf of CAP, which he cashed two days later."

The firm entered into a $460,000 contract with Tolland. By October 2019, CAP had a $115-per-hour contract with the city of New Britain. By the end of April 2020, CAP had a $1.7 million contract to administer work at Bulkeley High School.

The government's list of potential witnesses includes Anastasia Diamantis and Michelle Dixon, a state grant manager.

During interviews with FBI agents, Diamantis denied recommending CAP for the Tolland project; denied recommending D'Amato Construction for work in Tolland; and denied helping any businesses obtain school construction work, among other alleged false statements.

Region 15 panel recommends building new schools over renovating old ones in Southbury

Michael Gagne

SOUTHBURY — A group charged with assessing the future of Region 15’s two oldest school buildings has recommended constructing new schools rather than renovating the existing ones. 

The Feasibility Study Committee’s preferred options for updating Gainfield and Pomperaug elementary schools in Southbury include: combining the two schools on a new campus; constructing new buildings on the existing school sites; or building a new Pomperaug Elementary School at a new location, while Gainfield would get a new building at its existing Old Field Road site, according to Jeffrey Wyszynski, a principal at Tecton Architects, the firm hired to oversee the study. 

All three of the preferred options reflect an emphasis on new construction and the school district’s larger needs, Wyszynski said at the board's Sept. 29 meeting. 

The committee discussed a variety of issues related to the possible projects, including disruptions to students and staff, quality of the educational facilities, long-term planning and what’s best for students. 

Officials emphasized that the Board of Education for the school district that includes Southbury and Middlebury has not decided which option to pursue. 

When assessing the value of renovating as new versus new construction, several factors should be considered, Wyszynski said. For example, a renovation project would include spending more time looking at the condition of the building as well as costs of installing temporary education facilities.

Hence, the committee’s preferred options included a combined school, with a total cost projected to be $147 million. After state reimbursements, the anticipated cost to Region 15 would be around $78 million, Wyszynski said. 

Meanwhile, building two new separate buildings at the existing sites would come at a total cost of $166 million. The projected cost to the school district would be $87 million.

The third option of relocating Pomperaug and building a new Gainfield at its existing home would come with an expected total cost of $163 million, with an expected $86 million cost for the district.  

Meanwhile, an option to renovate the two existing buildings carries a projected $159 million price tag. The total cost to the district would be $83 million, Wyszynski said. 

John Michaels, the Southbury Board of Finance chair who sat on the feasibility committee, said there wasn't a significant cost difference between renovation and new construction.  

For a few dollars more a month to the average taxpayer, it was “a no-brainer,” Michaels said.

“It’s more about education than money,” he said. 

When the school district submits its school construction grant application for the project it chooses, it will need to show projected enrollment over an eight-year period, Wyszynski said. 

Enrollment at both schools is projected to slowly grow over that time, Wyszynski said. Current projections show at Pomperaug, enrollment may increase from 395 students in 2024 to 452 by 2032, he said. Meanwhile, Gainfield is expected to grow from 319 students to 375 over the same time frame. 

“What you can see without a doubt is that there's still a slow and steady increase across the board,” Wyszynski said. 

Meanwhile, a new school construction project could allow the district the ability to relocate students from its Middlebury schools, which Superintendent Joshua Smith previously said are overcrowded. 

Mew facilities might allow the possibility of “pulling 80 students out” of a school such as Long Meadow Elementary School, “to give them some more capacity to function the way that they would like to,” Wyszynski said. 

Work begins on $95M LEARN magnet school in Waterford

Sofis Acosta Silva

Waterford — Work at the former Southwest School, which shut down in 2011, has started as crews begin environmental remediation, part of a $95 million project to build a new regional magnet school campus for children from pre-K to second grade.

The abatement process, which involves removing any asbestos-covered materials and any other contamination in the building, is the first step in the site’s transformation.

LEARN, the regional education service center, purchased the closed school from the town for $770,000 and is undertaking the project. Executive Director Kate Ericson said the center was looking to own its own building as a way to take control of its long-term future in town.

The state has approved $90 million in bonding for the project. Ericson credited former state Rep. Kathleen McCarty with helping LEARN secure the funding. LEARN will fund the remainder.

After the abatement, construction will begin in January, and the new campus is expected to open in August 2027.

Ericson said LEARN, which already runs four magnet schools across southeastern Connecticut, is using the opportunity to bring back a middle school and reenvision what is possible for one of its magnet schools.

The centerpiece for the multifaceted campus will be the Early Learning Magnet School, serving children from pre-K through second grade. That program will connect directly to New London’s Regional Multicultural Magnet School, which will expand to Grades 3-8.

“That way, parents have a full pathway from pre-K to Grade 8 if they choose to stay with a LEARN school,” Ericson said.

In addition, the campus will include two specialized regional classrooms for students with individualized education plans.

Ericson said she understood special education was a “pain point” in the region and wanted to expand beyond the Ocean Avenue LEARNing Academy in New London to create a more flexible program.

“It is truly an example of how we’re trying to support the region by creating enough space for students who aren’t being successful and need something a little more restrictive than their public schools can offer,” she said.

Recognizing southeastern Connecticut as a “child care desert,” the campus will also feature a new program called Creating Connections, which will provide 58 seats for children under the age of 3. The program will be tuition-based, with some state-supported scholarships available.

“You know, the magnet school serves students and families in a unique way,” Ericson said. “But it really is to help the workforce. We know when people don’t have high-quality day care options, they can’t work.”

Magnet schools, Ericson said, are structured around themes to create a diverse and engaging learning environment that draws students from multiple districts. LEARN already operates schools with marine science and early childhood themes. The new museum-themed campus will join that network while expanding opportunities for families.

Ericson noted that community input also shaped the project. Families from the current Friendship School, which will move into the new facility once complete, were invited to share feedback on the building design, naming and vision.

Through that process came the building’s formal name: Early Learning Magnet School.

“There’s just a lot of small parts that are coming together, but we’ve been very fortunate,” Ericson said. “We just feel really fortunate to be able to do this and to be able to have a showcase of a school that allows parents to have a high-quality program.”

CT Construction Digest Thursday October 2, 2025

Under construction: Tens of millions being invested in downtown Waterbury revival

Paul Hughes

WATERBURY — A transfusion of tens of millions in public and private dollars is being pumped into the historic heart of Waterbury to revitalize the city center as a thriving, desirable place to live, do business and visit for arts, culture and entertainment.

The returns on these investments, like the urban decline that precipitated the ongoing revitalization efforts, are going to take years, and perhaps decades in some cases, to realize, and, like any venture, there are no guaranteed payoffs.

The major focus is the Central Business District that encompasses historic downtown Waterbury and the new Freight Street District. It is bounded by the Metro-North Railroad station on Meadow Street and the Freight Street corridor to the west, Interstate 84 to the south, Saint Mary's Hospital to the east, and to the buildings north of Waterbury Green.

Under Construction

Mayor Paul K. Pernerewski Jr. believes the investments in the redevelopment projects in the downtown and elsewhere around the city are going to start to pay dividends within the next five years.

“I think we’re still a couple of years out because it is going to take a while to finish some of these larger projects,” Pernerewski said. “I would say within three to five years you’re going to start to see a big difference as these things move along.”

He acknowledges there is no reviving the booming post-World War II downtown of the 1950s and 1960s, but he is confident the redevelopment efforts can restore some of the luster, vibrancy and centrality of the Brass City of those yesteryears.

West Main Street

The Board of Aldermen approved a $18 million bond issue to support a $28.9 million project to redevelop West Main Street between Route 8 and Riverside Street along the Naugatuck River and the Waterbury Green in the center of downtown.

This city funding will be used to upgrade or replace approximately 4,440 linear feet water, sanitary, sewer, and storm drainage lines that date back to the 1800s in some cases.

This infrastructure work below West Main Street will lay the foundation for a revitalized corridor that connects downtown Waterbury with parts of the city that are on the west side of the Naugatuck River.

Once the underground utility work is completed, then work can start on a streetscaping project using $9.8 million in federal funding to complete the makeover of West Main Street from Route 8 and Riverside Drive to Waterbury Green, including enhancements to sidewalks, lighting, and roadways. 

The complete streetscape project is under design and construction is expected to begin in November 2026 and conclude the following year.

The work involves reducing the number of travel lanes on West Main Street to one through lane of traffic in each direction and making the road a uniform width, creating a bus stop pull-off, adding a bicycle shared lane from Riverside Street to the railroad bridge and a green strip on the south side of West Main Street between Thomaston Avenue and the railroad bridge.

Exchange Place

Then, there is the Exchange Place streetscape project on the other end of the Waterbury Green that is expected to be completed in November 2026. Exchange Place is where East Main, South Main, North Main and Bank streets converge downtown.

The city, Waterbury Development Corp., and the state Department of Transportation have been collaborating on revitalizing the section of the city's downtown from Exchange Place to North Elm Street near the Waterbury Police Department.

The first phase to rebuild and beautify a quarter-mile stretch of East Main Street was completed in 2021. Like the West Main Street project, underground water and sewer utilities were replaced ahead of the streetscape work. The city received $4 million in state grant funds for this phase.

That section of East Main Street had been a bumpy hodgepodge of rough patches and dingy roadway and sidewalks that included some of the city's most prominent downtown assets, such as a branch campus of the University of Connecticut and the Palace Theater.

The $13.6 million second phase of the street revitalization project is under way. The DOT is providing $12 million, and the city is contributing $1.6 million. The work includes roadway reconstruction and new sidewalks, crosswalks, streetlights, granite curbing, trees, bus shelters, street benches, bicycle racks and blue emergency phones.

The construction zones encompass North Main Street from East Main Street to West Main Street, South Main Street from East Main Street south to Scovill Street, and East Main Street to the intersection of North Main Street, Bank Street, Grand Street and the Travel Center Plaza.

The Exchange Place streetscape project is expected to be completed in November 2026.

The city used a $7 million state grant to purchase the One Exchange Place building and the Board of Aldermen in May approved a $6 million city bond issue to complete renovations to the six-story former office condominium. City officials plan to resell the downtown building.

“Hopefully, it will be back in private hands in a couple of years,” Pernerewski said.

One Exchange Place has been described as a signature downtown asset and a linchpin in the city's plans for revitalizing the downtown and central business district.

The six-story building was built as an office condominium in 1988 and fell into disrepair over the next couple of decades in no small part due to its fractured ownership structure. Seven sets of owners separately owned each floor, and the building was inadequately maintained. Several owners were significantly delinquent on property taxes, owing more than $811,000 to the city at the time of its 2023 purchase.

The city purchased Exchange Place and the adjacent Exchange Courtyard building nearly using $4.5 million out of a $7 million state grant to save the two declining buildings. The city spent the other $2.5 million on renovations.

The Board of Aldermen approved the sale of Exchange Courtyard to the M4 Investment Group for $585,000 in January. M4 Investment Group plans to transform the two-story, U-shaped commercial building into a mixed-use development of residential apartments and commercial spaces.

Once the sale of Exchange Courtyard is closed, city officials plan to spend the $585,000 proceeds on the One Exchange Place renovations, lowering the city's bonding costs.

The $6 million in city bonding that was approved in May will be spent to complete the rehabilitation, renovation and fit out of One Exchange Place and prepare the office building for resale. City officials have estimated this final phase will take two to three years.

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Pernerewski said city officials could use the proceeds from the eventual sale of One Exchange Place to pay off the city bond issue at that time.

The Board of Aldermen in May approved a 10-year, $974,875 lease to rent 8,165 square feet of space on the sixth floor to the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments to relocate the regional organization's offices there from its current Leavenworth Street location. An existing medical practice is renting space on the third floor via a month-to-month lease, and the city plans to relocate the Waterbury Probate Court from a rented building on Leavenworth Street to the fourth floor.

City workers displaced by the upcoming Chase Municipal Building renovations will temporarily occupy the remaining floors. In 2023, the Board of Aldermen authorized a $30 million bond issue to rehabilitate the former corporate headquarters of Chase Brass & Copper Co. located across Grand Street from City Hall. Earlier this year, the Board of Aldermen approved a $2.5 million contract with Friar Architecture Inc. to design the rehabilitation project.

The city plans to put One Exchange Place on the market after the Chase Municipal Building project is completed and city workers return there.

Other downtown projects

The Board of Aldermen more recently approved the $1.6 million sale of the former St. Mary Catholic Grammar School complex to a New York-based developer proposing to convert the downtown property located across the street from Saint Mary's Hospital into apartment housing focused on people working in the health care industry. The city purchased the property in 2023 using $1 million in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.

Kaybar Development Corp. is proposing to construct a four-building complex of 80 one- to three-bedroom apartments on the 2.2-acre property at 55 Cole St. and 320 East Main St. at an estimated cost $18 million to $20 million. 

Kaybar is headed by Joe Gramando, a New York-based developer behind some of Waterbury's largest downtown redevelopment projects in recent years, including including the Brown Building, the former Howland-Hughes department store and, most recently, the former Odd Fellows Hall.

Green Hub Development Corp. converted vacant office space in the upper floors of the Brown Building on East Main Street into a privately run dormitory for up to 92 college students attending the Waterbury branch campus of the University of Connecticut. Gramando is managing partner of Green Hub Development.

Green Hub purchased the the former Howland-Hughes department store on Bank Street for $2.5 million in April 2018. At city urging, the state invested $7.7 million into renovating the five-story, Renaissance Revival-style building as an online education hub and executive offices for Post University.

Most recently, Green Hub completed the restoration of the former Odd Fellows Hall, a six-story, 130-year-old Venetian Gothic building overlooking the Waterbury Green. The city acquired the downtown property through a tax foreclosure in 2013 under then-Mayor Neil M. O'Leary. Five years later, the State Bond Commission approved approved a $10 million grant for its renovation.  Green Hub bought the Odd Fellows Hall from the city for $900,000 in September 2023 and invested $5 million its renovation.

The UConn Board of Trustees approved a long-term lease agreement in June 2023 for the first five floors for housing humanities, social sciences, and neuroscience programs of its adjacent Waterbury branch campus. Green Hub maintains offices on the sixth floor.

At that time, the former Miller & Peck department store, the oldest commercial structure in Waterbury, was demolished to make room for a new five-story structure anticipated to include four stories of apartments and ground-floor retail space.  Fairfield developer Joseph Iannelli bought the property last year for $125,000, and he plans to invest $18 million in the new building.

Apartments are now becoming available in the former Eugene L. DeFronzo law office downtown on Field Street. New York real estate attorney John Mariolis recently completed a conversion of the three-story structure that was built in 1918 into 22 market-rate one-bed and studio apartments, and there are plans to add six more by the end of the year.

Mariolis is member of a Long Island-based family realty investment business that has purchased eight properties in downtown Waterbury. Brother Kirk Mariolis is leading the planned redevelopment of the former Broadcast Center at 115 South Main St. into 18 market-rate apartments and five commercial spaces. The property, which was once home to WATR Radio, was purchased in 2021 for $615,000.

Local developer Mike Batista is planning to convert a 125-year-old derelict building on South Main Street that also fronts on Bank Street into 23 new apartments and four commercial spaces. He purchased the four-story building for $171,000 in 2021. He previously converted the former Russell Building at 77 Bank St. and the former Farrington Building at 133 West Main St. into apartments.

"I think developers just see a lot of opportunities here," Pernerewski said. "There is a big push to do transit-oriented development, which works well in a city like Waterbury. The buildings are great to rehabilitate.  The architecture is good. The structures are sound to do that kind of work."

Freight Street

The envisioned Freight Street District will be anchored by transit-oriented development of residential, retail and commercial on the site of the former Anaconda American Brass factory complex that helped crown Waterbury as the Brass Capital of the World.

The city used $7.3 million in federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act and $10 million in state bonding to finance land purchases, demolition work and and environmental remediation for the Freight Street Corridor Redevelopment Project. Earlier this year, the city joined the newly established Connecticut Municipal Development Authority to support efforts to transform this one-time thriving hub of manufacturing into a vibrant mix-used neighborhood.

The razing of the third and final building of the former Anaconda factory complex was finished last year. The approximately 70 acres is adjacent to the region’s most critical transportation infrastructure, including Interstate 84, Route 8, and the Waterbury branch of the Metro-North Railroad’s New Haven Line. It is also near the Naugatuck River.

The owners of the iconic Union Station building at the intersection of Freight and Meadow streets are proposing to redevelop the 70,000-square-foot, three-story landmark property with its soaring clock as a mix of apartment housing and retail and entertainment space. The proposal includes the development of 38 market-rate apartments, including studios and one-bedroom and two-bedroom luxury suites.

The State Bond Commission in August approved $3.5 million for the construction of a new indoor waiting room for the Metro-North Railroad station in the former Republican-American building. The funding is a part of a larger $20 million renovation of Waterbury Union Station that also will involve replacement of the existing platform and installation of a new ticket kiosk, upgraded security systems and an elevator.

CT DOT pushes Middletown Route 9 signal project to 2032 amid permit delays

Mary Ellen Godin

MIDDLETOWN — The state Department of Transportation has pushed back the completion date of the Route 9 traffic signal project because of a delay in getting work permits for a roundabout on River Road.

Mayor Gene Nocera told the Common Council last month the signal project, originally set to be done in 2027-28, now won't be completed until 2032. 

Nocera said he had heard rumors of a delay but his fears were realized when DOT officials confirmed it at a meeting with city and business leaders in August.

"Everybody was optimistic," Nocera said. "Now we're looking at 2032, at the earliest."

A state Department of Transportation spokesperson said that while the department is aware of the delays in permitting for the roundabout, the design phase for the signal project is on track.

"The next steps for the Route 9 signal removal project includes obtaining design approval from the Federal Highway Administration," said DOT spokesperson Eva Zymaris. "The anticipated date for bid opening is summer 2027, with construction slated to begin in spring 2028. There has been no delay in the design of the project, but the timeline was pushed out due to a very thorough permit review process." 

The Route 9 signal project is being designed to eliminate dangerous interruptions and confusing entrances and exits onto the highway, DOT officials have said. The plans call for improved access to the city's waterfront and work to reduce traffic jams from Route 17 to the city's north end up to the Arrigoni Bridge. 

"In their current state, they are dangerous," Nocera said about the signal lights.

Phase I of the project, which involves taking out a ramp from Route 17, should be completed by next summer. But then there is a several-year gap before more work begins, Nocera said. He and others have requested the DOT explain why there isn't other work that can be done in the interim, but they have not received a response.

"That concerns us," he said. "Why can't you do some of the work while you wait for the permits? Is there any other work you can do?"

Details include removing two traffic signals on Route 9, between Exit 22 near Silver Street and Exit 25 at Route 99 in Cromwell to improve safety and reduce congestion.

Department of Transportation Project Manager Stephen Hall delivered a presentation April 30 on the draft proposal to reconfigure exits. The redesign is estimated to cost $143 million with 80% funded by the federal government and 20% by the state. 

The state has been working on the effort to remove the signals since the early 2000s, Hall has said.

DOT: Crash every other day

Route 9 is a north/south running freeway except for a short section of non-freeway in downtown Middletown where it overlaps with Route 17. This 0.36-mile stretch through the downtown features two signalized intersections that have been linked to frequent crashes and delays, Hall said. 

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 this spring. "It's a crash every other day, an injury once a week," caused by wrong-way entrances, driver distractions and other factors.

The traffic signals are the only ones on a state highway in Connecticut, according to the DOT. 

The DOT 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 CT DOT projects have been completed or are underway, such as the pedestrian bump-outs on Main Street, reconfiguration of St. John 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 the proposed roundabout to reduce traffic flow and prevent accidents, according to Hall.

A 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.

Middletown officials said they hope to get another update from CT DOT representatives. 

Trump administration puts on hold $18 billion in funding for New York City infrastructure projects

JOSH BOAK

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump 's administration, citing the government shutdown, said Wednesday it was putting a hold on roughly $18 billion to fund a new rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River between New York City and New Jersey and an extension of the city's Second Avenue subway.

The White House budget director, Russ Vought, said on X that the step was taken due to the Republican administration’s belief the spending was based on unconstitutional diversity, equity and inclusion principles.

In a statement, Trump's Transportation Department said it had been reviewing whether any “unconstitutional practices” were occurring in the two massive infrastructure projects but that the shutdown, which began Wednesday, had forced it to furlough the staffers conducting the review.

The suspension of funds is likely meant to target Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York, whom the White House is blaming for the impasse. He said the funding freeze would harm commuters.

“Obstructing these projects is stupid and counterproductive because they create tens of thousands of great jobs and are essential for a strong regional and national economy,” he said on X.

The spending hold was a preview of how the messy the politics of the shutdown could get, with Vought later posting on X that $8 billion in funding for green energy projects in Democratic-led states would be canceled. The administration has shown a willingness to use its control of federal dollars to apply pressure on Democrats to reopen the government, with commuters and thousands of jobs hanging in the balance.

The agency working on the subway line said it was blindsided by the announcement. “For now, it looks like they’re just inventing excuses to delay one of the most important infrastructure projects in America,” read a statement from John McCarthy, policy chief and spokesperson for the New York state-controlled Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

At a news conference in New York City about the federal government shutdown, Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., told reporters, “The bad news just keeps coming."

“That’s what a partnership with Washington looks like as we’re standing here. We’ve done our part. We’re ready to build. It’s underway,” she said. “And now we realize that they’ve decided to put their own interpretation of proper culture ahead of our needs, the needs of a nation.”

The Hudson River rail tunnel is a long-delayed project whose path toward construction has been full of political and funding switchbacks. It’s intended to ease the strain on a more than 110-year-old tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey. Hundreds of Amtrak and commuter trains carry hundreds of thousands of passengers per day through the tunnel, and delays can ripple up and down the East Coast between Boston and Washington.

In a 2023 interview with The Associated Press, Schumer said he and then-President Joe Biden were both “giddy” over the project.

Amtrak and the NJ Transit commuter rail system referred questions about the White House's announcement to the Gateway Development Commission, which is overseeing the tunnel project. Commission CEO Thomas Prendergast said the agency remains “focused on keeping the project on scope, schedule and budget.”

The commission did not address questions about the specifics of the funding suspension or what it means for the project.

The Trump administration specifically targeted New York City in putting a hold on the funding, but the move could also influence this year's election for governor in New Jersey.

Government shutdown threatens to stall federal construction projects

Sebastian Obando

Contractors across the country are measuring the potential impact of a government shutdown. A meeting Monday between President Donald Trump and congressional leaders didn’t result in an agreement between the parties.

The federal government will shut down Wednesday, Oct. 1, if Congress fails to reach a funding deal. Such a stoppage will freeze construction activity immediately on certain sites, both temporarily and in some cases permanently.

The first pain point will be on projects that rely entirely on federal dollars, said Marsia Geldert-Murphey, a former president of the American Society of Civil Engineers and current senior associate at GBA, a Lenexa, Kansas-based AEC firm. Though money could be technically in place, a shutdown could still sideline contracting officers and other oversight staff.

That could leave projects stuck in neutral, Geldert-Murphey told Construction Dive.

“The real problem is going to be the federal employees,” said Geldert-Murphey. “Are they going to be furloughed? In many cases, we can’t move forward with the project if the federal oversight is not there.”

While projects in progress are typically allowed to move forward, any activities that require input or approval from government employees simply cannot proceed, said Erik Wright, principal at Precision Construction Services, a San Luis Obispo, California-based contractor. He added that delays are more likely than cancellations in these instances.

“When the government shut down in late 2018, early 2019 for around 20 working days, projects in the final stages of contracting or early stages of construction were delayed three to four months,” Wright told Construction Dive. “We had contracts in process late in 2018 that didn’t end up coming through until April and May of 2019, which presented significant cash flow and staffing challenges for us.”

Being in a state of limbo would have immediate effects on contracts and supply chains. Prices are locked for only so long, and prolonged delays force suppliers to reprice bids and contractors to remobilize crews at added cost, said Geldert-Murphy.

Fixed-price contracts

On the other hand, existing fixed-price contracts with appropriated funds should be allowed to continue, according to Associated General Contractors of America.

Most federal construction contracts are within this category, as “they were already awarded on a fixed-price basis and funding was appropriated at the time of the award,” according to an emailed AGC statement shared with Construction Dive. That includes projects funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, as well as the Highway Trust Fund, according to AGC.

Bottom of Form

For example, all projects sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration shouldn’t be impacted, since they’re not subject to annual appropriations; they should continue to operate as normal, according to AGC. In other words, these agencies should continue to make timely payments to contractors on work performed, regardless of a government shutdown.

But cost-type contracts and awards still in the pipeline are far more exposed to the fallout of a shutdown, should one happen. State and local private construction tied to federal projects would also likely face obstacles, added Geldert-Murphey.

“If the federal project is delayed and you’re assuming that you’re going to be building connecting to something that’s already built, the cascading effect can be devastating,” Geldert-Murphey told Construction Dive. “If they [contractors] don’t have that communication on the federal side, you’re at a standstill, which is again, a domino effect of pushing back decisions that are being made.”

Many state, municipal and nonprofit projects rely on federal grants, said Wright, meaning that a public shutdown could discourage private clients from moving ahead with capital projects as well.

“The construction supply chain is tightly interconnected, so if federal infrastructure or defense work slows, demand volatility for materials and subcontractors will spread beyond federal jobs,” Wright told Construction Dive. “Repeated shutdowns erode confidence in the government as a reliable contracting partner, which can influence how firms price future bids and whether they pursue certain opportunities at all.”

At Messer Construction, a Cincinnati-based contractor, Paul Richter echoed these concerns.

 “A prolonged shutdown lasting several months could potentially stunt progress for planning and development of future projects, leading to a disruption to the flow of work on a longer-term horizon,” Richter, the operations vice president, told Construction Dive.

The firm’s military projects are largely insulated in the short-term, Richter said, because funding through the Military Construction program or Operations and Maintenance accounts is typically locked in well in advance. The risk stems from facility staff who may be sent home, which would prevent renovation projects from moving forward. Richter added that a lengthy shutdown would hinder future work as well.

That uncertainty, ultimately, will hamstring construction activity once again.

“Any government shutdown creates uncertainty … including potential delays in federal infrastructure projects,” Kristen Swearingen, ABC vice president of government affairs, told Construction Dive. “ABC urges Congress and the president to find a better way forward.”

The Democratic nominee, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, said on X that if elected, she would "fight this tooth-and-nail and sue the Trump administration to finish this critical, job-creating infrastructure project to reduce congestion and improve quality of life in New Jersey.”

Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli's campaign said Sherrill owns the consequences of the shutdown.

“If Mikie Sherrill did her job as a congresswoman, we wouldn’t be in this mess,” Ciattarelli campaign consultant Chris Russell said by email.

Sherrill countered in a statement that “Washington Republicans must come to the table immediately to find a bipartisan consensus on a plan that reopens the government.”

The Second Avenue subway was first envisioned in the 1920s. The subway line along Manhattan’s Second Avenue was an on-again, off-again grail until the first section opened on Jan. 1, 2017. The MTA is working toward building the line's second phase, which is to extend into East Harlem.

Associated Press writers Anthony Izaguirre in Albany, New York, Jennifer Peltz in New York and Mike Catalini in Trenton, New Jersey, contributed to this report.

CT Construction Digest Wednesday October 1, 2025

Recent Inspections on New Haven, Conn.'s Heroes Tunnel Done Ahead of $150M Upgrade

Greenwich Time

Crews from the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) have conducted overnight inspections of New Haven's Heroes Tunnel on state Highway 15/Wilbur Cross Parkway in recent days as they prepare for a $150 million renovation project slated to begin in 2028.

The inspections, which started late on Monday, Sept. 22, 2025, and were planned to last through early on Sept. 26, were done to help shape designs for the tunnel's overhaul to improve safety and travel, Eva Zymaris, a CTDOT spokesperson, told the Greenwich Time.

Agency officials have said that the 76-year-old twin-barrel (or tube) tunnel is outdated and costly to maintain.

The inspections meant CTDOT had to shut down one side of the tunnel and detour traffic through the other before switching to conduct the work within the other tube from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., with the passageway fully reopening during the day.

State transportation officials said during the week that the schedule could be adjusted or extended due to weather delays or "other unforeseen conditions."

The tunnel, a critical link along Conn. 15 that carries about 74,000 vehicles per day through West Rock Ridge in New Haven, has been wearing down in recent years, the Greenwich Time learned.

A 2022 inspection report noted several "deficiencies," and its narrow lanes and tight shoulders often lead to congestion and bottlenecks during rush hour, according to a CTDOT presentation to New Haven leaders in May.

The transportation department has considered several options to modernize the structure over the past decade, but only minor repairs have thus far been completed.

The latest plans call for repairs to the tunnel liners, updated ventilation and fire-protection systems, better lighting and new signs to guide both drivers and pedestrians.

Currently, the project is in the design and environmental review phases.

Tunnel's Name Honors Connecticut Veterans

Originally called the West Rock Tunnel, it was renamed in 2003 to honor Connecticut's military veterans, according to the Heroes Tunnel Project website. It is the only highway tunnel in the state that passes beneath a natural land feature.

Consisting of two 1,200-ft.-long horseshoe-shaped barrels, the tunnel carries two lanes of Conn. 15/Wilbur Cross Parkway traffic in a northeast-southwest direction through the hillside in New Haven County.

On the CTDOT website, agency officials said on the tunnel's project page that they are "undertaking a structural rehabilitation of the tunnel lining system while concurrently revisiting and completing the preliminary design for the life safety and fire protection upgrades at the Heroes Tunnel."

The project area includes the tunnel and its approaches in the towns of Woodbridge, Hamden and New Haven. Public input remains an important part of the process and assists in shaping the tunnel upgrade's outcome, according to the transportation agency.

Wallingford to get three bridge replacements over I-91 with work starting in 2028, CT DOT announces

Christian Metzger

WALLINGFORD — The Connecticut Department of Transportation announced the full replacement of three bridges over Interstate 91 in Wallingford, a project that will develop over the next several years.

The bridges to be replaced are on East Center Street, New Rock Hill and Durham roads due to poor infrastructure conditions reported by the DOT. 

The projects still need to go out to bid through a proposal request, but are anticipated to begin construction in spring of 2028 and completed around 2030. 

“The purpose and need of the project is to address existing structural deficiencies with these three bridges and provide transportation infrastructure that is in a state of good repair for the ongoing maintenance of the transportation infrastructure across the state,” said Jeffery Thereault, Wallingford task lead with engineering firm HNTB.

All three bridges were built 60 years ago, in 1965. While grading of the roads remains in fair condition, according to CDOT, the superstructure on the East Center St. and Rock Hill Road bridges is considered poor, with rust and corroding elements due to their age. 

For the bridges, the roadways will be slightly reduced in size, with more of the roadway space designed to accommodate sidewalks and paved shoulders to create safe passage for bicycles. East Center St. will undergo the most significant work, eliminating the 11-foot painted median and moving both travel lanes closer together, making room for the paved shoulders and a new concrete sidewalk.

Additionally, there will be improvements made to the on- and off-ramps and repaving on North and South Airline Road along with the replacement of existing traffic signals.

It’s not yet been determined if the roads will see a full or partial closure, with half of the bridge open while construction workers remain on the other side in an alternating one-way traffic pattern. The DOT has planned for alternate routes if they plan to close one bridge at a time, though stating that neither New Rock Hill or Durham Road bridges would be allowed to be closed at the same time.

Should one bridge be closed, alternative routes would go around Jobs Road on the west side and Williams to North Airline Road on the east. 

All the bridges have water, electric, and communication lines that run around or under their span. DOT officials said they were in touch with local service providers to see how these disruptions could be worked around and cables relocated. 

The work will also impact traffic on I-91 when the three bridges are being worked on simultaneously, but the full extent of the potential lane reductions or delays is not yet known.

In total, the construction is anticipated to cost $60 to 90 million, with 80% of the cost shouldered by federal funds while the remaining amount is subsidized by the state. 

Mayor Vincent Cervoni said work would be done to see as limited an impact to residents on the opposite side of town as possible.

“It goes without saying that nobody wants to be over a failing bridge, and we’re looking forward to the work being done. And we’re certainly grateful for the great detail that’s going into the planning throughout the project,” Cervoni said. “I-91 does divide the lower east side of town from the rest of us, and so we’re looking forward to the work that’s going to be done to make sure we continue to have access to all neighborhoods in Wallingford.”

The state DOT encouraged residents who have questions or feedback related to the project to reach out to their office at CTDOT.Design.Build@ct.gov. 

Bridge, tunnel or both? The 90-year struggle to connect Long Island and Connecticut

Austin Mirmina

Bridging the gap, boring through it, or both?

These options have long been at the center of studies and debates over how to connect Long Island with mainland New York or Connecticut – a link that supporters say would shorten commutes, ease traffic congestion, improve air quality and expand regional labor markets.

The idea has been dreamed about and chewed over since the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt and The Great Depression, recently resurfacing with a Connecticut developer's pledge for a 14-mile bridge from Bridgeport to Long Island's Suffolk County. But a clear consensus on whether to go over or under the Sound has yet to emerge.

Several proposals have favored a bridge, dismissing the tunnel concept as too costly to build and maintain. Others have backed a tunnel-only or hybrid design, including a 2017 feasibility study launched by then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. 

Despite the time and effort spent researching the plans, none of them have advanced to the point of construction, hampered by concerns over cost (about $50 billion, according to the 2017 study), environmental harm and a lack of political support. It remains to be seen whether Steven Shapiro, the Easton developer and project's latest steward, can bring it to fruition.

In the meantime, here's what to know about the possible configurations for a Sound crossing:

Bridge

A bridge would be the most visible, straightforward – and probably cheapest – path across the Sound.

To build it, crews would likely use a large machine to drive piles – or long vertical columns made of concrete, steel or timber – into the Sound's seafloor, creating a foundation that bares the bridge's load, said Avi Perez, a civil engineering professor at Quinnipiac University. Shorter and thicker vertical columns, called piers, would then be placed on top of the piles, rising above the water and connecting to the bridge's surface.

"If you’re building a bridge, the most important thing will be the bridge piers," Perez said, highlighting their duty in supporting sections upon which vehicles travel.

For a Sound crossing, Perez said he envisions crews working from barges to drive pre-assembled concrete piles into the seafloor at shallower depths, since deeper foundations are typically more complex and costly. The piles would either be anchored into bedrock, which Perez likened to the crust of a cheesecake, or embedded in softer soil, where friction would keep them in place.

Given its extreme length – the latest proposal puts it at roughly 14 miles – a beam bridge would likely be the preferred choice, Perez said. Beam bridges are widely considered the simplest type of bridge, consisting of a horizontal beam supported by two or more vertical structures, like the upright stones at Stonehenge.

The 2017 feasibility study outlined how the bridge would be made of shorter sections raised about 30 feet above the water. In the middle would be a much larger section tall enough for ships to pass underneath. The bridge would offer three travel lanes and full shoulders in each direction, and connect directly to on-shore highways, according to the study.

Since the Sound is relatively shallow – with an average depth of 63 feet – a bridge would likely be the least expensive option, Perez said. But it would also result in "significant" effects both to the environment and the community, as building it would require seizing private property for public use, the study notes.

Tunnel

Another option is to build an underwater tunnel using a tunnel boring machine. Sometimes called a "worm" or a "mole," these massive cylindrical machines would eat through soil and rock beneath the Sound's floor and spit it out through a pipe on the other side, where it would be transported to the surface on a conveyor belt. As it excavates, the machine would install pre-cast concrete sections to form the tunnel's lining.

Digging deep enough into the seafloor is critical to ensuring the tunnel's durability, Perez said, recalling the cheesecake analogy.

"If I’m trying to tunnel from one side of the cheesecake to the other, I can’t go to close to the surface because if I only leave like an eighth of an inch, then the top is going to collapse in," he said. "If I go piling across the bottom, there’s enough cream cheese there to hold up."

Because of the tunnel's length, TBMs would likely begin excavating from each side of the Sound and meet in the middle, according to the 2017 study.

Instead of using a TBM, crews could also build "immersive" tunnels by sinking pre-fabricated sections onto the seafloor, tying them together and pumping the water out. This method requires less excavation and is often used to create underwater passages at aquariums, Perez said.

According to the 2017 study, a single tunnel could have two travel lanes each way, with the lanes stacked on top of one another. Or, two parallel tunnels could be built that have three lanes each. While the latter would increase capacity and simplify maintenance, it would also double the cost.

The tunnel-only option – estimated to cost significantly more than a bridge – has mostly been considered unrealistic for a project already facing financial hurdles.

Hybrid

Imagine driving across a bridge that seamlessly transitions into an underwater tunnel. That's the concept behind a hybrid bridge-tunnel system,

An artificial island would be created to connect the bridge and tunnel, Perez said. An example of this is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in Virginia.

"Tunnels in bridge-tunnel combinations would likely be single level with multiple tubes, rather than stacked decks," the study notes. "This could result in slightly smaller islands, and would permit direct transition onto single-level bridges."

Perez said believes this configuration would be ideal for a Sound crossing, as the underwater sections would create navigable passageways for ships. The study largely agreed: of the five scenarios it recommended for further review, three were hybrid bridge-tunnel designs.

However, this option also carries a hefty price tag – roughly double the cost of a bridge alone, according to study's estimates.

Developer to outline $25M redevelopment plan for former Thompson mill site

Harriet Jones

A developer this week will present plans for a mixed-use project on the site of a former mill in downtown Thompson.

Robert Letskus of New Haven-based Refined Living LLC has drawn up conceptual plans for a $25 million development including new-construction townhouse condominiums, ground-level commercial units and recreational space on the 33-acre site at 630 Riverside Drive.

According to a tax incentive agreement proposed by the town, the development would include 116 residential units, 10% of which would be deemed affordable housing.

In addition there would be 9,240 sq. ft. of mixed-used neighborhood commercial units and 5,000 sq. ft. of restaurant or hospitality units.

The historic Belding-Corticelli thread mill on the site closed in the 1950s. Most of the derelict property was demolished in the early 2000s, leaving only a smokestack and a guardhouse.

Letskus has said he wants to preserve those fragments to make them a centerpiece of the site, with potential plans for a cafe and visitors center in the guardhouse building.

Much of the site is in a floodplain, or is designated as wetlands. The town says there are between seven and 11 fully buildable acres on the property.

“I believe the town has so much potential,” Letskus told a recent Economic Development Commission meeting in Thompson. He noted the town’s proximity to Worcester, Providence and Boston.

The mill site is one of two former industrial sites that bookend the town. At 929 Riverside Drive, the 750,000-square-foot River Mill has been earmarked for redevelopment into 300 housing units as well as commercial space.

In 2022, the state Department of Economic and Community Development gave the town a $2 million grant for the abatement of the existing buildings and soil and groundwater remediation at the 25-acre site. But, so far, private development of the site has stalled.

The public meeting on the future of the 630 Riverside site will be held Wednesday 1 October at 6:30 p.m., in the community center of the Thompson Public Library.