Congress advances transportation funding bill
U.S. House and Senate appropriators agreed Tuesday on bipartisan legislation to fund transportation through the remainder of fiscal year 2026, which ends Sept. 30.
The bill “provides the overwhelming majority of public transit and passenger rail investments” funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, according to the American Public Transportation Association.
The House passed the bill Thursday and the Senate is expected to vote on the measure this week to prevent a partial federal government shutdown on Jan. 30.
The bill is “a really good-news story for our industry,” APTA President and CEO Paul Skoutelas said in a hastily arranged webinar for its members Wednesday.
When combined with advance appropriations from the IIJA, the bill provides $21.1 billion to public transportation, a $168 million increase over the Fiscal Year 2025 level, according to APTA. However, more than $500 million was cut from a capital investment grant program for fixed-guideway transit, including light rail, subways, commuter rail and bus rapid transit.
“There are some wins and some losses,” Rail Passengers Association President and CEO Jim Mathews said in a web post. Amtrak funding is reduced by $115 million from FY 2025 appropriations, and the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Grant Program was slashed from $1.5 billion to $65 million.
The grant program, authorized by the IIJA, provides funding for new intercity passenger rail service, improvements to existing service or projects to repair equipment and infrastructure. Previous awards went to increase capacity at Chicago Union Station; create a new passenger rail route between Raleigh, North Carolina, and Richmond, Virginia; and help build the Brightline West high-speed rail system between Las Vegas and Southern California.
“There are also many more programs that won’t get funded at all because of deep capital program cuts,” Mathews said.
The legislation reasserts Congress’s role in funding. It requires the DOT to notify the House and Senate appropriations committees within 90 days of enactment about “each grant, cooperative agreement, and contract that was obligated in the 5 prior fiscal years and subsequently terminated, withdrawn, or reduced in scope during calendar year 2025 that remains terminated.”
Further, the bill says the DOT “shall not terminate a federal award in part or in its entirety” without following departmental procedures.
Taking a longer view, APTA Vice President for Government Affairs and Advocacy Ward McCarragher said on the webinar that the $21.1 billion funding level “really well positions us as we head into the year to see Congress begin to advance the surface transportation authorization bill.” These multiyear funding bills support highway and public transportation projects. The current five-year program expires Sept. 30, 2026.
NEW HAVEN — A more than $100 million project to upgrade aging infrastructure at State Street Station received mixed feedback at a recent public information session with the state Department of Transportation
During last week’s session at High School in the Community, DOT officials, as well as representatives of engineering and architectural firms, said they’re looking to elevate the overall landscape bridging State Street and Wooster Square. The officials specifically talked about two related projects: upgrading the platform, elevator and stairs at State Street Station and narrowing the Court Street Bridge and closing it to vehicular traffic.
According to DOT Project Manager Jonathan Kang, the combined projects are estimated to cost $113 million from state and federal funding.
Kang said the narrowing of the Court Street Bridge is required for track alignments to support plans to replace and elongate the currently deteriorated center platform. Doing so, he said, will allow for passengers to enter and exit trains more quickly as more doors will be serviced and will improve access to the station through Court Street. Currently, an average of 40 trains stop at State Street Station on weekdays, officials said.
Some members of the public at the information session were enthusiastic about the project, including Liam Brennan, the city’s Livable City Initiative director.
Brennan said he saw opportunities for the planned design of the Court Street Bridge’s safety fencing, a series of inward-facing arcs that don’t visually block views of the tracks. He said the current safety fencing is “a very hostile, urban hellscape situation that is not inviting.”
“This is amazingly better than what’s there,” he said. “I’m impressed and excited about that.”
Resident Aaron Goode echoed those thoughts, saying the safety fencing on some current bicycle-pedestrian trails are “like being in a maximum security prison,” and he hopes the Court Street Bridge project steers away from that image.
Other constructive criticism came from state Rep. Steven Winter, D-New Haven, who said he hopes that bicycles are protected from weather conditions, as the current canopy for the station’s bicycle racks are exposed to rain and snow. He said he would be interested to know if the project could explore bicycle lockers.
Officials said the bridge project is anticipated to begin in the spring of 2027 and conclude in the summer of 2028 and cost $16 million, while the State Street Station project is anticipated to cost $97 million and span from spring 2029 to fall 2030.
Kang said the design of the project is intended to “tie in with the ongoing city project of increasing walkability and bike lanes.”
New Haven is currently engaged in a “New Haven Greenways 2030” project, intended to connect city neighborhoods separated by roads to make them more accessible to pedestrians and cyclists. One of the five greenways emphasized in that plan is the city’s “Crosstown Greenway Trail,” which officials expect to include bridging downtown to Wooster Square. City Engineer Giovanni Zinn said upgrades to State Street Station are “an important link” in that trail.
“The whole pedestrian experience is going to be highly improved,” said architect Sam Gardner.
Part of that experience will be closing the Court Street Bridge to vehicles with plazas on either side. Officials said it would mean vehicle traffic would be rerouted through Grand Avenue and Chapel Street.
The state DOT’s public input period will remain open through Feb. 3, officials said. A public input session on a project to replace platforms at the city’s Union Street Station and to make minor trackwork modifications is planned for late February or early March, officials said.
East Lyme to embark on $17 million PFAS removal
Jack Lakowsky
East Lyme — It'll take $17 million to upgrade a town water treatment plant near East Lyme Middle School so it can remove PFAS, or forever chemicals, from three wells that provide drinking water for residents.
If all goes according to plan, Water and Sewer Department Chief Operating Officer Ben North said Monday the project should be done in fall or winter 2027.
North said he hopes the final cost will end up being less. Unfortunately, he said, there's no grant funding available, and the town will have to borrow to pay for the project.
Last week the Board of Selectmen voted to let the town use about $165,000 in funding left over from other projects to pay for preliminary engineering and equipment and to help with the down payment on the loan the town will eventually need to get. The town will start paying back the loan when the work is complete, and when it makes its first payment, it also has to pay the accrued interest all at once.
North described the work as a "very large capital upgrade," and said he expects it will mean increases in water and sewer rates for residents.
Affected residents were sent letters about the project, North said.
"It's a problem we have to solve," First Selectman Dan Cunningham said last week.
North said for PFAS, a nearly ubiquitous chemical found in many consumer products, the acceptable limit in drinking water is four parts per trillion, a "drop of water in something like 20 Olympic pools."
In one well, tests detected 7 parts per trillion, and 8.5 parts per trillion in another.
"It's still fairly low compared to other towns," North said.
Several factors are causing the high cost, he said.
One is rampant inflation in the water treatment industry. Another, he said, is extreme demand overwhelming the small number of manufacturers who make the equipment needed to refit treatment plants to remove PFAS. The presence and potential health risk of PFAS is a relatively recent discovery, and the industry hasn't adapted yet, North said. The resultant supply chain issues drive up prices.
The Environmental Protection Agency says because of their widespread use and persistence in the environment, many PFAS are found in the blood of people and animals all over the world and at low levels in a variety of food products and in the environment.
Scientific studies have shown that exposure to some PFAS in the environment may be linked to harmful health effects in humans and animals.
There are thousands of PFAS chemicals, found in many different consumer, commercial and industrial products. This makes it challenging to study potential health and environmental risks.
CT town has concerns about planned 4.65-megawatt solar array. A treasured scenic view is one of them
Don Stacom
Citing concerns about views from the Heublein Tower, potential environmental damage and more than $300,000 in unpaid property taxes, Simsbury has successfully asked state regulators for a public hearing on Lodestar Energy’s plan for a solar array on Nod Road.
The company is proposing a 4.65-megawatt solar facility on about 19 acres at the former Tower Ridge Country Club.
The state Siting Council must decide by June 2 whether to declare the project needs no certificate of environmental compatibility and public need; Lodestar wants that designation because it would streamline the approval process.
Simsbury First Selectman Wendy Mackstutis this winter was able to secure a hearing so neighbors and other residents can offer their opinions before the council votes.
Mackstutis said there are a number of concerns that Simsbury residents and public officials both want addressed.
“As drafted, the application raises serious concerns about potential harm to both the wetlands and the flood zone,” she told the Siting Council in a Dec. 30 letter. “We recommend relocating all development outside these sensitive areas and outside Simsbury’s local Upland Review Area.”
Mackstutis said residents also deserve more information about how the array would affect views from Nod Road as well as from the 165-foot-high Heublein Tower, a popular tourist attraction and hiking destination.
“Because the solar field will be visible from the historic Heublein Tower on the ridgeline above — and from the surrounding Talcott Mountain State Park — we are again requesting visual exhibits, a viewshed analysis, and photo-simulations to clearly show potential impacts (or lack of impacts) to the viewshed for park visitors and nearby Simsbury residents along the Nod Road corridor,” she wrote.
“This view is one of the most treasured assets in the Farmington Valley and beyond, so understanding how it may change is essential,” Mackstutis wrote. “We’ve asked for this repeatedly since meeting with Lodestar back in October.”
She acknowledged that Lodestar provided a 3D simulation, but said “based on that video alone, we have real concerns about both aesthetic and environmental impacts.”
In addition, there is an overdue property tax bill for about $317,000, she noted. Lodestar would use about 19 acres of the roughly 190-acre former country club, which is now owned by Simsbury Real Estate Holdings LLC.
“We ask that these taxes be brought current before any decision is made,” Mackstutis wrote. “Or, if the Siting Council approves the petition, we ask that tax payment be a condition of approval. The town also reserves the right to take any action it finds necessary to protect its interest.”
The Siting Council last Thursday agreed to conduct a hearing before issuing its decision, but hasn’t yet set a date, time or location.
In its application to the council, Lodestar said its project would cost roughly $11 million and use about 11,000 solar panels. It would sell the energy it produces to Eversource and pay Simsbury about $45,000 a year in property and personal taxes.
“The surrounding area includes the Metacon Gun Club, the Connecticut State Police Firearms Training Facility, undeveloped wooded land, and residential development,” Lodestar wrote in its application.
“The nearest state-designated scenic road is located in Canton, approximately 5.4 miles from the project site; therefore, no impacts to this scenic road are anticipated,” it continued. “Talcott Mountain State Park, located directly east of the site, is the nearest state park. While the project will not affect park access, portions of it may be visible from the park due to the significant elevation difference.”
The site is within a half-mile of the Avon and Bloomfield borders.
Lodestar said that after governmental approvals, construction would take six to nine months. The company described its project as just the type of initiative that Connecticut wants to strengthen the power grid. It told the council that state Sen. Paul Honig, D-Harwinton, endorsed the project last summer.
“Senator Honig expressed support, noting its community benefits, minimal visibility due to screening and setbacks, and positive tax revenue for the town,” Lodestar wrote.
But in a recent letter to the council, Honig disputed that.
“Lodestar states that I expressed support for the project during a meeting to review it. That statement is inaccurate,” he wrote. “I am deeply concerned that Lodestar attributed a position to me in an official filing without consulting me or obtaining my consent.”
Lodestar already has solar facilities in Winsted, Falls Village, Canaan, Enfield and East Windsor in Connecticut, along with more in Massachusetts, New York and New Hampshire.