Governor Lamont Releases $30 Million for Infrastructure Improvements in 46 Small Towns
(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that he
is releasing $30 million in state grants to 46 small towns in Connecticut that
will be used to complete a wide variety of infrastructure improvements, such as
road safety reconstruction projects, emergency management upgrades, sidewalk
and pedestrian safety enhancements, educational and recreational facility
upgrades, and other kinds of capital improvement projects.
The grants are being provided through the Small
Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP), a state program managed by
the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management (OPM) that delivers grants to
small towns for economic development, community conservation, and
quality-of-life capital projects. In addition to the grants from the state,
each municipality is also contributing funds, bringing the total spent on the
48 projects to $43.4 million in a combination of state, local, and other
funding sources.
“Our small towns are an important part of what makes
Connecticut such a special place to live and work,” Governor Lamont said.
“By partnering with each town, we can help get these infrastructure projects
completed so these towns can continue to thrive, remain competitive, attract
businesses, and improve the quality of life for our residents.”
Towns seeking funding under this current round of STEAP
grants were required to submit applications to the state by February 20, 2025.
Towns selected to receive grants will soon be contacted by OPM with an official
award notification and further instructions. Funding to support these grants
was recently approved by the State Bond Commission, a group that Governor
Lamont leads as chairperson.
The STEAP grants awarded in this round include:
Ashford: $400,000 in state funding is approved for the
repaving of the Ashford Public Works Facility. This will be matched by $104,701
from the town.
Beacon Falls: $1 million in state funding is approved for
Maple, Century, and Division Roadway rehabilitation and complete streets
improvements. This will be matched by $927,150 from the town.
Berlin: $1 million in state funding is approved for the
Berlin Peck Library reroofing and mechanical replacement project. This will be
matched by $240,000 by the town.
Bolton: $427,863 in state funding is approved for Notch Road
community event space. This will be matched by $89,250 from the town.
Branford: $1 million in state funding is approved for Town
Center sidewalk improvements. This will be matched by $200,000 from the town.
Brookfield: $545,000 in state funding is approved for Phase
1 of the Brookfield High School athletic fields renovations. This will be
matched by $230,000 from the town.
Burlington: $255,664 in state funding is approved for the
Town Hall Emergency Standby/Station 1 EMS Command Center. This will be matched
by $63,916 from the town.
Canaan: $620,051 in state funding is approved for critical
municipal infrastructure. This will be matched by $155,014 from the town.
Cheshire: $1 million in state funding is approved Phase II
of Mixville Park improvements. This will be matched by $281,800 from the town.
Chester: $796,000 in state funding is approved for the
infrastructure and repair of Three Local Bridges. This will be matched by
$199,000 from the town.
Clinton: $543,600 in state funding is approved for the
Clinton Public Works and Emergency Management Building. This will be matched by
$135,900 from the town.
Colchester: $900,000 in state funding is approved for
Lebanon Avenue Airline Trail Head and Mill Street streetscape improvements.
This will be matched by $220,000 from the town.
Colebrook: $412,739.02 in state funding is approved for
municipal roads and parking lot renovations. This will be matched by
$103,184.76 from the town.
Durham: $1 million in state funding is approved for the
Shady Lane reconstruction. This will be matched by $270,000 from the town.
Essex: $1 million in state funding is approved for Phase II
of the Essex Public Works Campus Improvements. This will be matched by $1
million from the town.
Fairfield: $601,170 in state funding is approved for the
repaving of Phase 2 of the Reef Road pedestrian improvements. This will be
matched by $150,292 from the town.
Farmington: $1 million in state funding is approved for the
Tunxis Mead Improvement Plan. This will be matched by $502,000 from the town.
Franklin: $100,000 in state funding is approved for the
Franklin Elementary School/Emergency Shelter Generator Engineering and
Acquisition. This will be matched by $20,000 from the town.
Granby: $579,825 in state funding is approved for the Salmon
Brook Park Connector and Auxiliary Parking. This will be matched by $117,000
from the town.
Hampton: $500,000 in state funding is approved for the
reconstruction of Windham Road. This will be matched by $220,000 from the town.
Ledyard: $892,888.10 in state funding is approved for the
Town Playground Improvement Project. This will be matched by $179,000 from the
town.
Litchfield: $500,000 in state funding is approved for the
reconstruction of Wigwam Road. This will be matched by $873,190 from the town.
New Canaan: $300,000 in state funding is approved for Phase
2 improvements to Waveny Park Playground. This will be matched by $325,000 from
the town, and $150,000 from the Friends of Waveny Playground.
Newington: $485,610.60 in state funding is approved for the
Candlewyck Park Inclusive Playground. This will be matched by $121,365 from the
town.
New Milford: $1 million in state funding is approved for the
reconstruction of Merryall Road. This will be matched by $316,192 from the
town.
Newtown: $600,000 in state funding is approved for the
Newtown Community Center Splash Pad and Storage Facility. This will be matched
by $573,000 from the town, and $48,000 from community donations.
North Branford: $1 million in state funding is approved
Edward Smith Library HVAC Improvements. This will be matched by $850,000 from
the town.
North Stonington: $76,800 in state funding is approved for
Transfer Station Permanent Pads. This will be matched by $19,200 from the town.
North Stonington: $66,721.39 in state funding is approved
for North Stonington Education Center Meeting Space Upgrade. This will be
matched by $16,680.35 from the town.
North Stonington: $479,775 in state funding is approved for
the improvement of Three Municipal Parking Lots and Culvert Pipe Replacement on
Hangman Hill and Reutemann Road. This will be matched by $119,944 from the
town.
Old Saybrook: $667,948 in state funding is approved for
Ferry Road Soccer Field renovation. This will be matched by $222,649 from the
town.
Orange: $600,000 in state funding is approved for parking
lot paving and guardrail replacement. This will be matched by $150,000 from the
town.
Plainville: $672,000 in state funding is approved for the
reconstruction of recreational facilities at Charles H. Norton Park. This will
be matched by $168,000 from the town.
Portland: $1 million in state funding is approved for Phase
II of High Street Water Main Replacement and Road Reconstruction. This will be
matched by $200,000 from the town.
Preston: $450,000 in state funding is approved for Preston
Community Park improvements. This will be matched by $100,000 from the town.
Putnam: $1 million in state funding is approved for Sports
Complex improvements project. This will be matched by $200,000 from the town.
Ridgefield: $280,640 in state funding is approved for
concrete endwall replacement on Canterbury Lane. This will be matched by
$102,160 from the town.
Roxbury: $1 million in state funding is approved for the
Roxbury Volunteer Ambulance Building. This will be matched by $250,000 from the
town.
Salem: $168,000 in state funding is approved for Salem
Center Community Building upgrades. This will be matched by $34,000 from the
town.
Salisbury: $328,000 in state funding is approved for
Salisbury Recreational improvements. This will be matched by $82,000 from the
town.
Scotland: $248,651 in state funding is approved for
Municipal Safety Complex and Community Hall repairs and upgrades. This will be
matched by $27,628 from the town.
Sharon: $1 million in state funding is approved for River
Road pavement and embankment stabilization. This will be matched by $700,000
from the town.
Shelton: $1 million in state funding is approved for public
facility and recreational enhancements. This will be matched by $200,000 from
the town.
Sherman: $230,000 in state funding is approved to repair and
renovate the Scouthouse. This will be matched by $46,000 from the town.
Somers: $191,224 in state funding is approved for the
Connor’s Place Playground resurfacing. This will be matched by $47,806 from the
town.
Union: $120,000 in state funding is approved for
rehabilitation of Holland Road. This will be matched by $24,000 from the town.
Voluntown: $1 million in state funding is approved for
Congdon Road Improvements. This will be matched by $250,000 from the town.
Westport: $1 million in state funding is approved for
replacement of the Cross Highway Bridge over Deadman Brook. This will be
matched by $1,130,154 from the town, and $619,846 from LoCIP funding.
Norwalk begins to transform Wall Street Corridor with $30M investment: 'Robust economic development'
NORWALK — A historic
flood in 1955 devastated downtown Norwalk, which has never
reclaimed much of its former glory, according to Jim
Travers, the city's director of transportation, parking and
mobility.
But a $30 million project over the next five years is now
underway to change that, Travers said.
“We’re going to create ... a haven for robust economic
development,” he said of the Wall
Street Corridor Improvements Project, which began in March. “We want to see
lots of people on the street.”
Although Norwalk has conducted many planning studies for the
area since the flood, “we’ve never delivered anybody in the community
anything,” Travers said. “The time has come and the city is finally going to
make an investment in Wall
Street.”
On a recent morning, Travers and Garrett Bolella,
assistant director of transportation, mobility and parking, walked along the
area's busy streets, pointing out ways to improve both the walkability and
the aesthetics of the neighborhood.
The plan involves creating safer intersections, widening the
sidewalks, providing opportunities for outdoor dining and improving on-street
lighting, Travers told
CT Insider. The project, which extends from West Avenue to East
Avenue and Wall
Street, including Burnell
Boulevard, and portions Main
Avenue and Commerce, River and Isaac streets, is expected to be
completed by 2030.
It’s now in the first of four phases, Travers said.
Although it will boost economic development, “the project,
at its core, is a traffic project. If we get traffic right, then other things
fall into place," he said. “We want to see slow vehicles.”
Of the project's $30 million price tag, $22.5 million has
been secured, Travers said.
The city has received $5.75 million in federal grants, $12.9
in state grants, $1.6 million in capital investments, $350,000 from its Capital
Projects Fund, and $2 million in parking authority improvements for the
Yankee Doodle Garage, he said.
The city continues to seek additional funding, Travers
added.
Phase 1 in progress
The first portion of Phase 1, which began at the end of
March, involves demolishing all of the old sidewalks and putting in a new curb
on East Wall Street, Travers said, as he watched construction trucks
lining that street, busy at work.
He said he hopes to complete that section by year's
end.
“It’s challenging because we’re working in a really old
historic section of town," Bolello said.
"We found underground challenges such as utilities that
are unmarked and ... trolley tracks that were covered over time,” he
said.
He said he hopes the city can hire artist "that’s up to
the challenge" to find a way to repurpose the tracks as art.
'Centerpiece for community'
On nearby Burnell
Boulevard, cars and buses inched along in the bumper-to-bumper
traffic.
Previously, Burnell Boulevard was a two-way street but was
made into a one-way street — and now Travers said he plans to change
it back.
“We’re going to relieve some of the burden from Wall Street
but also give people access" to the Yankee Doodle parking garage on
Burnell, Travers said.
Once Burnell Boulevard is switched into a two-way street,
there will be fewer cars on adjacent River Street, he said, making way for his
plans to turn River Street into a "festival street."
“We imagine that we will close the street down at both ends,
bring in a mobile stage, have a concert here in the middle of street,” Travers
said of his vision.
Under this plan, River
Street will become the “centerpiece for the community,” and can be
closed to traffic for events, Bolello said.
'Forgotten' street
Another nearby street, Commerce Street, which is narrow and
lined with older buildings of various sizes, has great
potential, Travers said.
“We think that Commerce Street is really a cute little
street … a diamond in the rough,” he said. “We want to ... polish that stone
and make it shine."
It is the last section of downtown that still has
above-ground utilities, he said.
“We’re going to bury those utilities, and the street is
going to have pedestrian-level lighting that’s going to be 12 feet
high,” Travers said. There will also be a street tree and brick
sidewalks.
As Travers walked the length of the Wall Street Corridor, he
pointed to sidewalks that will be widened as part of the project.
“Not only does widening sidewalks make them more
people-friendly, but it helps restaurants in having more space in setting up
(seating) outside," Travers said.
“Coming out of COVID, the one thing that we really learned
is that people want to be outside," he said.
He also walked past Taco
Guy, one of the only restaurants in the area that offers outdoor
dining, with tables and chairs set up outside.
By widening the sidewalks, Travers said, “We’re going to be
able to give every restaurant the opportunity" to offer outside dining.
Wallingford Community Pool on track for possible July 2026 opening
Christian Metzger
WALLINGFORD — Nearly a year after the idea to renovate the
town's pool was resurrected, the town council has voted to move forward
with a plan that could see it reopen in July of next year.
In a recent 6-2 vote, the council voted to proceed with
drafting a bond proposal to Banton Construction. The New Haven-based firm
originally bid to take on the renovation of the pool in 2020. It bid again and
made the lowest offer of $9.3 million. This was lower than the town’s expected
estimate for the project, which was $12 million.
The new pool would be much smaller at 13,000 square feet
than the existing structure at 43,000 square feet. The current pool is
three times larger than an Olympic swimming pool. The pool holds over a million
gallons in volume, making it the largest "zero depth entry" pool in
the country, only matched by one in Dubai. That type of pool has a gradual
slope that allows swimmer to talk into it.
It became increasingly expensive to maintain given its size,
leading to its closure during the pandemic.
“From what I’ve seen of the existing pool, I don’t think you
could find another pool on the planet that was designed like that pool,” said
Mayor Vincent Cervoni.
Former Mayor William Dickinson Jr. vetoed the council’s vote
to renovate the community pool several years ago due to concerns of economic
pressures during the pandemic. Cervoni, who had made the reopening of the pool
part of his mayoral campaign, said he would not veto the council’s decision if
they wished to move ahead with the pool project.
“Something's got to be done with this park and if the
council is inclined to support it, then the administration is as well,” Cervoni
said.
The renovated plan will also include a new bathhouse and
picnic pavilion, a splash pad, playground, an expanded parking lot and new
landscaping, along with expanded green space and a potential performance stage
for events and activities. Much like the existing pool, the new design will
also be zero depth entry, with four lap lanes, slide, and water sports areas in
the deeper sections.
The splash pad and green spaces would open the pool site up
to be used beyond the summer season, with the splash pad able to operate during
the spring and fall, while the playground and green space would be usable
year-round.
“This creates a four-season destination where we’re going to
have the pavilion that could be available for rentals. You’ll have the
playground that can be used year-round, the splash pad can almost be used for
three seasons weather depending,” said Parks and Recreation Director Kenny
Michaels, who brought the proposal to the board.
Banton Construction was the lowest of the other companies to
bid on the project, which included Orlando Annulli & Sons, Montagno
Construction, and J.A Rosa Construction. All bid over $10-11 million, closer to
the estimated project pricing.
Several council members were hesitant with the proposal,
believing there weren’t enough details about the operating expenses. In light
of the recent tax increase, which saw on over 10% increase for residents,
Councilor Christopher Regan and Vice Chair Christina Tatta said they
didn’t want to put an additional burden on the town – especially without
knowing the full price of staffing, chlorine, and maintenance.
Town staff were wary about delaying the vote, believing that
it would be another setback that would cause the project to stall and become
more expensive, or not be completed at all.
“If we don’t do it now I don’t see it happening,” said
Michaels.
Council member Jesse Reynolds said waiting would not make
financial sense.
“I do want to point out that this has gone up. While not as
much as we thought it might have been able to go up, it has gone up quite a bit
since we went through this the last time and if we don’t continue to sort of
move forward on something like this it won’t be any less to do any of it,
even if it’s just the excavation,” said Reynolds, who said that the Community
Pool was an important investment for the town to support, especially to give
local families a place to go to relax in the summer who aren’t able to travel,
or just to socialize and give their children a place to swim.
Others like Councilor Vincent Testa Jr. said that the
Community Pool should be seen as a broader business investment, that having
amenities like that would be more attractive to business owners and encourage
them to move into town. Part of the issue in recent years is the slow growth of
the grand list, which has been in part, he said, because there hasn’t been
major growth in the town’s business sector – putting more of the tax burden on
residents.
“If we talk about this as a smart, fiscally responsible
investment in the community to try and promote the development of our grand
list, that might be something that generates a little bit more support,” he
said.
Other council members like Samuel Carmody said that the
indecision over the pool in the first place was a sign of the council often
being an impediment to town progress. He noted that with the Community Pool, as
well as the state of the town’s parks and aging schools, the town had mounting problems that
they were dragging their feet on addressing and trying to fix.
“This pool has sat locked behind a fence while we debate its
future year after year. We say we want to attract families to this town, but
what are we giving them to come here? We talk about vision, we talk about
planning, but none of that means anything without action,” Carmody said.
“I will say this, because it’s been clear to me over time.
The obstacle to progress is not abstract, it is often this council. Too often
this council has chosen to delay, to deflect, and do nothing when something
needed to be done. I want to believe tonight will be different.”
Chairman Joseph Marrone agreed with the sentiment,
supporting the motion to proceed with drafting the bond.
East Haddam Swing Bridge reopens after three-year construction project
EAST HADDAM — Rehabilitation
work on the 112-year-old East Haddam Swing Bridge on Route 82 is
finally complete.
Gov. Ned Lamont, DOT Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto and
U.S. Congressman Joe Courtney were on hand Tuesday morning at Eagle Landing
State Park in Haddam to herald the project's end.
The
$88.8 million project was funded through $70 million in federal
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law money, and 20% in state funds, according to the
governor's office. Construction began in September 2022.
The bridge was upgraded with new mechanical and electrical
systems, substructure repairs, and a new sidewalk connecting the communities,
it continued.
Work on the structure, which connects the towns
of Haddam and East Haddam over the Connecticut River, involved a
major rehabilitation of the structural, mechanical, and electrical components
of the bridge, the state Department of Transportation said. A cantilevered
sidewalk was added to the south side of the structure and approach sidewalks
were built.
Originally built in 1913 by the American Bridge Company, the
bridge has now been fully rehabilitated by that same company. The
structure consists of four spans, including a moveable swing span that required
upgrades to address operational issues identified during inspections, according
to a press release.
The Riendeau family, whose ancestors brought oxen to the
original ribbon cutting for the East Haddam Swing Bridge in June 1913, took
part in Tuesday's event with a new generation of oxen to help mark the
reopening, the statement said.
Improvements to the bridge now provide safe crossing of the
Connecticut River for vehicles and pedestrians, extend its service life, and
improve swing span operation reliability, the DOT said.
The bridge was built in 1913 and rehabilitated in 1988,
1998, 1999 and 2007. Due to significant swing-span operation problems, an
emergency repair project was completed in 2016, the state agency said.
Inspections by the Bridge Safety and Evaluation unit determined the bridge
was in poor condition, primarily due to the deterioration of its
superstructure.