July 21, 2025

CT Construction Digest Monday JUly 21, 2025

CT a 'partner' as Naugatuck breaks ground on new $33M train station, Lamont says

Andreas Yilma

NAUGATUCK — There is light at the end of the tunnel for the new Naugatuck train station after a ground-breaking ceremony Friday attended by Gov. Ned Lamont, Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess and other local, state and federal officials.

The Connecticut Department of Transportation held a news conference at the location of the new train station in the middle of the vacant Parcel B lot on Old Firehouse Road. Construction is expected to take two years. The current train station is just north of The Station Restaurant at 195 Water St. and serves about 34,000 riders annually.

Hess said the borough has had help from the state Department of Economic and Community Development for remediation at the site, as well as the Connecticut Communities Challenge grant to build a new road network near the new station. 

“We’ve been talking about this for a long time and I explained to (Lamont) that the gold is in the valley. ... The undeveloped land along the Waterbury branch line is really great for the state,” Hess said of Metro-North. 

DOT Commissioner Garrett T. Eucalitto said the $33.2 million project for the new train station will include a 2,300-square-foot building with a 350-foot platform. The station will have built-in heated elements in the platform to eliminate the need to salt it during winter. In addition, the station will improve accessiblility for individuals who have mobility impairments.

“That’s really going to keep Naugatuck’s economic engine and the entire (Naugatuck) Valley humming, and this is just the start of an entire phase of work up and down the whole Waterbury branch line,” Eucalitto said. 

The new two-story station will offer 72 on-street parking spaces, electric vehicle charging stations, energy-efficient LED lighting and upgraded safety features. The DOT noted 80% of the funds for the project will come from the Federal Transit Administration and state bond funds will cover the remaining 20%. 

Metro-North Railroad President Justin Vonashek said this project reflects the future of public transportation, where transit, housing and community development all come together for a more connected, sustainable and inclusive future. 

“The project will connect more residents to jobs, education and all the region has to offer with a modern accessible station at its heart,” Vonashek said. 

Eucalitto said the project is part of a $140 million investment on the Waterbury branch line. The DOT aims to build a new station in Derby and Shelton, as well a new waiting room for the Waterbury station. 

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said the state has received an unprecedented nearly $2 billion investment in federal funds to upgrade rail service over the last three to four years. 

“Naugatuck already had a lot going for it, but this allows us to continue this really positive trend of growing with housing options and economic development options for Naugatuck and the Valley,” Murphy said. 

The new train station will be in the heart of a new mixed-use residential commercial development at Parcel B on the corner of Maple Street and Old Firehouse Road. Pennrose, a real estate development company based in Philadelphia, is poised to develop three 60-unit apartment buildings consisting of one or two bedrooms over a three-phase project.

Lamont said his vision aligns with Hess’ vision and the state is investing in Naugatuck because the borough is getting it right. 

“This is a very competitive process to get all the pieces together ... and Pete Hess has been thinking about this strategically for a while,” Lamont said. “He knows exactly what he wants this town to look like and we’re here as his partner.”


Trumbull council OKs new design and price tag for proposed senior and community center

Shaniece Holmes-Brown

TRUMBULL — Trumbull residents will decide in November if the town will build a new senior center after the Town Council approved the most recent design.

In an 18-3 vote, the Town Council approved the new cost of the proposed senior and community center at 5958 Main St. after 10 years of studying various locations, designs and budgets. The newest version, known as Option 7, costs $4 million less than the original and has smaller square footage.

 Lori Hayes-O'Brien, chair of the Community Facilities Building Committee, said she cried after the approval at the July 10 meeting.

"I feel very relieved because this is the first time we've come close to letting the people decide if they want this," she said.

The new building design, created by QA+M Architects, is a condensed version of the original 30,000-square-foot project, which was estimated to cost about $32 million. 

The approved design is about 27,500-square-feet and is estimated to cost $27,115,000, with $21 million in hard construction costs and $6,115,000 in soft costs, like fees and contingencies.

"I think the architects did an excellent job with it," said Town Council Chair Carl Massaro.

The Town Council also approved the town clerk to prepare the text for the referendum question. The vote will take place on Nov. 4 during the upcoming general election.

"This long-overdue step forward will finally give our residents the opportunity to decide whether to invest in a modern, inclusive facility that meets the needs of today’s seniors and the broader community," said First Selectman Vicki Tesoro in a July 11 statement.

The new design stemmed from the Republican-majority's April decision to halt the approval on the $32 million design until three more cost-effective designs were presented.

"While we fully support the development of a new senior center to meet the needs of our community, we must balance this with fiscal responsibility," the Republican Town Council members said in a joint statement.

After months of discussion with the building committee, QA+M principal Thomas Arcari presented the new designs to the Town Council.

"We had some disappointment of not going forward with the original," Hayes-O'Brien said. "I’m excited about what they can do with this option; and it’s going to end up being a beautiful building, useful and up-to-date, which is what we were tasked with as a committee."

During the meeting, Arcari said the one that was ultimately chosen made the building footprint "a little bit bigger" but overall made the building "skinnier" after eliminating the recreational areas in the basement and moving them to the back of the building.

"We were able to find savings for the community," Arcari said during the meeting.

Hayes-O'Brien said removing the basement drastically reduced the excavation planned for the project. But she said the compromise resulted in downsizing the gym as well as other recreational spaces.

Tesoro said that although she's glad the project is moving forward and that $4 million will be saved over 20 years, there's a sacrifice that comes with it.

"While this reduction represents some cost savings, it will limit certain recreation programming that had been envisioned for our seniors and community members," Tesoro said.

She said a town meeting will be scheduled and more information about the design will be available in the coming months.

"I want to thank the members of the Community Facilities Building Committee and our architects for their tireless efforts and commitment over the past several years," she said. "Your dedication has brought us to this critical milestone."


Enfield, South Windsor among 16 towns and cities to get $57.3 million for transportation projects

Joseph Villanova

Enfield and South Windsor are among 16 towns and cities to receive $57.3 million from the state Department of Transportation for trails and roadwork.

The state DOT announced Wednesday that South Windsor was granted $4.1 million through the Local Transportation Capital Improvement Program, or LOTCIP, for reconstruction of Dart Hill Road between Neiderwerfer Road and the Vernon town line, including new drainage, pavement, and road base, as well as improved alignments and new sidewalks on the north side of the road that will lead into Vernon.

Kevin Vincens, South Windsor's Deputy Director of Public Works, said Thursday that Dart Hill Road is both a major connection between Vernon and South Windsor and one of the older roads in town. He said minor improvements were made to  Dart Hill Road in 2019, but the $4.1 million project is a more substantial project.

"The existing roadway had poor drainage and base material," Vincens said. "The new project is addressing these issues by upgrading roadway geometry to ensure positive drainage as well as installation of 12” of new gravel base material to support the pavement structure."

Vincens said South Windsor is using about $300,000 to cover the sidewalk portion and other construction items that are not eligible for grant funding. He said the town did not use previously allocated American Rescue Plan Act funds for the project due to timing constraints associated with their use, and instead redirected the money to pay for sidewalks along Birch Hill and Ellington roads. 

As for Enfield, the town received roughly $900,000 for continued work to extend a multi-use trail on the north side of Town Farm Road, in the vicinity of former farmland approved for a controversial solar facility last year. Once the extension is complete, the trail will span from Abbe Road to Broad Brook Road.

Other allocations from LOTCIP include $6.9 million for a set of road reconstruction projects in Seymour, over $6.4 million for work on New Britain's John Downey Drive corridor, and $3.6 million for two New Haven projects, improvements to Quinnipiac Avenue and a cycle track on Water Street. 

Waterbury was selected to receive the largest chunk of funding among the group, with $12 million for improvements to a group of four roads. 

The remaining portion of the LOTCIP funding went to similar projects in Bloomfield, Clinton, Colchester, Fairfield, Marlborough, Plainville, Putnam, Torrington, Trumbull, and Weston.


Developer wants to build three warehouses on Wallingford's Barnes Road

Christian Metzger

WALLINGFORD — A major warehouse complex is in the works along Barnes Road in Wallingford

The complex would be three separate buildings distributed across 1000, 1020, 1030, 1044 and 1080 Barnes Road, across a combined 47 acres. The parcels of land have been owned by the Midwood Management Corporation since the late 1980s and haven’t seen significant development in that time, until recently. 

The developer intends to construct two 157,000-square-foot warehouses, with a third smaller 100,000 square-foot warehouse on the southernmost end of the property, according to documents recently presented to the Planning and Zoning Commission. While all clustered closely together, the three buildings would not make up one contiguous complex, and could be used by three separate tenants, self-sufficient from one another. 

The developers said the warehouses would be versatile and would be able to be used for a variety of commercial purposes.

Should the project proceed, it would be the one of the largest developments in Wallingford’s Industrial Development District in recent years, alongside the pending data center before the commission. 

There would be five entrances to the property to accommodate the traffic: three for employees and two for trucks. Two employee and one truck access road would be along Northrop Road, one of which being accessible through an outlet on the existing Radiall USA property at 777 Northrop Road. The remaining two entries would link up directly with Route 68. 

Despite the massive footprint of the structures, developers said they would be looking to minimize the environmental disruption with considerable remaining greenspace in the middle of the parcel separating the buildings and use that greenery to keep the buildings partially hidden and as minimally disruptive to neighbors as possible, officials said.

“There is very little light impact out onto North Farms Reservoir, and hopefully all these buildings will be pretty well hidden from the residents on North Farms,” said Samuel Sargeant, president of Lazarus and Sargeant Architects who is working on the project. “We’re really trying to hide it, to make it blend into the side and provide a development for the site that is really as sympathetic as we can make it given the use.”

Developers said they would be serving a niche for bulk warehouse storage needs, with many people constructing facilities that can’t accommodate for larger bulk storage that’s needed, while still being smaller than a 300,000-square-foot building better utilized for distribution. 

“There are 50,000-square-foot warehouses everywhere, and they’re not big enough for massive storage,” said Managing Principal David Carson from OCC Design Consortium, who is working on engineering the project. “There is a need for large bulk storage, rack storage.”

Some members of the public, including state Rep. Mary Mushinsky, D-Wallingford, expressed concerns over the potential environmental impacts of the project and how it would affect the reservoir, which is a common place for residents to fish as well as a nesting ground for eagles.

While Mushinsky wasn’t opposed to it going through, she hoped the commission and developers would be conscientious of the needs of the local environment and develop their plans accordingly. 

Members of the commission also expressed some concern about potential traffic issues along Northrop Road should it be developed, due to its winding nature and low level of visibility that make it a safety hazard if trucks were to drive down it.


East Lyme wants NL sewer plant to expand

Jack Lakowsky

East Lyme — The town has about all the sewage it can handle, and to accommodate expected development, it wants the sewer treatment plant in New London to grow by half.

The town uses the plant along with Waterford and New London.

The expansion could cost between $50 million and $70 million and be split among the three communities based how much plant capacity they are allotted. For East Lyme, that would mean about $7.5 million, about 15%, while Waterford and New London would pay 30% and 55%, respectively.

"For us to have more capacity, New London needs to expand its plant," said First Selectman Dan Cunningham, who also chairs the town's Water and Sewer Commission, on Wednesday. "There are short-term measures to increase capacity, and the longer-term solution would be to build more infrastructure."

New London Public Utilities Director Joe Lanzafame said the three municipalities have been in talks about expanding the plant.

"We don't have many answers yet," Lanzafame said Wednesday. "Our facility is functional, but it does have some outdated tech in it."

Before any expansion, East Lyme is seeking an indefinite moratorium on new sewer connections for any housing developments with more than 20 multifamily or single family units, or which would produce more than 5,000 gallons of sewage daily. A public hearing on the moratorium is set for 7 p.m. Aug. 6 at Town Hall.

Cunningham said the moratorium would slow down large developments and help the town gather more information about expanding the New London plant. He said the town has to be conscious of exceeding the amount of sewage it can send to New London.

Municipal Utility Engineer Ben North told the Board of Selectmen on July 2 that York Correctional Institution, the Connecticut National Guard Training Center at Camp Nett in Niantic, and Rocky Neck State Park use about 480,000 gallons of the town's 1.5 million gallon daily allotment at the New London plant. The town uses about 770,000 gallons a day, leaving an excess capacity of 252,000 gallons.

North said anticipated developments and approved connections that haven't hooked up to the system use up another 280,000 gallons, meaning the town is at risk of exceeding its capacity in New London by about 27,000 gallons.

A moratorium would not apply to properties with approved sewer connections that haven't been built yet, North said.

Taking control

The proposed sewer moratorium comes at the same time the Water and Sewer Commission approved a lawsuit settlement with developer Parkers Place LLC. The town denied the developer's multifamily affordable housing project on North Bride Brook Road last year, saying the town couldn't meet the project's sewer demands.

But a judge ruled the town improperly denied the application based on "speculation and conjecture." The court ruled the town must allocate Parkers Place about 8,100 gallons of daily sewage flow. North told the selectmen he expects that project to come on line in the next few years.

Cunningham said the sewer moratorium and the Parker's Place settlement are unrelated.

The attempt at a moratorium also comes as the town prepares to ask the state for an exemption from rules that allow affordable housing developers to forgo local zoning rules, returning control to the Zoning Commission. Cunningham said Wednesday the town is finalizing its application.

The Zoning Commission also changed development rules for Niantic, allowing new housing development, but only with apartments sized at least 2,000 square feet.

In June, the Zoning Commission also rezoned about 6,300 acres of land, reducing the number of buildable lots in most of the town's northern portion from more than 2,200 to just under 900 by changing the minimum buildable lot size from 2 acres to 5. A developer has appealed that decision.

Cunningham said the town has not had any "overarching discussions" about how to "propel or slow down housing" in East Lyme.