Residents on both the east and west sides of the city say they live with intolerable traffic noise caused by highway construction projects and hope state officials can help. Two years ago, the state Department of Transportation embarked on a $500 million highway project to reconfigure the interchange of I-91, I-691 and Route 15 in […]
The administration of President Donald J. Trump has informed the Connecticut Department of Transportation it would, “to the maximum extent permitted by law,” link federal transportation funding to policies on masks, vaccines, tolls and immigration enforcement. The U.S. Supreme Court has held the federal government can impose conditions on federal funding, but those conditions must […]
A renewable energy company has proposed a 12,000-panel solar farm on Lantern Hill Road. The proposal before the Connecticut Siting Council, by North Haven-based Greenskies Clean Energy, LLC, would transform 28 acres near the border of Ledyard into a 4.99-megawatt solar energy farm. Such a farm would produce enough electricity to power about 700 homes […]
Last week, President Donald Trump told federal agencies to stop disbursing Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act funding, including money that Congress already authorized. The move has thrown climate and infrastructure projects at various stages of development into uncertainty, as his agenda regarding federal government contracts and grants continues to rapidly evolve. […]
Principal Brian Scott said despite the subzero temperatures, most things went smoothly during the first day of classes in the new Torrington High School building Jan. 22. The four-story, 310-000-square-foot building will cost about $179.5 million, with the state reimbursing the city 85%. The middle school wing will open for classes in September. Wilson expressed […]
Eight school building projects have made the state’s School Construction Project Priority List for 2025. In total, the state’s Department of Administrative Services is providing $152.4 million in grants to support school building projects in Fairfield, Greenwich, Norwich, Plainville and Woodbridge. The combined cost of the local projects is $262.7 million. The estimated cost depends […]
State Comptroller Sean Scanlon announced legislation on Monday that would target companies that are under investigation for wage theft by empowering his office to cut off payments for state contracts. The bill would create a system in which the comptroller would be notified when a company with state contracts comes under investigation for violating wage […]
Joined by members of the legislature’s Labor Committee and representatives of organized labor for a news conference in the Legislative Office Building, Scanlon said the bill, if approved, would allow his office to take action against companies and contractors who are violating the state’s prevailing wage law. “As the CFO for the state of Connecticut, […]
Programs that carve out participation goals for traditionally underrepresented workers on federal construction contracts may be under fire, but they’re not dead yet. That was the take from an attorney who focuses on these kinds of government initiatives after President Donald Trump issued several executive orders this week to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion efforts […]
A proposed development with a hotel, restaurants and retail at the corner of Bridgeport Avenue and Long Hill Cross Road now includes housing. Crown Point Associates — owned by Jim Botti, Jr. and his brothers Travis and Trevor Botti — presented the updated plans to the Planning and Zoning Commission Wednesday during a public hearing […]
Plans to build 112 units of housing at the site of a former health and rehabilitation center will be the subject of a Town Council public hearing on Tuesday. It’s the latest housing development proposal to come West Hartford’s way, which has so far been amenable to making zoning changes to allow for multifamily housing […]
City officials have been discussing the 125-foot West Main Street bridge, built in 1888 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, for a quarter century – most intensely in the last half-dozen years. The bridge is so deteriorated that it has been closed even to foot traffic. The city engineer said last week […]
State officials have allocated resources for the renovation of the Veterans Terrace housing development to the tune of an anticipated $25 million in financing and tax credits. The state-sponsored 150-unit affordable housing project, located on Columbus Circle in East Hartford, has been under renovation for years by the East Hartford Housing Authority, which operates a […]
As promised, President Donald Trump dealt a blow to the offshore wind industry on his first day in office Monday by signing an executive order that halts new leases for offshore wind farms in federal waters. The commissioning of Sunrise Wind, a 924-megawatt wind farm off the coast of Montauk, N.Y., and one of three […]
The committee leading the project to convert the former Academy School building into a community center concluded that keeping the project as it was originally envisioned would require at least $8 million more than the original budget. First selectwoman Peggy Lyons told the audience last week that the bids received in December were between $5.2 […]
As the state Department of Transportation designs a $32.8 million rehabilitation of the Mohegan-Pequot Bridge, town officials have sent a letter to Gov. Ned Lamont saying the span needs to be wider. The DOT’s current plan to rehabilitate the bridge, which is in a design phase and not scheduled to begin construction until 2027, does […]
The fishing pier and boardwalk at Ferry Landing State Park will be removed starting early this spring and will remain absent for the duration of the multi-year, $1.3 billion bridge construction project to replace the Connecticut River Bridge, according to Amtrak. An improved pier and boardwalk will be installed at the end of the project, […]
A new quasi-public state agency armed with $60 million to spur multifamily housing in Connecticut downtowns and around mass transit hubs will begin to fund its first projects this year. At the helm of the newly formed Connecticut Municipal Redevelopment Authority (MRDA) is David Kooris, a 44-year-old Fairfield native who has led planning and economic […]
A handful of subcontractors on a high-profile, partially publicly subsidized upper-scale apartment project along the city’s harbor have been fined a total of $160,500 and given stop-work orders for breaking state labor laws. The long-awaited development is the first phase of a proposed 1,500 units funded in part with a 12-year municipal tax break. State […]
A $115 million development project to transform the former Showcase Cinemas property nestled between Silver Lane and Interstate 84 has been delayed by more than a year. Developer Brian Zelman, who has partnered with developer Avner Krohn on the project, said Monday that the last hurdle was the East Hartford Town Council’s approval last month […]
The Land Use Department has received a letter from Lodestar Energy stating its intent to submit an application for a 3-megawatt solar farm on West Hill Road to the Connecticut Siting Council this month. The Planning and Zoning Commission will briefly discuss the matter at its meeting Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. but will likely not […]
Grants announced Monday include $11.6 million to increase weekday round-trip service to and from Union Station in downtown Hartford, including more stops in a renovated Windsor Locks station and $2.4 million to study street-level train crossings along the Danbury Branch line that links Norwalk to Danbury. Eucalitto said the added trains will make it easier […]
Some of the last federal transportation dollars to be distributed by the administration of President Joe Biden are going to Connecticut to expand rail service in the corridor from New Haven to Hartford and Springfield. State and federal officials announced the $11.6 million in funding Monday at Union Station in Hartford, one of the stops […]
Democratic lawmakers proclaimed housing one of their top priorities Monday, though they offered few details on what specific policies they intend to propose. Lawmakers cited an array of stats underlining Connecticut’s housing crisis: The state is short an estimated 86,000 units, its vacancy rate is among the lowest in the country, housing prices continue to […]
General Dynamics Electric Boat has acquired land for a big new warehouse in eastern Connecticut to support submarine construction at its Groton shipyard, as the U.S. Navy continues to signal plans for a major expansion of the fleet. On Jan. 2, Electric Boat completed the $5.5 million purchase of a 55-acre commercial property just off […]
After falling short twice in recent years, the redevelopment of Halls Road took a significant – and likely decisive – step forward after winning the approval of the town’s Planning Commission on Thursday. Members of the Planning Commission voted unanimously that the proposed zoning overlay was consistent with Old Lyme’s Plan of Conservation and Development. […]
The lot at West Park Place, facing Columbus Park, is a remnant of 1960s urban renewal. The diner won a court battle over government attempts to take its property by eminent domain. Now ringed by tall buildings, it soon may have another one next door. The Stamford Zoning Board is considering a proposal from Tullamore […]
For Mayor Roberto Alves, a multimillion-dollar project to improve downtown’s walkability is just one small piece of the puzzle to creating a revitalized city center. The city’s ongoing streetscape project could be that injection. It will enter its second phase, installing redesigned sidewalks, new landscaping and other features along the intersection of Main, West and […]
City leaders have approved spending $2.6 million in state infrastructure funds to build a new booster pump station that supplies water to the community college area. The Bartholomew Road Booster Pump Station, built in 1969 and located in an underground vault at the corner of Coe Avenue and Randolph Road, is in “critical” condition, according […]
“Nuclear power already provides most of our carbon-free power. That’s why we’re working with the federal government to find ways to expand nuclear capacity here in Connecticut,” he said, then added, “Before you rule out natural gas … that’s where most of our power comes from and will for the foreseeable future, especially without more […]
After years of broken promises and delays the Congress Street Bridge linking downtown and the East Side over the Pequonnock River may finally after nearly three decades be rebuilt thanks to a massive infusion of federal dollars. On Thursday U.S. Rep. Jim Himes and U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, all Connecticut Democrats, announced […]
The borough’s $14.8 million downtown infrastructure project is scheduled to be completed by Oct. 15, Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess said. The project involves upgrading Church and Maple streets, the Maple Street bridge and the intersection near Water Street. A little more than $9.2 million of the funding will come from the borough’s American Rescue […]
The city was approved for a $2 million federal grant to come up with ways to knit back together neighborhoods cleaved when I-91 was built in the 1960s, officials said Thursday. The “Reconnecting Neighborhoods” grant comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Among other things, the $2 million grant will pay for design and a […]
General Dynamics Electric Boat recently paid $5.5 million for a nearly 55-acre property in North Stonington, where the Groton-based submarine builder plans to construct a roughly 480,000-square-foot warehouse. The property at 45 Frontage Road, right off Interstate 95, currently hosts a 40-year-old, 5,000-square-foot garage. John Cafasso, a principal of Colliers, brokered the sale on behalf […]
The importance of infrastructure is largely acknowledged as a bipartisan issue, said Mary Scott Nabers, CEO of Austin, Texas-based Strategic Partnerships, a government procurement consultancy. “I think that the construction industry should feel very positive about 2025,” Nabers said. “From all indications, the next three or four years will be very good for the construction […]
A plan to build a solar farm the size of 12 football fields off Fawn Meadow Lane has been approved by the Connecticut Siting Council with a long list of conditions. Greenskies Clean Energy’s application for a certificate of environmental compatibility and public need was granted Dec. 5, clearing a required hurdle to operate a […]
Clinton-based utility company Connecticut Water announced Monday that it replaced more than 93,500 feet, or roughly 18 miles, of water main in 2024. The work consisted of 22 projects in 18 municipalities, at a cost of about $44.5 million, according to Connecticut Water. Some of the pipes replaced were more than 120 years old, including […]
Last year ended with four Connecticut malls in Enfield, Meriden, Waterford and Waterbury losing tenants, a result of retailers either reducing their number of locations, going out of business or relocating stores. With high vacancy levels in those malls, retail and commercial retail experts have said 2025 could be the year that one of the […]
One of two downtown eyesores will come down this spring after the City Council voted Monday to include $2.6 million in its capital improvement budget to demolish 116 Cook Ave. The spending is offset by a $2 million state grant, leaving the city to pay $600,000. Monday’s council vote allows the city to hire a […]
Russell will ask legislators when the 2025 General Assembly session starts Wednesday to cap the Special Transportation Fund’s emergency reserve so that once that safety net account tops 18% of the STF — nearly $412 million based on current spending — the state would have to put that money to work, paying down long-term debt. […]
More than 700 former Torrington High School students took the opportunity to enjoy a final tour of the soon-to-be-demolished structures on Major Besse Drive on Saturday, Jan. 4. That was just 17 days before classes will begin for current students in the new crescent-shaped high school just yards away. Torrington-based O&G Industries led the construction […]
After more than a year of delay, developers advancing the roughly 400-unit “Concourse Park” luxury apartment complex in East Hartford say they expect to break ground this spring. The Council also approved several deed restrictions for the 25-acre development site off Silver Lane, which is currently held by the town. These provide a measure of […]
The work is expected to be completed in the spring of 2028, said Joe Cooper, state Department of Transportation communications manager. Cooper said the project will address the current bridge’s structural deficiencies while designing a new span that is storm resilient. The existing bridge, which has a concrete and steel beam structure reinforced by a […]
The city finalized its $3 million purchase of the one-acre Attention to Detail vehicle customization property in December to make way for the proposed, block-size Village at Riverside mixed-use development bordered by Court and Main streets and deKoven and Dingwall drives. This and other projects are anticipated to help the city finally reconnect to its […]
Hundreds of residential units came to Stamford in 2024, and 2025 is also shaping up as another banner year for development in the city. Large-scale construction projects have been approved at locations in North Stamford, as well as the downtown. Long Ridge Road is set to see over 800 new residential units, and the city’s […]
Across the New Haven area, shovels are entering the ground and steel beams are going up. Officials have green-lit construction and renovation projects to bring new businesses and housing to the region throughout 2025. Officials broke ground in October on the first phase of a project expected to completely revitalize Dixwell Avenue. The $200 million […]
New bridges, extra highway lanes and another round of road pavings are on the docket for 2025 in Stamford. An auxiliary lane will be added to both sides of Interstate 95 in Stamford in 2025 if the state’s plans come to fruition before the end of the year. The project involves adding an extra lane […]
The Executive Kia dealership at 1164 N. Colony Road is undergoing a major expansion and renovation expected to be completed in 2025. The construction will double the size of the current building, totaling 24,000 square feet. The private school Choate Rosemary Hall is undertaking several projects expected to be completed in 2025. Minnesota-based medical equipment […]
