The southbound lanes of Interstate 95 are reopening on Sunday morning after crews paved the highway following last week’s tanker fire. The southbound side will reopen around 10 a.m. Sunday between exits 15 and 14 in Norwalk, where a three-vehicle crash caused a tanker fire that spread to the Fairfield Avenue overpass early Thursday morning. The bridge was demolished on Saturday and the northbound side of the highway was fully reopened later that night. Officials had originally anticipated I-95 to be fully reopened by Monday morning. “It is truly amazing that in less than 80 hours from that fiery crash Thursday that shut down traffic in both directions, the highway again is fully open,” Lamont said.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/i-95-northbound-reopens-norwalk-live-updates-19440139.php

The noisy night time construction on Greenwich Avenue is on track to finish early this summer, an official from Aquarion Water Company said last week. Aquarion and its contractors have been working nights since February to dig up the road and access about 2,000 feet of old water mains that needed to be replaced. The roadway is sealed up by the morning and the process starts over again each night. Xenelis said they were finishing the chlorination, flushing and testing of the new mains and that they will begin transferring the water service from the old mains to the new ones after that. The old mains will be abandoned in place once the work is complete. Crews are generally working from from 10 p.m. to 10 a.m., Sunday through Friday, which has disrupted some residents’ sleep. There was discussion of shifting some work to the daytime at the last board meeting, but no changes to the work schedule were discussed last week.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/greenwich-aquarion-night-work-noisy-19435209.php

The Board of Directors is scheduled to vote at its Tuesday meeting to authorize the town manager to sign a development agreement with Texas-based Anthony Properties for redevelopment of the property, roughly 10 months after the town settled a lawsuit with a previously ousted Parkade developer to the tune of $2 million. Manchester began considering the revitalization of the “dark side” of the Parkade more than 15 years ago, after tasking the Redevelopment Agency with creating a plan for the Broad Street area in 2008. Moran said the town’s Parkade plan is still mixed-use development, but the expectation is that residential components would be built before any retail. The town began negotiations with Anthony Properties in August 2022, but suspended talks after Manchester Parkade I LLC filed a temporary injunction against the town that same month. Negotiations were resumed after the lawsuit was settled in August 2023, leading to the creation of the contract that the Board of Directors will consider Tuesday night.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/journalinquirer/article/ct-manchester-broad-street-parkade-development-19411506.php

Coming off a year in which it rang up more than $1.1 billion in capital expenses in Connecticut, Eversource is now serving notice it will prune that amount by $100 million a year amid continuing rancor with state regulators and lawmakers. With major projects underway already in many parts of the state that have taken years to plan, it is anyone’s guess how that decision will cascade into the Connecticut grid and all the extra little touches that work requires — along with any accompanying impact on jobs for the external contractors that Eversource hires for some of the work. Eversource is the dominant utility company in Connecticut, providing electricity to some 1.27 million customers in all but 20 cities and towns. The company also meters water through its Aquarion subsidiary it is now looking to sell, and natural gas in portions of Connecticut.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/business/article/ct-eversource-berlin-hartford-grid-electricity-19437179.php

The intersection of Water Street and Governor Winthrop Boulevard has for weeks been a construction site with workers replacing wiring, vaulting and other components of what Director of Public Works Brian Sear called a traffic signal system that’s long overdue for improvements. The city is deep into an $891,000 signal replacement project first discussed six years ago that is designed to keep traffic leaving the city circulating smoothly. The work, being handled by Colonna Concrete & Asphalt Paving, will include the replacement of outdated intersection signal lights – which cost $250,000 each ― with modern versions that feature anti-glare technology. The signal upgrade work, expected to be complete before Memorial Day, is partially funded by a $391,000 state Community Connectivity Grant, with the remainder paid with city infrastructure funds.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20240504/new-london-intersection-update-aimed-at-keeping-car-bus-and-ferry-traffic-flowing/

From May 6 to May 17, ramps will be closed Monday through Friday between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. as crews cut and repave several exit ramps and install temporary concrete barriers in the area, according to the Connecticut Department of Transportation. During these times, the East Main Street on-ramp to Route 15 northbound, Route 15 Exits 67 and 68 NE, and I-91 northbound Exit 16 will all be closed. In addition, the shoulder and right lanes of Route 15 between the two closed exits will be closed. The same lanes will be closed on I-91 between Exits 16 and 17. The repaving is part of a broader, three-phase construction project at the I-91, I-691, and Route 15 interchange. The seven-year-long project is anticipated to cost between $400 million and $500 million and be completed in 2030.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/recordjournal/article/meriden-ct-i-91-691-route-15-project-exits-dot-19435971.php

State Sen. Norm Needleman championed the 2021 legislation designed to lure major data centers to Connecticut. But this legislative session, he’s wondering if those tax breaks are appropriate for all data centers, especially those with the potential to disrupt the state’s clean energy supply. Particularly concerning to him are plans for a mega data center on the site of the state’s only nuclear power plant. The developer is proposing an arrangement that would give it priority access to electricity generated at the plant, which would mean less carbon-free power for other users. Needleman, co-chair of the Senate Energy and Technology Committee, is now reconsidering details of the state incentive program as he works on legislation to study the impact of data centers on the state’s electric grid. Mistakes now, he said, could lead to “a real crisis.” Data centers are the backbone of the increasingly digital world, and they consume a growing share of the nation’s electricity, with no signs of slowing down. The global consultancy McKinsey & Company predicts these operations will double their U.S. electric demands from 17 gigawatts in 2022 to 35 gigawatts by 2030 — enough electricity to power more than 26 million average homes.

https://virginiamercury.com/2024/05/01/states-rethink-data-centers-as-electricity-hogs-strain-the-grid/

Eversource Energy officials said during an earnings call Thursday morning that the utility company plans to cut its capital expenditures in Connecticut by nearly $100 million in 2024, and by $500 million over the next five years, as a result of the state’s “uncertain” regulatory environment. John Moreira, Eversource’s executive vice president, CFO and treasurer, said the reductions will continue “until we see Connecticut’s regulatory decisions come back into alignment with law and state policy.” Eversource President and CEO Joe Nolan added that he has “serious concerns” about the company’s ability to implement clean energy technologies, and to reduce carbon emissions, in light of the ongoing dispute over cost recovery.

Eversource plans to cut investment in CT by $500M over 5 years due to regulatory ‘uncertainty’

A tractor-trailer fire has closed Interstate 95 and caused massive delays on the Merritt Parkway, Post Road and other local roads on Thursday. All I-95 lanes in the area remain closed Thursday afternoon due to the crash that occurred between exits 16 and 14 around 5:30 a.m., according to Connecticut’s Department of Transportation’s website. Josh Morgan, a DOT spokesperson, said southbound traffic was being diverted off the highway at Exit 16. Northbound traffic was diverting off at Exit 13. In a message to the community, officials said Norwalk Public Schools will be closed on Friday because of ongoing traffic concerns and delays. They said the district will allow athletic games, drama performances and proms to take place, but all practices are canceled through the weekend.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/norwalk-i-95-closed-tractor-trailer-fire-19434923.php

The City Council voted 8-4 to reject a proposal Monday to add $25 million to the city’s capital improvement plan to fund a new senior center and health department. The ultimate rejection of the proposed senior center and health department funding followed an hour-long debate over the city’s debt load and whether the $25 million would increase or decrease the city’s ability to secure grants to cover the price tag of the finished project. The proposal had the strong backing of unaffiliated Mayor Kevin Scarpati, who drew a comparison to the recently completed library renovation project which began with $10 million in bonding and ended with a $13 million project. The senior center project is estimated to cost $44 million to $48 million but councilors want to see lower-cost options.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/recordjournal/article/meriden-senior-center-capital-improvement-19433290.php