Voters in Lyme and Old Lyme on Monday decisively approved spending $880,000 more than the $5.3 already approved for the Lymes’ Senior Center renovation project. Old Lyme is responsible for $660,000 of the supplemental cost, while the smaller town of Lyme is responsible for $220,000. Officials in the two towns were scrambling earlier this year after learning the project was about $1.3 million over budget. But the committee in a project update said architecture and construction management firms assigned to the project have identified about $600,000 in savings. According to minutes from Lyme’s special town meeting, the project is currently slated to break ground on May 6. Doors are estimated to reopen at the renovated facility on March 1, 2025.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20240416/lyme-and-old-lyme-voters-approve-extra-880k-for-senior-center-renovation/

The Connecticut Department of Transportation has been installing a new bridge and wider culvert just slightly east of the Old Gate Lane intersection as part of a $3.93 million project. One of Milford’s busier roads, New Haven Avenue gets funneled from two lanes to one with the construction and backs up regularly, but especially at rush hour. For the people who have to be there, the project is a nuisance and source of tension. DOT hopes to finish the work this summer, said Samaia Hernandez, a spokesperson for the agency. Originally budgeted at $3.65 million, work began in fall 2021. It hasn’t been an easy job, said City Public Works Department Director Christopher Saley. Construction workers must create bulkheads and trenches to keep the water out of their digging and deploy pumps. The road probably gets more than 12,000 vehicles worth of traffic a day, which doesn’t help, Saley said.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/worst-road-milford-residents-pick-route-162-old-19375381.php

After a five-hour public hearing and another hour of discussion Monday night, the West Hartford Town Council granted final approval to a controversial four-building, 322-unit apartment complex on Trout Brook Drive and Asylum Avenue. The council voted 8-1 to approve the project, which will transform a massive parking lot across the street from a former University of Connecticut branch campus, over the objections of a majority of about 50 residents who attended the meeting — including one who threatened a lawsuit. The application by WeHa Development Group East LLC, which owns the 23.78-acre property at 1700 Asylum Ave., sought approval for a zone change for 14.9 acres of the northern portion of the lot from the existing R-10 single-family zone to an RM-MS multifamily-multistory residence district zone with a Special Development District (SDD) overlay.

West Hartford approves 4-building, 322-apartment complex on part of former UConn site

It’s a $591.9 million, multi-year project on a Connecticut interstate. The northbound deck of the Gold Star Memorial Bridge needs to be replaced, and a public information meeting will be held April 30 to provide the details and offer an opportunity for questions. The bridge links New London and Groton across the Thames River on Interstate 95. The project will replace the deck and strengthen the steel superstructure to improve freight travel across the Thames. Construction will begin in summer 2025, assuming funds are available, rights of way are acquired and permits are approved. The estimated construction cost is $591.9 million, including $158.2 million in Bridge Investment Project Grant funds, 90% federal funds and 10% state funds. It is scheduled to be completed in March 2029.

There’s a $592 million project coming for a bridge on a CT interstate. It won’t be done until 2029.

The mysterious “Project Fin” development could take a major step forward Monday, as the Town Council will vote on a proposed seven-year tax abatement for a $71 million renovation of a Talbot Lane facility. A previous Town Council agenda listed the location of “Project Fin” as 30 Talbot Lane, but the final resolution to be considered Monday night is for a potential development at 50 Talbot Lane, the 19.85-acre property that includes the former Carla’s Pasta food production facility. The resolution provides no specific numbers or percentages for the proposed tax abatement beyond the length of seven years, beginning on the grand list after a certificate of occupancy is obtained. A condition in the tax abatement would require Project Fin to refund all tax benefits to the town if it does not meet the estimated $71 million construction cost and continue to pay real estate taxes for at least seven years after the certificate of occupancy is issued.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/journalinquirer/article/ct-south-windsor-carlas-pasta-project-fin-19399169.php

State lawmakers later this month will act on a request from the local legislative delegation to provide grant funds that would support a series of school infrastructure improvements, including new classroom walls at King Street Primary, air conditioning system upgrades at multiple schools and a partial roof replacement at one building. The funds, if approved, would support 20 proposed projects, which include a $3.5 million project to install walls at King Street Primary, $1.45 million to replace air conditioning systems at multiple schools, a roof section replacement at Ellsworth Avenue School, an elevator replacement at Rogers Park Middle School, among others, according to a list of school district capital project needs that Godfrey shared with Hearst Connecticut Media. Local leaders will not find out whether the funding will be approved until May 8, the last day of session, said Santos, who also serves as the city’s community relations and constituent services advisor.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/education/article/danbury-school-capital-projects-ct-bill-19394110.php

As both AMS Acquisitions and Fuller Development refine their plans, they are approaching the final approval stage, promising a future with more housing options in Wilton. The projects are among a handful of developments proposed or underway in the area that would add hundreds of apartments. At 64 Danbury Road, Fuller Development, LLC, is proposing the construction of 93 apartments near Wilton Corporate Park. The project consists of eight, three-story colonial buildings and a 2,683-square-foot amenity building, along with various recreational facilities. While the developers wait on the commission to approve their waiver, Fuller Development is also anticipating the completion of a peer review of the wetland report. The Planning and Zoning Commission will convene for another public hearing on April 30 to assess whether AMS has addressed the safety concerns raised by the police department and to review progress made by Fuller Development.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/wilton-ct-route-7-apartments-19397532.php

When Route 9, a high-speed freeway, hits the center of Middletown, drivers can suddenly run into two red lights. “We don’t have any others on any freeways in the state,” said Stephen Hall, the state Department of Transportation’s project manager for the project that will remove the signals. “It’s a very surprising situation if you’re not familiar with it either. A lot of crashes, a lot of injuries, and then a lot of congestion as well.” The safety issues with the signals at Washington Street and Hartford Avenue are so bad that there’s a crash on average every other day and an injury every week, Hall said. The solution of removing them will make other improvements to the roads outside of downtown Middletown, including a roundabout at River Road south of downtown and a raised section of highway to allow for a northbound entrance at Hartford Avenue. While the project to remove them won’t begin until 2027 and take four years, there will be a public informational meeting April 30 at Wesleyan University’s Beckham Hall (Fayerweather) at 45 Wyllys Ave. The traffic signal project’s $115 million cost will be paid for with 80% federal funds and 20% state funds.

Traffic signals on congested, accident-prone highway will be gone in a CT city. What you need to know.

The borough was awarded last month a $5.7 million in a Community Investment Fund grant to improve a section of Rubber Avenue. The CIF grant will be used for the Scott Street and Nettleton Avenue area to address stormwater issues and improve the development of the Risdon property, a 12-acre former manufacturing site at 0 Andrew Avenue. The funds will also supplement the borough’s current Rubber Avenue project that is underway. In an effort to upgrade the area, the current Rubber Avenue project calls for a reconstruction of about two-thirds of a mile of Rubber Avenue from the intersection of Melbourne and Hoadley streets to Elm Street. That project will include drainage improvements, new sidewalks, landscaping along the road and a new modern roundabout at the four-way intersection of Rubber Avenue and Meadow and Cherry streets.

https://www.rep-am.com/localnews/2024/04/15/naugatucks-rubber-avenue-project-rolls-on/

There is a need for a sustained commitment to the pandemic-era improvements in public school air quality, the group said during a press conference in the Legislative Office Building, particularly with the inevitable end of federal funding for upgrades to heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in both suburban and urban districts. They called for a 10-year extension of the General Assembly’s School Indoor Air Quality Working Group, including HVAC professionals and state agencies in studying and overseeing the issue that’s contained in pending legislation. The General Assembly adjourns this budget-adjustment short session year at midnight May 8. About 100 out of Connecticut’s 1,500 school buildings have had HVAC upgrades over the last two years, at a cost of about $53 million. Advocates expect more than 100 schools will be included in the next round of grants, expected to soon be announced by the state Department of Administrative Services. Meanwhile, annual building reviews and five-year comprehensive inspections have created baseline information on so-called “sick schools.”

https://www.chron.com/politics/article/ct-legislation-campaign-cleaner-school-air-quality-19392285.php