Town officials have approved the school district’s plans for major field upgrades at South Windsor High School. The $7.5 million needed for the project must now be approved in a town-wide referendum for it go forward, though the Town Council declined to set a date for that public vote when the matter arose at a January meeting. The project also includes a new driveway from the Wapping Annex parking lot to the student parking lot as a way to provide more traffic flexibility throughout the high school campus. The Board of Education originally asked the Town Council for a March 12 referendum date to allow for construction to begin in the spring. Officials expect to discuss the referendum again in June, with the vote most likely to be included on the ballot for the November election if approved.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/journalinquirer/article/ct-south-windsor-high-school-fields-approved-19422638.php

The Board of Representatives committee in charge of reviewing the budgets for the city and public schools has recommended that the full board approve them without any more cuts. However, the recommendation comes with an understanding that the Board of Finance will reduce the amount of money that will be raised through taxes for Stamford’s school construction reserve to $10 million. The Board of Representatives and Board of Finance agreed to raise $20 million for the fund in 2022 and another $15 million last year. The Board of Finance also allocated $5 million in surplus money to the fund. The Board of Finance took up the proposed operating and capital budgets earlier this month. It reduced the Board of Education’s side of the combined operating budget by $3 million, the city government’s side by about $2.15 million and the capital budget by about $5.4 million.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/stamford-2024-25-budget-finance-budget-fund-57-19424626.php

UConn expects word out of the State Capitol by May 8, the day the General Assembly adjourns, on whether the state will fund a proposed Gampel Pavilion renovation of about $100 million. Already, $10 million in state bonding has been allocated toward more immediate improvements (scoreboard, court-level digital infrastructure, lower-bowl seating) to the Huskies’ on-campus home for men’s and women’s basketball. Speaker of the House Matt Ritter last week confirmed discussions with Benedict over $100 million for Gampel. UConn 2000 is a sweeping categorization for a state-funded initiative of improvements to the Storrs campus’ infrastructure that was initiated in the 1990s and continues to this day. The costs-money-to-make-money, revolving-doors relationship between Connecticut, UConn and the UConn athletic department is unique, one entity simultaneously paying and charging the next to create a tornado of money unlike anything in college sports.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/sports/uconn-mens-basketball/article/uconn-gampel-pavilion-renovations-100-million-19422007.php

The town is preparing to replace four deteriorating bridges in the coming years. Town officials said construction crews will rebuild a Commerce Drive bridge over Ash Creek this summer, two more over Sasco Brook next year and a fourth over Pine Creek on Oldfield Road from 2027 to 2028. The bridges running over Ash and Pine creeks date back to the 1920s and 1930s, respectively, pushing the end of their service life, and the Sasco Brook bridges don’t meet required standards for height and width — all factors that have warranted the upcoming upgrades, worth a total of over $15 million. He said Westport will take the lead on construction at the two Sasco Brook bridges, while Fairfield shares costs and offers input. Fairfield and Westport only need to cover 10 percent of the project each due to state funding through the state DOT’s Local Bridge Program. Fairfield will spend a combined $865,200 for the work on the two bridges, which together will cost $7.8 million, according to town records.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/fairfield/article/fairfield-bridge-oldfield-kings-commerce-pine-ash-19415621.php

UConn’s 10-year, $1.5 billion Next Generation Connecticut (NextGenCT) initiative, which targeted investments in facilities, faculty and enrollment, was touted as “one of the most ambitious state investments in economic development, higher education and research in the nation.” However, some shortfalls in initial funding expectations have hindered UConn’s ability to achieve some NextGenCT goals, particularly around faculty hires. UConn has requested $420 million in additional capital funding from lawmakers for current and future STEM projects, which the school says would help address Connecticut’s current and future workforce shortages. NextGenCT was an extension of the UConn 2000 program that was launched in the 1990s and provided the school with billions of dollars in capital spending for campus renovation and expansion projects and other uses.

As UConn’s 10-year, $1.5B NextGenCT initiative wraps up, school eyes additional investment in STEM facilities

Cracks about 60 feet long on Interstate 95 north between exits 74 and 75 closed the right lane Thursday afternoon for several hours while crews investigated the integrity of the road and worked to resolve the problem. The fissures were due to settling caused by the failure of a temporary retaining wall designed to support the highway as part of a four-year, $148 million reconstruction project, according to resident engineer Bob Obey of the GM2 project management firm. The closure was announced at 1:06 p.m. by the state Department of Transportation. The highway was reopened around 5:35 p.m. The retaining wall is being installed by contractor Manafort Brothers of Plainville to allow for the expansion of the bridge over Route 161. The soil nail wall design involves nails drilled into the earth with grout reinforcements.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20240425/big-cracks-close-one-lane-of-i-95-in-east-lyme/

The vacant Regal Cinemas building may stay that way for some time after developers shelved plans to redevelop the site at one of the town’s busiest intersections. CP Branford LLC withdrew its application at the Planning and Zoning Commission’s April 18 meeting. Developers were seeking to have the parcel rezoned as a Planned Development District (PDD) that would allow the multifamily development and self-storage facility not currently permitted in the Local Business (BL) District. A commercial building, allowed in the BL zone, was to have housed the coffee shop and urgent care medical center. CP Branford LLC submitted four separate applications for the site with three different architects for each portion of the project: the theater, which would be remodeled as the self-storage facility, the new apartment complex and one commercial building for a medical office and drive-thru coffee shop.

https://www.nhregister.com/shoreline/article/regal-cinemas-branford-development-plans-withdrawn-19420586.php

The former Cartus Corp. building would be used solely as a high school and not for grades 6-8, if the Board of Education adopts school officials’ new plan for the building. The building that formerly housed the Cartus Corp. is slated to open in the 2025-26 school year, three years after city voters approved a $208 million education bonding package that included a $164 million plan for the school. Now, under the plan outlined by interim schools Superintendent Kara Casimiro Wednesday night, the building could serve 1,400 high school students instead. It would still house the district’s central administration. Casimiro cited the immediate need to reduce Danbury High School’s severe overcrowding. At the same time, the city’s middle school enrollment has remained high, but has been manageable, Casimiro said.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/danbury-school-leaders-revise-career-academy-plans-19422303.php

Reggaeton star Bad Bunny not only brought 14,000 fans and a financial windfall to Hartford’s XL Center early this month — he also brought 33 trucks of gear. Those trucks had to navigate Asylum Street and the XL Center’s out-of-date loading docks, highlighting the need for a $100-million-plus upgrade of the arena’s infrastructure so it can keep drawing top shows, the facility’s manager said on Thursday. An XL upgrade is especially urgent as UConn seeks state funding for a planned $100 million renovation of Gampel Pavilion on its Storrs campus that could divert games from Hartford. State officials are also working to expand the funding for a comprehensive revamp of the XL Center after the first round of bids for the project came in far above the initial $100 million budget. The current funding allocated for the project can’t accommodate some of the needed improvements, Freimuth said. The new plan for the XL renovations is scheduled to go out for bid on May 1, with bids coming in by the end of June.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/business/article/xl-center-hartford-renovations-improvements-19423350.php

While Norwich Public Utilities General Manager Chris LaRose is glad to receive any money from the government, he was ecstatic that it it’s enough to complete a large project in the city. Norwich Public Utilities announced Monday it will receive $10.9 million from the federal government to replace aging natural gas lines. Last year, NPU received over $10 million. The federal money means NPU customers aren’t paying for the work in their rates, Community Outreach Manager Chris Riley said. The money is from the Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety and Modernization grant program of The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Work on the gas main replacements is expected to start in the fall, and continue into 2028, according to a press release from NPU.

https://www.norwichbulletin.com/story/news/local/2024/04/23/norwich-public-utilities-federal-grant-replacing-cast-iron-natural-gas-pipes/73416939007/