The U.S. General Services Administration awarded a $32.2 million contract for architectural and engineering services for a federal courthouse planned for Hartford, the agency announced Thursday. The proposed courthouse will provide 11 courtrooms, 18 judge chambers and offices for court-related agencies, along with 66 secured parking spaces. It is supposed to replace the existing courthouse on Main Street, which was constructed in 1963. Hughes said at this point GSA is just analyzing two locations, the one on Woodland and the one on Allyn. Maltzan will work with Glastonbury-based SLAM Collaborative, which will provide architectural supports. Construction is targeted to start in 2027, with the new court ready for occupancy in 2030, according to Hughes.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/capitalregion/article/hartford-ct-federal-courthouse-architecture-design-19397619.php

With climate change in mind, a New Haven aldermanic committee advanced a zoning proposal that would allow as-of-right restaurants, supermarkets, and offices — but not housing — along the Union Station railroad tracks. The vote that followed marked progress in the New Haven Parking Authority’s long-brewing effort to redevelop vacant lots around Union Station, an area currently zoned for ​“wholesale and distribution” uses. It also displayed how climate change has begun to impact New Haven’s housing and economic development policy. As City Plan Director Laura Brown explained to alders, the TOC zone was proposed in line with a national movement for ​“transit-oriented development” — a planning approach that aims to center city life around mass transportation so that residents can more easily live without a car and reduce carbon emissions. The proposed zone would allow taller buildings that could reach 28–34 stories, with parking spaces capped at 85 per acre.

New Haven advances transit oriented development — with extra step for housing

The Federal Highway Administration has not completed guidance that state transportation departments need to administer programs supported by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and other federal funds, according to an audit released Monday by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General. The FHWA oversees approximately $350 billion in funding from the IIJA. The agency provided states with a list of 22 guidance issues in 2022, but as of November 2023 it was still working on four of these items. According to the OIG, FHWA’s review and approval of STIPs is designed to help state transportation departments meet federal requirements including reliable cost estimates and reasonably available funding. In response to the report, the highway administration agreed with the first recommendation and provided appropriate actions and completion dates, the OIG said. The FHWA partially concurred with the second two recommendations, providing an action plan for responding to outstanding technical assistance requests but saying it will only require reviews of division office procedural revisions for major changes.

https://www.constructiondive.com/news/audit-state-transportation-programs-iija/712692/

Aerospace manufacturer Pratt & Whitney plans to build a new 313,000-square-foot office building on its East Hartford campus, according to an application before the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission. The new building is part of a longer-term renovation to Pratt & Whitney’s headquarters, which includes 4.8 million square feet of manufacturing, warehouse, laboratory, office and other space in several buildings on a 251.2-acre campus at Rentschler Field. Between the new building and demolition, this phase of the larger renovation project will result in a net gain of 63,143 square feet of office space for Pratt & Whitney, according to a site plan application submitted by the company in February. The Planning & Zoning Commission will review the site plan at its meeting Wednesday evening. In addition to the commission’s approval of the site plan, Pratt’s plan requires approval from the Office of the State Traffic Administration and local building permits.

https://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/pratt-whitney-plans-new-313k-square-foot-office-building-part-of-multi-year-upgrade-to-east

The bridge carries Sugar Hollow Road over the Norwalk River in the Georgetown section of northern Wilton near the Ridgefield border. The federal funds were released under the Federal Local Bridge Program, administered by the Connecticut Department of Transportation. Preliminary design work is expected to begin this spring, with construction likely starting in 2028, Boucher said in a statement. According to a DOT database of bridge repair projects, the Sugar Hollow Road bridge in Wilton is due to receive $480,000 in federal funds this year, $100,000 in 2025 and $2.43 million in 2026. The town will receive at least 80 percent reimbursement from federal aid for all three phases of the project — design, rights-of-way and construction — with the remaining funds from the state to cover 100 percent of the costs associated with the bridge replacement. The total estimated cost of the project is $2.92 million, said Thomas Reese, civil engineer with the Department of Public Works.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/wilton-bridge-sugar-hollow-road-closed-replace-19361904.php

The city of New Haven is well on its way to completing a design that will connect the still-unfinished New Haven stretch of the 84-mile Farmington Canal Heritage Trail to the 25 miles of the Shoreline Greenway that could make this trek a reality. The 4.4 mile link, which includes the long-awaited New Haven stretch of the Shoreline Greenway, is even longer than the city’s 3.3-mile stretch of the Farmington Canal Trail, which is part of the East Coast Greenway. The city has secured $9.3 million, including $7 million in federal funds and $2.3 million in state bond funds, to pay for it, City Engineer Giovanni Zinn said. Zinn, who is charged with making it happen, aims to complete the design and any necessary permitting in 2024 and put it out to bid in 2025. He estimated that construction would take 18 months to two years.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/new-haven-farmington-canal-trail-shoreline-19387992.php

Construction has officially begun at what will become the first school in the South Norwalk neighborhood in over 40 years, mending a long overdue inequity for local students. The new state-of-the-art school will fill a whole in the South Norwalk community that has existed since the late 1970s, when Norwalk Public Schools shuttered Nathaniel Ely School on Ingalls Avenue as part of desegregation efforts, a joint statement from the NPS and the city of Norwalk said. The $78 million project has a state reimbursement rate of 60 percent — putting a $31.2 million burden on the city and its taxpayers. Rilling credited the 60 percent reimbursement rate to the hard work of Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff and the other Norwalk representatives to the state General Assembly. With construction underway, the district looks to welcome students in the fall of 2025, according to the NPS construction website.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/education/article/south-norwalk-school-breaks-ground-equity-19387772.php

More than two dozen contractors hoping to take part in the construction of the National U.S. Coast Guard Museum attended a “robust” bid opening event earlier this month, museum association leaders said Monday. Pulver said 70% of the project’s anticipated $150 million price tag ― which includes the creation of a pedestrian bridge projected to connect the downtown museum to the Water Street garage and building finishing work ― will be dedicated to construction of the main museum building. Bids for construction of the 89,000-square-foot, six-story museum building and its associated interior systems were requested in late February by North Stonington-based A/Z Corp., which is overseeing the work. The scope of the work at 1790 Waterfront Drive includes concrete foundation, skeletal steel and flooring, as well as exterior metal panel, glass curtain wall and roofing components. Companies are also invited to bid on elevator, fireproofing, plumbing and electrical work.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20240408/contractors-showing-robust-interest-in-new-londons-coast-guard-museum/

Thomas Quinn wants to build a hyperscale data center — what would be the single largest user of electricity in Connecticut — next to the Millstone Nuclear Power plant in Waterford. A few weeks ago, Quinn, president of NE Edge, and his partners Christopher Regan and William DiBella spoke with CT Examiner about the project. Regan, like Quinn, is a real estate developer. In the 1990s, DiBella, a Democrat, served as the State Senate Majority Leader before leaving elected politics and becoming a lobbyist. None of the partners have prior experience with data center or technology projects, but Quinn was clear that the partners don’t plan to develop the project on their own. According to figures provided by NE Edge, the project would require a $1.6 billion in investment and would consume 300 megawatts of power once operating — the size of the largest-scale, next-generation data centers used for high-density AI computing.

Plans for Massive Data Center Linked to Nuclear Power Spark Debate on Connecticut’s Energy Future

The Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments, which serves as a transportation planning organization for the region, has published the draft document, called the Transportation Improvement Program FY 2024-2028, and is seeking comments from the public. The plan is described as “a four-year program that prioritizes and documents the funding of federally funded transportation improvement projects that the region expects to carry out over the next four years.” Among the projects, Rattan said the plan outlines about $300 million for the Gold Star Bridge rehabilitation in Groton and New London, which will occur in phases; more than $50 million for safety improvements on Route 82 in Norwich; $63.4 million for Route 2 safety and bridge improvements in Colchester, and about $3.5 million toward enhanced transportation for seniors and people with disabilities.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20240407/region-to-see-major-transportation-projects-over-next-four-years/