Silt fences sit along the eastern edge of Interstate 91 behind Bee Street where the commuter lot is now a staging area for O&G Industries to park trucks and equipment. Phase I of state Department of Transportation project number 72-245 has quietly begun in the city while the other two phases of an overall $500 million project to detangle I-91 and Route 15 north and south will begin when this phase is complete. “By April, it’s going to get crazy,” an O&G worker said Friday. Project managers explained the plan was to start on I-691 in Meriden and travel easterly to the I-91 north merge. The existing sharp curve will be straightened out and become two lanes, while 691 at Preston Avenue will become one lane into Middlefield. A bridge will be rebuilt on the eastern side of 91 north while the existing bridge is in use. New signs, lights, drainage systems, guardrails and pavement will be included in the $57 million price tag for Phase I.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/recordjournal/article/meriden-691-91-15-project-dot-businesses-18629475.php

By this coming fall, there could be a locally owned restaurant open in the former racquetball court, and retail space, offices and apartments under construction, as Mattern Construction Inc. works to erase remnants of the long-closed former YMCA on Main Street. The Norwich Planning Commission unanimously approved Tuesday the Baltic company’s plan to transform the blighted building across from the new Hotel Callista at a key downtown gateway into a mixed-use commercial and residential development. The plan includes eight one-bedroom market-rate apartments, space for a restaurant, three 1,200-square-foot retail spaces and office space for Mattern to move its headquarters into the building. “This project is of significant importance to the continuing revitalization of downtown Norwich,” company President Eric Mattern told the planning commission Tuesday, “and will be the first of many that will bring new life to Main Street and beyond.” Mattern said the restaurant should be completed first by fall of 2024, with the apartments completed soon afterward and the three commercial spaces “completely leased” by fall of 2025.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20240127/three-long-awaited-norwich-projects-receive-approvals-updates/

Fay & Wright Excavating, one of the largest custom rock crushing service providers in the Northeast, recently announced that its ownership team has acquired the assets of Blastech Inc. All Blastech employees have chosen to join Tri-State Drilling and Blasting, bringing with them decades of experience. According to Lee Baldwin, vice president of Fay & Wright Excavation, the creation of Tri-State Drilling and Blasting just made perfect sense. The company provides drilling and blasting services for construction sites, quarry and mining projects and blasting. In addition to working on structural demolition projects, Tri-State Drilling and Blasting provides controlled blasting, mass-rock blasting, boulder drilling, ditching and foundation blasting services. “The drilling & blasting industry is a high liability, tightly regulated business. There are really not that many people in that line of work anymore, so for us to be able to offer that service is going to be a tremendous asset.

https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/fay-and-wright-excavating-acquires-blastech-inc-forms-new-company/63708

The demolition of the historic First Congregational Church in New London began late Saturday morning, as a growing crowd of people watched. A grapple excavator removed parts of one of the church’s towers and then lowered and dropped the building materials onto the existing pile of rubble from Thursday’s steeple collapse. The pile was then sprayed with water from a fire hose. The church was a sight she has seen every day since moving to New London about a decade ago. New London Mayor Michael Passero was on scene watching the demolition. By a little before 4:30 p.m. Saturday, the right tower was knocked about three quarters of the way down, and work was being done on the left tower, closer to the Manwaring Building, according to Fire Marshal Vernon Skau.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20240127/demolition-of-first-congregational-church-in-new-london-begins/

Officials with the Danish renewable energy company Ørsted said Wednesday they have signed an agreement to acquire the 50 percent ownership stake that Eversource Energy has in Sunrise Wind, an offshore wind farm designed to provide electricity to New York State. Ørsted’s deal with Eversource comes months after the Danish energy company stopped development on some U.S. offshore wind projects. The company announced in November it was stopping development on the 2,248-megawatt Ocean Wind 1 and 2 projects off the New Jersey coast because of supply chain delays and higher construction costs. News of the agreement also comes two weeks after Eversource officials announced they expect to write off as much as $1.6 billion against its 2023 fourth quarter earnings. The write-offs against earnings will come once Everource completes the sale of its ownership stake in Sunrise Wind and two other offshore power projects, South Fork Wind and Revolution Wind.

https://www.theday.com/state/20240127/danish-company-agrees-to-buy-eversources-stake-in-sunrise-wind-offshore-project/

lans for a new nearly $90 million elementary school to be built in the north end of town drew questions and concerns this week regarding the safety of students walking to the school, traffic flow, changing dismissal and arrival times and more. The as-of-yet unnamed school to be built on 42 acres at the corner of Jarvis Street and Marion Road is the first of two new schools to undergo site plan review by the Planning and Zoning Commission. Plans for a new Norton School will be presented to the PZC next, Gusenburg said. The new Norton School will be built right behind the present school at 414 North Brooksvale Road. Then the old one will be knocked down.

https://www.nhregister.com/recordjournal/article/cheshire-pzc-new-elementary-school-18626113.php?src=nhrhpdesecp

A portion of the redevelopment of the former University of Connecticut campus in town will go before the Town Council for a public hearing on March 11. Newly submitted plans also signal a name change for the development. Previously called Oakwood Park, developer West Hartford 1 LLC has changed the community’s name to Heritage Park, which they said they did after feedback from residents. West Hartford’s Town Council has been pushing for more affordable housing units in recent housing developments that have come in front of them and the town is still in the process of finalizing and approving its new and updated affordable housing plan. As of the town’s most recent report, just under 8 percent of its housing stock is considered affordable housing. West Hartford has a goal of reaching 10 percent over the coming years.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/westhartford/article/west-hartford-ct-uconn-campus-housing-retail-18625103.php

The brand-new mayors in Hartford and East Hartford are still developing their stances on the facility that abuts their cities, even as a trio of airport businesses pursue a lawsuit against city lawmakers highlighting their anti-airport activism. And the active and well-funded group representing Hartford-Brainard supporters is gearing up to make the case that the airport should be expanded, not shut down. The bottom line: The consultant recommended that the airport stay open, but shut down one little-used runway to make way for industrial development. Both airport boosters and critics say they are unhappy with the consultant’s compromise and vow to challenge both the report and any moves to implement it. The Connecticut Airport Authority, which oversees Bradley International and the state’s five general aviation airports, is awaiting guidance from lawmakers on making any changes at Hartford-Brainard.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/business/article/ct-hartford-brainard-airport-development-hearing-18621020.php

The East Norwalk train station will close this spring and summer for three-week stretches as crews begin work to replace the train station. As crews begin work on the $1 billion Walk Bridge replacement project, shovels will also break ground in East Norwalk. To improve the overall connectivity and rail service in Norwalk, the Connecticut Department of Transportation decided to take on other improvement projects, including building East Norwalk a new station. “That closure is also going to be three weeks; we’re doing selective demolition on the north platform while we begin to construct the temporary platforms to load passengers onto trains on the interior track 1,” Lee said. The second closure is expected in “late July at the very earliest” or in August or early September, Lee added. The timeline is “subject to change due to material availability,” explained Richard Leso, a project engineer for CDOT.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/east-norwalk-station-close-upgrades-walk-bridge-18627820.php

The General Assembly is giving up on a special legislative session to address how to keep Connecticut committed to a transition to electric vehicles, leaving the issue for consideration in the regular session that opens on Feb. 7. Facing rejection by a bipartisan legislative committee in November, Gov. Ned Lamont reluctantly withdrew proposed regulations that would keep Connecticut in compliance with the latest California emissions standards, which call for a phase-out of the sales of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035. The administration and legislative leaders have been working since then on legislation intended to assure lawmakers that Connecticut would hew to the 2035 goal only if EVs had become more affordable and the state had a sufficient charging infrastructure. The key elements are the creation of a commission to monitor the state’s readiness for electric vehicles, increased funding for a network of chargers in urban areas, and another vote by the General Assembly in 2027 on whether Connecticut would remain committed to the 2035 goal.

Special session shelved: CT will address EV transition in regular session