Bridgeport has joined Fairfield, preservationists, residents and business owners in questioning the “unreasonable” impacts of a proposed $225 million project by United Illuminating. The utility company applied with the Connecticut Siting Council in March to replace its aging electric transmission lines with 100- to 135-foot monopoles along the Metro-North Railroad line in downtown Bridgeport, Fairfield and Southport. Lee Hoffman, an attorney representing the city in United Illuminating’s application, said Bridgeport is concerned that the project would negatively impact future economic development, coastal resources, low-income residents and people of color. At the end of the Tuesday meeting, Morissettee extended the hearing to Dec. 12. Per state guidelines, the council must issue its decision by March.

Bridgeport Joins Growing Opposition to $225M United Illuminating Project

Our 30,000 men and women members in the Connecticut State Building Trades Council are the best-trained construction workers in the nation. They stand ready to partner with our great state to construct, install, and maintain our Class 1 Renewable energy projects, including solar farms, offshore wind projects, fuel cells, anaerobic digesters, and electric vehicle charging stations. Sadly, however, President Biden’s intention of these projects being good union jobs has not yet come to fruition here at home. The Connecticut State Building Trades should be at every table where decisions regarding development are being made. We must be a part of the transition to clean energy. Put us to work.

CT’s building trades support transition to EVs – and want to build the infrastructure

Connecticut’s truck tax continues to underwhelm, falling $25 million short of estimated revenue from 2021 when the tax – called the Highway Use Tax (HUT) – was passed by the General Assembly along a party-line vote and over the protestations of Connecticut truckers. The HUT was passed following the defeat of Gov. Lamont’s numerous tolling proposals for Connecticut highways, and supporters argued the tax was necessary to bolster the struggling Special Transportation Fund (STF) that pays for Connecticut’s transportation infrastructure and public transportation. The tax is based on the truck’s weight and the number of miles it travels in Connecticut. At the time of passage, it was estimated the HUT would bring in $90 million by fiscal year 2024 and nearly $100 million by 2026. Those figures, however, have been adjusted downward by roughly $25 million to $30 million for the 2024 fiscal year, according to the latest Fiscal Accountability Report from the nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis (OFA).

https://insideinvestigator.org/connecticuts-truck-tax-continues-to-fall-short/

The pier on the Connecticut coast is filled with so many massive oddities that it could be mistaken for the set of a sci-fi movie. Sword-shaped blades as long as a football field lie stacked along one edge, while towering yellow and green cranes hoist giant steel cylinders to stand like rockets on a launchpad. It is a launching point, not for spacecraft, but for the first wind turbines being built to turn ocean wind into electricity for New Yorkers. Crews of union workers in New London, Conn., are preparing parts of 12 of the gargantuan fans before shipping them out for final assembly 15 miles offshore. Orsted and its partner, Eversource, expect the electricity to start flowing from the first South Fork turbines before the end of the year. But the weather offshore — sometimes, it can be too windy to build a wind farm — as well as all sorts of mechanical matters and a simmering labor dispute at the pier could delay the flow of power from the ocean to Long Island.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/27/nyregion/offshore-wind-power-farm-ny.html

A majority of the legislature’s Regulation Review Committee was poised to vote Tuesday to kill regulations prohibiting new gasoline-powered vehicle sales by 2035, forcing advocates and the administration of Gov. Ned Lamont to open talks on a new plan for passage by the full General Assembly in 2024. Jonathan Dach, the governor’s chief of staff, said Monday that the administration reluctantly made the decision to withdraw the regulations after being told that opponents on the bipartisan committee had the votes to kill them and not merely reject them without prejudice, an action that would allow a later attempt at passage. Lamont and legislators will hold a press conference Tuesday to outline an alternative: Have the General Assembly pass a bill keeping Connecticut in line with the timetable established by California and adopted by New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and other states to phase out new sales of most gas-powered vehicles.

Facing defeat, Lamont withdraws regs phasing out new gas car sales

International sports and entertainment company Oak View Group is preparing to wager at least $20 million that Hartford’s XL Center arena can transform from an aging venue running a $2 million annual deficit to a bustling moneymaker. The Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) and OVG have a tentative deal that would require the Los Angeles-headquartered company to invest $20 million toward a $100 million overhaul of the roughly 15,500-seat arena. Gov. Ned Lamont, in his current budget, lined up $80 million in public funding to cover the remaining costs. XL Center renovation plans call for a significant expansion of premium lower-bowl seating, including the addition of event-level suites; a new dressing room and lounge for performers; and relocation of the stage to increase concert capacity, among other improvements.

Oak View Group confident $100M renovation will spur XL Center turnaround; venue will draw ‘well above 30 shows a year’

As construction wraps up on a new town green space and library, the outpouring of donations during the fund-raising campaign have put the New Canaan Library on track to complete its work on budget.
The library was granted the $10 million credit line in August 2021 for construction of the new library and a town green, estimated at $38.5 million. A former investment banker, Crovatto has spent countless hours spearheading the Capital Campaign for the New Canaan Library project. The New Canaan Library is an association library, not directly run by the town; some 75 percent of its funding is provided by a grant from New Canaan. The remaining quarter of the cost is paid through fundraising such as donations to the library’s Annual Fund. Looking at the completed library, Crovatto said she was extremely proud of her fundraising team and the work they put in to accomplish such a massive feat within the timeline and budget.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/new-canaan-library-40m-renovation-on-budget-18467820.php

When the City Council first approved funding to rebuild Washington Elementary School in May 2020, the total appropriation was just under $19.4 million — equaling roughly $3 million in additional costs on top of $16.4 million the city would pay less an expected state reimbursement rate of 67.14 percent on the estimated $38 million project. On Monday, Ken Carney, owner of a local remodeling company who has volunteered to oversee various capital projects in the city including the high school construction project and the disbursement of American Rescue Plan Act funds, told Board of Education members the city would pay closer to $9.5 million. According to a letter sent to West Haven Public Schools on Nov. 9, the state Department of Administrative Services approved an increase in its reimbursement rate due to a revision in the estimated total costs of the construction, which increased from $38.8 million to $41.7 million since the project was approved in 2020.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/west-haven-washington-school-construction-18511115.php

The notice that the state Department of Transportation has posted at the entrance to the Stamford train station parking garage is good news. It says the DOT will start to demolish the long-deteriorating garage on Feb. 1. Stamford residents who know the fraught history of the garage would say it then will do what it was built to do – fall down. It appears that DOT officials think it will be open by Feb. 1, since that’s the day they plan to start tearing down the 1985 garage on Station Place. Demolition is expected to take about six months, Morgan said. “During the demolition, Station Place will be open to one-way traffic. However, there will be times during the work, such as when the existing pedestrian bridge is removed, that the entire roadway will have to be closed and detours put in place,” he said. “We’re still developing those plans in coordination with Stamford officials.”

As Stamford Garage Comes Down, Future Plans Remain Uncertain

The circle is at the end of the Whitehead Highway connector to I-91 and brings cars from the interstate to the Capitol area. There is room for two lanes, but they aren’t marked, creating something of a free-for-all at busy times. According to a traffic analysis conducted as a part of the Greater Hartford Mobility Study, there were 109 crashes at Pulaski Circle from 2018 to 2022. CDOT has eliminated some older traffic circles and turned a couple into modern roundabouts. That could well happen to Pulaski Circle. The department is in the “early concept design phase” of a redo of the intersection, said a CTDOT spokesperson. Vehicles approaching the roundabout have to slow down, to find an opening to merge into the circle and then to follow the tight turning radius. Slowing is good; speed is a factor in most crashes and in about a third of fatal crashes. “Drivers Can’t Run Roundabouts” read a bumper sticker created some years ago to support a roundabout in eastern Connecticut.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20231126/four-corners-no-more-ct-turning-some-intersections-into-roundabouts/