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/

As Republicans cast doubt on the state’s 2035 electric vehicle mandate, Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration says it’s confident there will be enough charging stations to meet demand when the requirement for all new car sales to be electric takes effect. Automakers are preparing for the switch, rolling out electric versions of models ranging from SUVs to pick-up trucks, and electric utilities are working to develop the distribution framework needed to supply nearly twice as much electricity by 2050. Eversource needs to build 14 new substations — at a cost of $100 million to $150 million each — to reliably serve the additional 4 GW of electricity needed to power EVs by 2040, Chatterjee said. Eight existing substations need to be upgraded, at a cost of $10 million to $25 million each, he added. That’s an overall estimated investment of up to $2.3 billion to prepare for larger-scale EV adoption — costs likely to be borne, wholly or partially, by ratepayers.

As investment in EV charging infrastructure ramps up, electric grid may need more than $1B upgrade

After years of delays and political fights, construction finally began Nov. 3 on the Hudson River Tunnel portion of the Gateway Program, a $16.1 billion group of projects that will double capacity for the Northeast Corridor rail segment connecting New Jersey and New York City. President Joe Biden in January called Gateway “one of the biggest, the most consequential projects in the country.” The federal government in November pledged to cover 70% of the cost and gave the project $3.8 billion from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. That’s welcome news for local politicians, who warned the decaying, century-old tunnel poses a bottleneck for New Jersey commuters and Amtrak passengers. Overall, the Hudson River Tunnel Project will create nine miles (4.5 miles in each direction) of a new two-track rail tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey, and rehabilitate the existing North River Tunnel, which opened in 1910 and carries more than 450 Amtrak and N.J. Transit trains every day.

https://www.constructiondive.com/news/gateway-program-construction-begin/700363/

A new wildlife refuge could be coming to southern Shelton at Two Mile Island and some adjacent coastal land along the Housatonic River, long home to the Island Sand and Gravel Co. Joseph Bienkowski, chair of the Shelton Citizens Advisory Board, sent a letter to Mayor Mark Lauretti asking the area be designated a riverfront wildlife refuge and open space. He called those 26 acres of land, made up mostly of Two Mile Island, which is truly a peninsula, a “riverfront gem.” Much of the Two Mile Island property lies in a flood zone area. Its intertidal zone creates a habitat that has evolved to support species which cannot survive elsewhere, including shorebirds, shellfish and juvenile finfish. Creating a local wildlife refuge can provide these species with the necessary shelter and protection they need to thrive, Bienkowski said.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/shelton-s-two-mile-island-soon-wildlife-refuge-18489109.php

The plans by Savings Bank of Danbury being reviewed by city department heads for the $17 million office building at Main and White streets show in new renderings an open plaza with plantings opening onto Post Office Road in place of the defunct Tuxedo Junction. The bank said it needed to raze the old Tuxedo Junction property on Post Office Road to get access to an upgraded power source. Meanwhile the YMCA building at Main and White streets has been cleared out in preparation for demolition and construction, which is expected to take 14-to-18 months, Gazetos told Hearst Connecticut Media on Monday. One project would transform a corner where the empty 1899 state courthouse sits with a $70 million plan to restore the structure and build 100 workforce apartments.

https://www.newstimes.com/news/article/savings-bank-of-danbury-tuxedo-junction-ymca-demo-18504667.php?src=nthpdesecp