When residents arrive at the polls on Election Day, they will be asked consider a $13.5 million bond expenditure to build a new boathouse at Harbor Park. Whether to authorize the measure — which would include the planning, design, construction, renovation, furnishing, and equipping of a new public facility and renovations to the existing John Smith Boathouse on Harbor Drive — is the only question on the ballot. A new boathouse, projected to have a 30-year life span, was constructed at the edge of the Connecticut River in 1978. It is used by the Middletown High School rowing team and the city-based Central Connecticut Rowing club, which offers classes in conjunction with the recreation department. Many people turned out at the Aug. 30 Finance & Government Operations Commission meeting to support the referendum, during which advocates called the sport a “life-changing” for athletes.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/middletown-13-5-million-boathouse-vote-18471949.php

The two-weekend-long bridge slide project at Exit 17 between Westport and Norwalk is complete, and Gov. Ned Lamont says the bridge replacement it is just the beginning of the state’s efforts to decrease travel time on Interstate 95. “We’re just getting started,” Lamont said Monday near the newly completed project. “We’re putting about $1.4 billion to work. That’s about 40 percent more than we ever have for transportation.” State DOT Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto said the bridge slide project used accelerated bridge-building techniques and was completed ahead of schedule. The bridges carry I-95 over Sautaguck Ave. The old bridges were also demolished. The work was part of an overall project using $105 million in federal funds to improve safety on the stretch of I-95 between Norwalk and Westport, including widening shoulders, installing new drainage systems and upgrading highway lights and reflectors.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/westport-norwalk-i-95-bridge-project-18470861.php

The U.S.-flagged vessel, bearing the name and logo of the Crowley maritime shipping line company, steered back into the city’s deep-water port on Sunday with the same three football field-long wind turbine blades it left with on Oct. 31. Ørsted-Eversource partnership spokesman Justin May on Monday said while sections of a turbine tower and a multi-ton generating nacelle were successfully transferred to a South Fork Wind project assembly vessel about 35 miles east of Montauk Point, an issue with “lift equipment” on the barge prevented the offloading of the blades. “The barge will return to the South Fork Wind offshore site after maintenance, and as weather allows, to continue with installation,” May said. “There are no issues with the blades.” Eversource officials said a dozen such trips are required to deliver all 12 turbines for the 132-megawatt wind project which promises to deliver energy to 70,000 homes on Long Island.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20231106/barge-returns-to-new-london-with-undelivered-wind-turbine-blades/

The federal Department of Transportation on Monday awarded Amtrak the final funding it needed to replace the 116-year-old railroad bridge that carries trains over the Connecticut River between Old Lyme and Old Saybrook. Construction is expected to begin in 2024 and take five years to complete. The project is estimated to cost $957 million and the existing bridge eventually will be demolished. The $826.6 million award announced Monday is part of what President Joe Biden described in a tweet as the largest investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak: A total of $16.4 billion for 25 passenger rail improvement projects along the Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington, D.C., the busiest passenger rail corridor in the country. It is one of nine projects that will upgrade railways in the state. The projects are funded by the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20231106/amtrak-receives-827-million-for-connecticut-river-rail-bridge-replacement/

Connecticut is set to receive nearly $2 billion in federal funding to repair bridges and update aging infrastructure that serve major rail lines along Amtrak’s busy Northeast Corridor and other regional train services. Amtrak sought greater annual funding from Congress, warning of potential disruptions to services and raising concerns about the need for updating crumbling infrastructure. Some bridges with rail service in Connecticut have needed updates or replacements for years to fix deteriorating conditions. The money for some of Connecticut’s projects is part of a larger tranche of $16.4 billion announced by the Biden administration on Monday for rail projects along the Northeast Corridor that shuttle passengers between Boston and Washington, D.C. Nearly half of the money — about $827 million — is going toward the Connecticut River Bridge, a 116-year old bridge used by Amtrak’s main line and intercity services as well as Connecticut Shore Line East and freight trains.

CT gets $2B in federal funding for rail projects, bridge replacements

The southbound side of the Interstate 95 bridge over Saugatuck Avenue fully reopened to traffic Sunday after crews completed the second stage of repairs to the overpass, according to state officials. All lanes of the interstate were reopened by around 5 p.m., capping a weekend of construction that led to significant congestion along one of the state’s busiest corridors, according to Josh Morgan, a spokesperson for the state Department of Transportation. Construction workers began the process of demolishing the bridge Friday evening and spent Saturday installing a pre-built replacement. They worked continuously through Saturday night and into Sunday to ensure the interstate was ready for the Monday morning commute. Per the “ABC” — accelerated bridge construction — method, the replacement portions of the bridge already had been prepared parallel to the existing portions and then are slid into place after the existing portions are demolished. On Saturday, Morgan said the construction crews seemed to be on schedule to complete the project by early Monday and they may be done ahead of schedule again.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/westport-i-95-bridge-replacement-sunday-delays-18466864.php

As we rebuild our crumbling interstate highways, the CDOT deserves credit for learning its ABCs… “accelerated bridge construction.” Over two recent weekends they demolished and replaced two three-lane bridges at exit 17 in Westport with, considering the enormity of the tasks, minimal impact on traffic. The speed of the work on the $104 million project was enhanced by building the replacement bridges in advance so they could literally slide into place after the old bridge was torn down. Just imagine the planning, the measuring and tight tolerances. Yet, the first weekend project (for the northbound bridge) was finished 14 hours earlier than planned. A similar bridge replacement in Stamford on I-95 in 2019 went just as well, with more such projects to come as Federal dollars rebuild our infrastructure.

The amazing work of transportation engineers

A recent $10 million settlement clears the way for the next phase of the North Crossing, a massive, $250 million development of 1,000 apartments, parking garages and storefront space that is expected to unfold over the next five years. Developer Randy Salvatore plans to start on a second phase in just a matter of weeks. North Crossing’s second phase on so-called “Parcel B” would have 527 apartments, 4,300 square feet of storefront space and a 524-space parking garage at a cost of about $120 million. With construction at North Crossing now imminent, entrepreneurs who have taken a stake in storefronts within a short walking distance of the development see a coming new market of apartment tenants boosting their ventures and creating other small businesses. Salvatore had turned his attention to redeveloping the RPI campus while North Crossing was stalled. Now, with the settlement, Salvatore said he has shifted back to Parcel B, but he is likely to start demolishing the buildings on the RPI campus soon after he acquires the property. Knocking down campus buildings — including an eight-story classroom tower — will require some time, Salvatore said.

New phase of a $250M development in this CT city could get underway in weeks. What it would bring.

Closing Hartford-Brainard Airport for either industrial or mixed-use redevelopment is possible, but it could cost tens of millions of dollars to rid the 200-acre airfield of contamination and it could take years to fully reap property tax and economic development potential, a new study concludes. Instead, as expected, the Brainard Airport Property Study recommends keeping the airport open and extending one of its runways. But this alternative — one of four outlined in a final report — calls for the closing of a lesser-used runway and redeveloping the area primarily for warehouse and industrial uses. The report — the culmination of a $1.5 million, state-funded study by BFJ Planning of New York over eight months — was a bit anti-climactic because its conclusion was contained in a draft report whose recommendation surfaced earlier in October. According to BFJ, Total development costs range from $46 million for the recommended option to $1.4 billion for the mixed-use alternative. These numbers do not include the use of public subsidies in the calculations.

There’s a recommended redevelopment plan for a CT airport. See how it stacks up with alternatives.

No plans have been formally submitted, but conceptual drawings first unveiled to the public last week show the developers of a block on Eugene O’Neill Drive that includes The Day building and the former Citizens Bank are envisioning the site for a new 120-room hotel and restaurant along with apartments and retail. Mayor Michael Passero said Tuesday in a phone interview that he and Director of Development and Planning Felix Reyes have seen the conceptual drawings, though no formal plans have been submitted to City Hall. High Tide Capital in September bought the former Citizens Bank at 63 Eugene O’Neill Drive and an adjoining property for $1.75 million and has an agreement to acquire The Day property at 47 Eugene O’Neill Drive for $1.875 million that has not yet been finalized. High Tide Capital is the same development company that has been restoring three buildings on Bank Street as part of the so-called Riverbank project. It also completed a project last year at the Manwaring building on State Street that now serves as overflow dorm space for Connecticut College.

https://www.theday.com/business/20231101/hotel-apartments-restaurant-retail-envisioned-on-eugene-oneill-drive/