Town officials and developers of a proposed 245-apartment, mixed-use project on a contaminated lot said they may reject a $3 million remediation grant from the state, due to stringent conditions that could boost project costs by $25 million. Developers have long kept away from 81 Black Rock Turnpike, as any new construction would require a costly environmental cleanup of the contaminated soil below the site. Looking to transform the vacant lot into a new, five-story apartment building, Post Road Residential — a local property development company — worked with town officials to secure a $3 million grant from the State Department of Economic Community Development in June to clean up the low-level PCB contamination, which originated from aged underground storage tanks used to heat the former factory. According to Montelli, the Brownfield Remediation and Development Municipal Grant came with three conditions that developers are unwilling to meet: increased wage rates, affordable housing requirements and state control over the property.

Fairfield Developers May Reject $3M State Grant Over Costly Conditions on Housing

The state Department of Transportation is moving forward with a plan to create a roundabout at the intersection of Route 6 and Route 61, which has been the scene of numerous traffic accidents over the years. First Selectman Barbara K. Perkinson welcomed the news, saying the intersection and the town as a whole will benefit greatly from a roundabout, also known as a rotary or traffic circle, which is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction. Many residents have said a traffic light should be installed as the once sleepy stretch between Woodbury and Watertown has been built up a great deal since the intersection was first engineered. But DOT officials say, based on professional engineering standards, the area simply does not necessitate a light. A roundabout appears to be the answer.

https://www.rep-am.com/localnews/2024/01/28/new-roundabout-in-the-works-for-woodbury-intersection/#login

Norwich Community Development Corporation (NCDC) President Kevin Brown said plans to develop a second business park are now more stable. The Commission on the City Plan met Tuesday, and decided on a 3-2 vote that the subdivision plan NCDC wanted approved for the Occum Industrial Center can go ahead. Throughout the process to develop these business park plans, NCDC has addressed needs brought up by the community, including setbacks and maximum building heights, even thought it is not a regulatory requirement. Brown also anticipates there will be sustained communication between NCDC and the residents near the 384 acres where the new business park will be, he said. NCDC is working on a federal RAISE (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) grant application for building the on and off ramp infrastructure for the new business park. While this grant was denied before, now having the subdivision plan and $11 million in state funds in place can make for a more compelling case, Brown said.

https://www.norwichbulletin.com/story/news/local/2024/01/29/ccp-approves-occum-business-park-preserving-norwich-neighborhoods-norwich-community-development-corp/72371734007/

The hulking English Station power plant has sat silent for decades in the middle of the Mill River, contaminated with PCBs, no longer providing power for United Illuminating. On Monday, Attorney General William Tong held a press conference in New Haven to announce a lawsuit accusing UI of failing to live up to its agreements to clean up the site. United Illuminating later said there were “multiple inaccuracies” shared at the press briefing but did not say what they were. UI and its then owner had agreed in 2015 to spend $30 million to clean up the polluted power plant, which they said then would take three years. Tong on Monday said UI, now owned by Avangrid, has failed to honor any of its agreements and has only removed one building on Ball Island. “The city of New Haven, just like Hartford and Bridgeport, have very few large sites available for development, relatively small, densely packed cities, and a site of this size has enormous potential if it were properly cleaned up, properly prepared for all to use,” Looney said.

CT files lawsuit to force utility to clean up long-polluted power plant in middle of river

Construction contractors are between a rock and a hard place: What the Biden administration’s IIJA has gifted with a hike in construction work, Buy America policies have taken away by making the work much pricier to perform. Construction costs rose almost 3 percent during the first quarter of 2023, and contractors have seen a 50 percent increase over the past two years. That has the transportation industry nervous for the future. The Biden administration has heavily campaigned the Buy America Act (BABA) with a goal of growing the policy into new areas. A proposed new rulemaking project with a goal of applying BABA to manufactured products is scheduled to be published in April. The Biden administration has applauded the $92 million increase in highway spending that was a major chunk of IIJA. “Unfortunately, it is increasingly likely that inflation will wipe out the entirety of that funding increase,” believes Scribner. “New Buy America requirements on manufactured products will make this problem even worse.”

https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/inflation-has-contractors-taking-pass-on-federally-funded-transportation-projects/63699

With beach season looming and more traffic expected near the city’s shoreline, officials currently have no plans to reopen Water Street. Water Street, a road parallel to First Avenue, was closed for the expected construction of an outlet mall with water views called The Haven. The development has become a sore spot for residents, as several blocks of shoreline neighborhood — once with the promise of economic development potential to grab commuters off the highway to grow the city’s tax base — have rotted behind a chain-link fence for roughly a decade. Borer said the city has reached out to Simon for updates on those 10 permits. Those outstanding permits are currently preventing any police or public works inspections from moving forward, she said, and that using the street as “leverage” is more complicated than it seems. Simon Property Group did not respond to an emailed request for comment Friday. Although Simon Property Group still owns the property, Borer said she has had multiple discussions with them about finding a buyer in her first two months in office.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/west-haven-water-street-closed-18620940.php

Officials at the Connecticut Lottery Corp. and the Capital Region Development Authority say the under-performance of the restaurant and sports wagering operation can be blamed on the relative newness of the facility, which is currently less of a destination for gamblers than it is for people attending concerts and sporting events that might fill the restaurant and betting parlor on game nights, but do not swarm the place on others. The financial losses come at a time of difficulties for the Wallingford-based lottery’s downtown Hartford operation, as the state Department of Consumer Protection investigates lingering problems in the Connecticut Lottery Corporation’s new retail sales system, including technical malfunctions with a Las Vegas-based contractor for online gambling. Michael Freimuth, executive director of the Capital Region Development Authority, said Friday that he also expects a steady turnaround of the operation, as plans for the aging downtown landmark include as much as a $100-million renovation, with $20 million committed by new facility management at the Oak View Group, if the State Bond Commission, led by Gov. Ned Lamont, allocates about $80 million.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/politics/article/sportsbook-hartford-s-xl-center-under-performing-18628057.php

The City Council this month approved paying the Hartford-based Crosskey Architects firm $22,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding to “reimagine and design” the Water Street walking bridge that connects the Winthrop Square housing complex on Federal Street to Fulton Park. Director of Public Works Brian Sear said the bridge, built in 1973, is not in need of any structural improvements and any proposed work would fall under the aesthetic category. Felix Reyes, the city’s director of economic development and planning, said Fulton Park is now home to refurbished basketball courts and a skate park. Brush clearing has also been conducted in the area and plans are in place to create more hard-surface walking paths to facilitate pedestrian and biker travel from Old Town Mill to the Fulton Park bridge entrance.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20240127/pedestrian-bridge-envisioned-as-formidable-gateway-to-new-london/

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/