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/

The long-awaited residential and commercial development of the former Ideal Forging site in downtown Southington may break ground on the first building in the next month or two. Property owners of the industrial site have approval to build the foundation of a 55-unit residential building and are working to get a multifamily construction permit. The project, Greenway Commons, includes hundreds of residential units as well as commercial space. Contamination from the forging site was cleaned up but the project stalled due to financing and other challenges. Meridian Development Partners, a New York firm, sold the property last year to 195 Center Street Associates, a Branford company. Lou Perillo, the town’s economic development coordinator, said he’s “cautiously optimistic” that the first building could start going up this year. The last he’d heard from the company was that construction would start in the next 30 to 60 days. It’s unclear if construction will continue through the winter. Perillo said excavation equipment will be onsite and that the company’s preference is for it to be used immediately but he wasn’t sure about the schedule.

https://www.myrecordjournal.com/News/Southington/Southington-News/Greenway-Commonts-project-in-Southington-could-start-this-year.html

Explosives engineer Mike Rodriguez was in a bright orange sweatshirt and a hard hat as he led a group of 14 aspiring engineers through the blasting site on the northbound side of Interstate 95 that has eroded 800 feet of ledge over the past three months. The site is part of a four-and-a-half year highway reconstruction project being pitched Wednesday to the East Lyme High School engineering class as a $148 million project generating more than $30 million annually. It’s overseen by Plainville-based general contractor Manafort Brothers of Plainville and engineering firm GM2 of Glastonbury. Resident Engineer Robert Obey, of GM2, said as many as 60 contractors and subcontractors work daily in multiple areas across the 1.3-mile project span from Exit 73 to just south of Exit 75. Inspection staff account for another 15 jobs. Obey said the initial blasting project, estimated at six-to-eight weeks when it began on Aug. 1, took down a looming wall of ledge to make room for a wider highway.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20231101/i-95-blasting-engineer-turns-over-detonator-to-next-generation-in-east-lyme/

Drivers should once again avoid Interstate 95 in the Norwalk and Westport area this weekend due to the second phase of the Saugatuck bridge replacement project. After a successful northbound bridge replacement nearly two weeks ago, Connecticut’s Department of Transportation will replace the southbound bridge, also by using a lateral slide method, this weekend. Southbound traffic on I-95 will be diverted to the northbound side from 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 3, to 6 a.m. Monday, Nov. 6. During that time, the crew will work around the clock to demolish the existing bridge and then slide in the newly constructed bridge. For the project this weekend, CTDOT is encouraging drivers to find alternate routes and to avoid I-95 all weekend, but especially on Sunday afternoon, Morgan said. Using the accelerated lateral slide bridge construction method, CTDOT crews have built the new southbound bridge on stilts next to the existing bridge. On Friday night, the old bridge will be demolished, then the new bridge will be slowly rolled into place on I-95.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/i-95-south-westport-norwalk-bridge-replacement-18459088.php

The city received two grants totaling more than $11.6 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency aimed at addressing flood control in the downtown area, Congressional lawmakers said Tuesday. The funding from FEMA will support $11,165,250 million of the city’s $14.7 million total project cost. The project includes channel realignment and profile adjustment, removing two undersized bridges that constrict water flow, floodproofing buildings along the brook, creating riparian floodplain and wildlife habitat, modifying impacted utilities, and installing a waterfront trail system. An additional $480,000 grant from FEMA will fund costs for the administration and management of this project. Improvements will be made along an 1,800 foot stretch of Harbor Brook spanning from Cooper Street in downtown Meriden to the Amtrak railroad near Colony Street. The former ION Bank building on Hanover Street was razed to make way for the channel widening and deepening. Another building at 116 Cook Ave., an area prone for flooding, has been slated for demolition and reconstruction to make way for a new senior center.

https://www.myrecordjournal.com/News/Meriden/Meriden-News/FEMA-gives-Meriden-$11-6-million-for-flood-control.html