Community members are skeptical of the state’s latest plans to improve the Route 7 and Merritt Parkway interchange, citing concerns about pedestrian safety and the risk of collisions. A public hearing on the proposal drew the spotlight onto the Norwalk River Valley Trail and the effect the changes could have on the multiuse trail, which is one day meant to connect to Danbury. Project leaders unveiled two alternative solutions at the meeting, each aimed at enhancing connections, safety, and traffic flow among Route 7, Merritt Parkway, and Main Avenue. During the presentation segment of the meeting, John Eberle, a project manager from Stantec Consulting, outlined the alarming frequency of accidents at the project site.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/route-7-merritt-interchange-norwalk-concerns-18299137.php

The bill Biden signed with great fanfare in November 2021 offers a windfall to the state Department of Transportation — a 40% increase in the federal funding that generally comes in five-year commitments, a jump from $3.8 billion to $5.4 billion. But Connecticut is one of seven states that have lost construction jobs since passage, a statistic galling to construction unions that have been gearing up for growth in a state with a backlog of highway, bridge and rail work that have meant longer commutes and added costs for keeping a car on roads that get a C-. “We’re not working,” Joe Toner, the executive director of the State Building Trades Council, told a surprised U.S. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-3rd District, in a public labor gathering. “We’re seriously not working.” The state had 61,600 construction workers in April 2022, the start of the first outdoor construction season after passage. A year later, the industry was down by 1,900 people — the biggest drop anywhere other than California, which lost 5,100 jobs in a construction industry nearly 15 times larger than Connecticut’s.

Frustration in CT building trades: Where are the jobs?

Trout Brook Realty Advisors, the no-profit development arm of the West Hartford Housing Authority, plans to retain the front façade, including stained glass, of the existing 1969-vintage Agudas Achim Synagogue at 1244 North Main St., attaching it to a new 20,750-square-foot building on the 1.8-acre property. Tentative plans for the development will go before West Hartford’s Design Review Advisory Committee at its Thursday meeting. Trout Brook “is looking to preserve some of the architectural features of the existing building and really bring back energy to a site that’s been vacant for quite some time,” Gorski said. The Agudas Achim Synagogue ceased operations as a house of worship several years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Rabbi Chagie Rubin, who previously led the congregation. Attendance had been dwindling for some time, he said.

49-unit apartment development proposed at site of shuttered West Hartford synagogue

The work will stretch from Glenville Street, at the entrance of the former home of Stop & Shop, past the Glenville Fire Station and Glenville Pizza, to the intersection of Glenville Road and Weaver Street, according to the Department of Public Works’ project website. Crews will upgrade the traffic signals, add a new signal at the intersection of Pemberwick Road and Glenville Road, widen some lanes, add sidewalks and more. First Selectman Fred Camillo said during an Aug. 14 community forum on Glenville that the road work would start in spring 2024. The town had previously been working off the assumption that it would receive a $2 million grant to fund the work, but this past week the grant funding was bumped up to about $4 million, thanks to DPW’s coordination with the state Department of Transportation.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/greenwich-glenville-18296766.php

The town is applying to the state for a $500,000 grant from the Small Town Economic Assistance Program to offset part of the construction cost of the new police headquarters, First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice said. The town is still reviewing bids for the construction of the station, and Wilton has been applying for multiple state grants in an effort to lower the financial burden for taxpayers, Vanderslice said. The Board of Selectmen approved $16.4 million for the project, which was also approved by voters last year. The project will nearly double the size of the outdated existing station to almost 19,000 square feet and will be constructed on an 11.17-acre site at 238-240 Danbury Road. Construction was at one point expected to begin in spring 2023 and take up to 20 months, but the town is still reviewing bids for a general contractor. Vanderslice said she expects bids will be presented at the Sept. 6 Board of Selectmen meeting and anticipates a contract will be approved no later than October.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/wilton-new-police-station-ct-grant-18287863.php

The massive UHL Fierce cargo ship arrived Tuesday morning at Adm. Harold E. Shear State Pier with the first shipment of blades and gear boxes known as nacelles to be assembled here starting later this month as part of the South Fork Wind project. Ulysses Hammond, interim executive director of the Connecticut Port Authority, said the offloading process would start Wednesday morning, conducted by 20 to 30 mostly local longshoremen. He called the arrival of some of the most critical components in the wind turbine assembly process a “tremendous milestone” in the nation’s attempt to “advance the fight against climate change.” He noted that State Pier will play a critical role in the construction of offshore wind farms that will be an “immediate benefit” to Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York, helping to create new jobs, drive local investment and advance the state and nation closer to clean energy goals. The UHL Fierce, which came to New London via Germany and Denmark, is operated by United Heavy Lift. Its cargo included the massive wind turbine blades that are each as long as a football field and, at 656 feet in diameter, twice as wide.

https://www.theday.com/business/20230815/updated-massive-ship-delivers-key-wind-turbine-components-to-new-london/

The state is committing $4 million toward building The Strand, a movie theater-themed mid-rise tower that Jasko Development LLC intends to open in mid-2025. Avner Krohn, president of Jasko, said a $500,000 grant from the city along with the state’s $4 million will make it feasible to build The Strand with an affordable housing component. Jasko has been preparing construction plans for months and wants to break ground later this year on the site, a vacant property alongside police headquarters on Chestnut Street. He hopes to have tenants moving in around summer of 2025. The Strand will be themed after a well-known theater that once stood on the property, and Jasko plans a sweeping staircase as well as a grand piano in the lobby, and a marquee in vintage style facing the street. Gov. Ned Lamont this week announced that $4 million from the Connecticut Communities Challenge Grant program will go toward The Strand. That funding program is run by the state Department of Economic and Community Development to create new jobs.

Developer plans $25 million apartment complex with $4 million in CT state aid

East Hartford Mayor Michael P. Walsh will be appointed chairman of the State Contracting Standards Board, following the resignation of the current chairman, Gov. Ned Lamont announced Friday. In a surprise move, Walsh announced in early July that he will not seek re-election as mayor this fall. Walsh will begin his new role with the State Contracting Standards Board at the end of his term in November, Lamont said. The current chairman, Lawrence Fox, announced during a board meeting Friday morning that he was planning to step down in September. He has served as chair since 2018. The State Contracting Standards Board consists of 14 members who are appointed by the governor and the leaders of the General Assembly. The group is responsible for providing oversight related to state procurement.

East Hartford mayor to lead State Contracting Standards Board in November

he historic former Shlien’s Furniture Co. building, located at 584 Main St. in the city’s North End, was razed Saturday to make way for living and retail spaces, all part of $20 million in projects underway by developer Dominick DeMartino. DeMartino, who is using funds provided by the city, the American Rescue Plan Act and the state Department of Economic and Community Development, plans to have a new structure in place there by the end of the year. DeMartino acknowledged that the complexity of the developments is challenging, but praised city officials for both financial support and making the process as friction-free as possible. Middletown is supporting the projects with $2.54 million in grants that flowed from the federal government’s COVID-19 pandemic funding, as well as $2.6 million from the state Department of Economic and Community Development.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/latin-market-housing-speakeasy-part-20m-18291327.php

As expected, the new owner of the former Testo’s restaurant has formally asked the city’s zoning board of appeals to restore a permit for a controversial 177-unit apartment complex with underground parking issued last fall and cancelled in late July. At issue is the July 27 decision by Paul Boucher, head of the municipal zoning department, to revoke the authorization his office issued last October for Lakhotia’s development, located at Madison and Westfield avenues in the North End. The sale to Lakhotia and subsequent closure of Testo’s was announced last November although that $3.5 million deal did not close until April. It also included a handful of neighboring vacant residential properties owned by Testa and Giacobbe. As a result, neighbors of Testo’s and elected officials and activists from that North End area pressured Mayor Joe Ganim’s administration to intercede and either reduce the development’s size or stop it altogether.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/bridgeport-testos-177-apartments-madison-ave-18295101.php