In an unexpected move, the state Department of Transportation told town officials on Monday that it plans to fully replace the 83-year-old Alpha Street viaduct while preserving the through streets running below it. The new plan, dubbed “option five,” came after the department offered several repair options, including a $25.5 million bridge replacement that would have closed off Cutler Street and parts of Main and Matthews streets, First Selectman Danielle Chesebrough told CT Examiner. The 625-foot bridge, known as the Frank Turek viaduct, traverses Amtrak tracks and has provided the only vehicular access to Stonington Borough since 1940. The cost of “option five” has yet to be determined, but the town’s budget is capped at $1.2 million, Chesebrough said. Federal funds will supply 80 percent of the total, with the remainder paid by the state, according to a June 6 DOT presentation.

CTDOT Maintains Through Streets for Stonington Viaduct Replacement

Board members for Savin Rock Communities voted unanimously to borrow up to $29.3 million to make upgrades to Surfside, a 254-unit public housing property designated obsolete in early 2020 by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to authority Executive Director John Counter. Counter said in March that plans to borrow in order to renovate Surfside Apartments would be the first phase of a multiphase plan to update the West Haven housing authority’s housing stock. Although Counter had said 24-hour maintenance service is available to Surfside residents, the repairs that must be made to the building are beyond patchwork. On Tuesday, he said the borrowing will support upgrades to the roofing, boiler system and fencing, among other things.

https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/29-million-approved-toward-improvements-west-18205497.php?src=nhrhpdesecp

Hours after municipal demolition permits were issued for the property, the city’s zoning chief Monday advised the developer and contractor behind a 177-unit apartment complex planned for the former Testo’s restaurant of “serious questions and reservations” with the plan approval his department issued in March 2022. As a result, wrote Zoning Administrator Paul Boucher in a letter Monday night, he temporarily revoked that months-old authorization, which for weeks now has been scrutinized by the municipal law department for potential but so far unspecified improprieties. But on Tuesday workers had begun tearing down two of the homes on the Madison Avenue site anyway. Contractor John Guedes, who designed the apartments and whose local Primrose company is building them for out-of-town owner Amit Lakhotia, continued to maintain in an interview Tuesday morning that “everything was done by the book.”

https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/bridgeport-temporarily-revokes-zoning-permit-18206140.php

Gov. Ned Lamont announced Tuesday that nearly $7 million in State Bond Commission funding will be used for an apartment complex on the site of the former Showcase Cinemas. A groundbreaking is expected later this year. Lamont said construction is tougher in Connecticut than many other states and the lending market is difficult, but the apartment complex known as Concourse Park and other projects around town mark the beginning of a major revival of East Hartford. New Britain-based Jasko Development, in partnership with West Hartford-based Zelman Real Estate, plans to build as many as 400 units as part of a market-rate, “amenity-rich” complex to be named Concourse Park. Walsh said the apartment developers must have shovels in the ground by the end of September 2023, in keeping with a development agreement for the property.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/journalinquirer/article/east-hartford-showcase-cinema-apartments-18206218.php

The Stamford Zoning Board on has approved a proposal to build a 31-story high-rise apartment building in downtown’s Landmark Square. The residential tower will replace an existing office building built in 1977 as part of Stamford’s urban renewal era. The new project will be the city’s third-tallest building. The developer, White Plains, N.Y.-based Cappelli Organization, also developed Stamford’s tallest building, the 350-foot Park Tower Stamford — formerly known as Trump Parc Stamford. The height of the building exceeds the maximum of 290 feet allowed in Downtown Stamford under the city’s zoning regulations. But according to Land Use Bureau staff, the additional 30 feet of height was permissible if the developer made contributions to the streetscape and surrounding area, such as new public space, awnings, canopies and other pedestrian amenities.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/stamford-landmark-square-zoning-board-18196688.php?src=sthpdesecp

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., on Monday pledged to do his best to secure federal funding for three Northwest Corner towns where roads sustained heavy damage in flooding July 9-10. Blumenthal stopped in Colebrook first, followed by Norfolk, where several roads and two bridges on Route 272 were damaged, before moving on to Goshen and a tour of town roads led by First Selectman Todd M. Carusillo. Once Gov. Ned Lamont, as expected, issues an official request for federal disaster relief, Blumenthal said he will be poised to present information he collected during Monday’s tour to President Biden to show the president how badly aid is needed. The estimated cost of rebuilding the North Goshen Road bridge is between $800,000 and $1.3 million, according to Carusillo, a cost Goshen can’t afford on its own. Fortunately, traffic can still cross the bridge, beyond which there are 16 to 18 homes.

https://www.rep-am.com/localnews/2023/07/17/blumenthal-seeks-funds-to-repair-roads/

Many of the infrastructure improvement projects that resulted from the mega bipartisan IIJA program will be under scrutiny this year by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). The agency is increasing its focus on companies receiving those IIJA federal monies. The OFCCP released a list of 250 construction contractors and subcontractors that the agency has on the audit radar. The OFCCP has a list of 16 mandatory affirmative action steps, contained in a guide published by the agency. Marsh points to five major categories included in OFCCP’s Construction Contractors Technical Assistance Guide. These categories are recruitment practices, training, implementation of EEO policy, analyzing personnel activity and solicitations/contracts with subcontractors. The increased industry attention is part of a move by Director Jenny Yang, to reinvigorate OFCCP’s oversight of affirmative action compliance efforts. The agency plans to engage contractors and subs at the pre-bid and post-bid stages to provide ongoing compliance assistance.

https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/agency-begins-scrutinizing-federal-contractors-for-compliance-on-ilja-projects/61729

Revolution Wind, the offshore wind farm project southeast of Block Island that could power more than 350,000 southern New England homes, moved significantly closer to completion Monday when the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced it had completed the project’s final environmental review. Revolution Wind, a joint venture by regional electric utility Eversource and the North American division of Orsted, a Danish multinational and global leader in offshore renewable energy, proposed a 100 turbine project capable of generating up to 880 megawatts of electricity. The construction and supply base for Revolution Wind, and two other offshore wind projects, is the State Pier in New London, which has been rebuilt at a cost of more than $300 million. The Eversource-Orsted partnership called issuance of the environmental analysis a “major milestone” and praised the administration of President Joe Biden for “its unwavering commitment to building the critical renewable energy infrastructure necessary to achieve our clean energy goals.”

Off shore wind project to supply CT energy gets environmental green light from federal regulators

Waterbury officials are asking the city’s Board of Aldermen to sign off Monday on a contract paying Plainville-based Manafort Brothers up to $3.6 million to demolish a former brass factory in the heart of the city. Waterbury paid $2.3 million for the 138,304-square-foot building on 6 acres at 170 Freight St. in December, planning to demolish it, clean the soil and market it for redevelopment. Manafort was the lowest of three bidders for the demolition work at 170 Freight St. Stamford Wrecking and Bestech also applied. The company will have 154 days to complete the project and will be paid using a portion of the city’s federal American Rescue Plan Act grant funding.

Manafort Bros. up for $3.6M contract to clear massive industrial building from Waterbury center

Flooding during significant rainfall events historically has been an issue in Meriden. But officials say ongoing efforts during the yearslong Harbor Brook flood control project, which is ongoing, have reduced the severity of those such storms. The Meriden Green is a cornerstone of those efforts, as it is capable of storing some 58 acre feet of water during a 100-year storm event, officials said. One acre-foot equals 326,000 gallons. City Engineer Brian Ennis described the Meriden Green as a bowl flood storage facility that is slightly elevated along its perimeter. The Green allows for smaller brooks that feed into Harbor Brook to have places to drain more freely, instead of topping over onto roadways, Ennis explained. Improving those catch basins is a project officials are planning for when the Harbor Brook project is complete.

https://www.myrecordjournal.com/News/Meriden/Meriden-News/Harbor-Brook-banks-topped-off-but-officials-report-no-flooding-after-weekend-storms.html