The approval by the city’s wetlands commission last week of the 208-apartment project for south Main Street sets up a public hearing on Wednesday before the city’s Planning Commission. Known as The Legacy on Main, the developer plans to retrofit the five-story office building at 30 Main St. into 48 apartments and to build a 160-unit apartment building in the parking lot, atop a three-level parking garage. The urban housing project, which is the type of development encouraged in the city’s recently adopted master plan for the next decade, represents the largest residential investment proposal in a central business district that has lagged behind the city’s booming west side and busy commercial strips on the east end.

https://www.newstimes.com/news/article/200-apartments-danbury-main-street-wetlands-oked-17901330.php?src=nthpdesecp

In the Naugatuck Valley, local lawmakers are fighting to add new trains and service to three additional stations along the Waterbury Branch line on top of the service upgrades that Lamont announced last year. And in the Northwest corner of the state, Republicans want to extend the Danbury Branch line to include service to New Milford — a distance of about 15 miles. Each of those projects has been folded into a single piece of rail legislation by leaders on the Transportation Committee, which voted unanimously last month to send the bill to the Senate floor. In his proposed budget for the next two fiscal years, Lamont has proposed cutting Shore Line East service even further to 44 percent of pre-pandemic levels. Last year, the governor and Metro-North touted new “super express” trains that quickened the trip between New Haven and Grand Central by 10 minutes. Lamont has promised to shave another 15 minutes off the trip by 2035, requiring an investment of up to $10 billion in infrastructure improvements.

https://www.newstimes.com/politics/article/ct-rail-expansion-shore-line-east-new-milford-17895076.php?src=nthpdesecp

The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 478 asked the city for permission to use the 36-acre former power plant site for training programs in the operations and repair of heavy construction equipment and driver training. It currently operates a 13,000-square-foot facility on Cheshire Road in Meriden that will remain open. The Apprenticeship Training and Skill Improvement Center is a nonprofit organization that serves students throughout the state. The former power plant site has been vacant since the plant, which never opened, was razed leaving a few foundations. The Local 478 Operating Engineers Apprenticeship Training and Skill Improvement fund purchased the property for $975,000 from Meriden Gas Turbines LLC in June 2019. The training center is expected to operate six days a week, Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. as needed and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays will be used as test days. The site will be gated at the intersection of the city road, with access only granted to students and instructions.

https://www.myrecordjournal.com/News/Meriden/Meriden-News/Training-facility-nets-conditional-approval

Town officials are preparing to ask residents permission to bond up to $4 million to fund two major upgrades to an aging wastewater treatment plant. The bonding package, if approved at a May 9 referendum, would pay for the replacement of a main generator and two secondary clarifier tanks at the Water Pollution Control Authority’s North Treatment Plant off Black Hill Road. In August, selectman approved earmarking $3.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act for generator and secondary tank replacement at the North Plant. First Selectman Kevin Cunningham said that money has since been re-allocated for other sewer project-related work, including a roof replacement at the main facility and upgrade work at pump station sites. Cunningham said he’s seeking out grant opportunities, including through the state Clean Water Fund, that will likely reduce the final project cost. The work will take approximately two years to complete and no interruption of service is expected.

https://www.norwichbulletin.com/story/news/local/2023/04/17/plainfield-4m-sewer-bond-package-aims-to-upgrade-aging-plant-facility-generator-clarifier/70098258007/

Lamont toured the multiple housing development sites, totaling about 416 units, across the city to see for himself the housing boom taking place here. “More housing is being developed than ever before,” Lamont said. “People want to move to New London.” The tour started at the Garfield Mill Complex at 90 Garfield Ave. which will be redeveloped by Litchfield-based Park Lane Group into 86 units. Passero said 20% of the units will be affordable and the rest will be workforce housing. Lamont was then lead to 123 Bank St. to one of three neighboring buildings on Bank Street that will make up The Riverbank, a development of 32 luxury loft apartments and commercial space. Lamont and his entourage then headed to The Beam, a 203-unit apartment complex, at 221 Howard St. The building, nearing completion and already housing some tenants, was developed by RJ Development.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20230414/governor-ned-lamont-tours-housing-boom-in-new-london/

For perhaps the most eye-grabbing demolition project underway in Connecticut, no one has a better seat to the show than Linda Vinci, whose Braach’s Flowers is across the street from the old IMAX Theater at the Maritime Aquarium. Work crews are dismantling the structure to make way for construction of a new train bridge spanning the Norwalk River. The hope is that the $1 billion-plus Walk Bridge Program will cause minimal disruption to businesses and residents in South Norwalk’s historic core, as well as the fish, seals and other denizens at the Maritime Aquarium next door. “The first phase of construction for the Walk Bridge project is expected to begin next month with staging and foundation work ahead of the major track, tower and superstructure work,” said DOT spokesperson Josh Morgan, in an email response to a Hearst Connecticut Media query on the timeline.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/ct-walk-bridge-norwalk-sono-metro-north-amtrak-17897241.php

Hetzler and Building Committee Co-Chairman Edward Arum said the project is running on schedule and within budget, and construction crews from O&G Industries and architects from Slam Collaborative are working well together. “The building project is on schedule,” she said. “The building is going up so fast. The weather has been perfect for the project.” Ground officially was broken in October 2022, though some work was done at the site previously, Arum said. The state will reimburse 85% of all eligible costs, with the city responsible for the remaining 15%. The goal is to complete the high school portion by December 2024 and bring students in by February 2025, Arum said. Middle school students are expected to enter by September 2025.

https://www.rep-am.com/localnews/2023/04/13/torrington-school-going-up-so-fast/

The overall number of construction cranes at work in major North American cities grew 7% in the first three months of 2023 compared to the third quarter of 2022, although cranes on commercial projects were down 20% for that same period, according to the most recent crane index from Rider Levett Bucknall. Despite labor concerns and economic uncertainties, “we are continuing to see new projects break ground within our 14 key markets,” the report reads. “We anticipate the number of cranes to remain high into 2023. Despite uncertain market conditions, construction projects will continue to break ground, albeit at a cost.”

https://www.constructiondive.com/news/crane-count-rises-commercial-work-dips-Q1-2023-construction/647563/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Issue:%202023-04-13%20Construction%20Dive%20Newsletter%20%5Bissue:49615%5D&utm_term=Construction%20Dive

Boosting the speed of train travel along the Northeast corridor is a top priority, according to Sen. Chris Murphy, that will require new track and “dislocation” for communities along the rail corridor. Murphy made the comments at a luncheon sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut on Wednesday. Murphy said that of the $66 billion in the infrastructure bill designated for rail, he and his colleagues were able to “earmark $30 to $35 billion of that – half of that money – just for the stretch of rail from Boston to Washington, D.C.” Since joining Sen. Richard Blumenthal in 2016 to oppose a proposed high-speed rail bypass through southeastern Connecticut and southern Rhode Island, Murphy has spoken in public on a number of occasions in favor of investments in high-speed rail and the need for improvements outside of the existing Northeast Corridor right of way.

New Track, ‘Dislocation’ Necessary for High Speed Rail, Murphy Tells Chamber Luncheon

Aquarion Water Company expects to start repair work on the water line under Greenwich Avenue soon with the work likely causing intermittent road closures in coming months. Aquarion, through its partner Snyder Civil Engineering, expects to start work this spring and take a full year to complete. The companies have not specified when work will start. The repairs will take place between Elm Street and Grigg Street on the Avenue, running past the Havemeyer Building and many stores and restaurants. Work crews will work on different parts of the water main line during the course of the year, so the entire section will not be closed all at once.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/major-water-main-repair-work-start-greenwich-17895450.php