The cash-strapped city school system is set to get a financial boost after state lawmakers voted to set aside nearly $80 million to help build a new special education school and run the district. The Connecticut General Assembly approved a bond bill last week that includes up to $74 million for the construction of the new school in the North End. Lawmakers also provided about $5 million more for district expenses. However, the state’s top education official, Commissioner Charlene M. Russell-Tucker, will control the money. That $5 million infusion comes after district officials pleaded with lawmakers to increase education funding in the face of a more than $30 million deficit that has led to deep staffing and program cuts, including the elimination of several teaching jobs and bus transportation for about 2,400 students.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/education/article/bridgeport-schools-state-funding-20365450.php

The state plans to replace the superstructures of two Interstate 84 bridges near the Danbury Fair mall as soon as 2029 as part of a $138 million upgrade of the highway from the New York border to Exit 4. The bridges in question at eastbound Exit 3 carry a daily average of 81,000 eastbound motorists and an average of 40,000 westbound motorists, according to the DOT’s latest publicly available traffic data. Moreover, the bridges are in one of the most problematic sections of I-84 in Danbury, where daily rush-hour backups are the norm. Left exit ramps and other design flaws are the target of a larger, long-term project called I-84 Danbury to widen and straighten the highway from exits 1 through 8. The ambitious project, with a price tag of $3 billion to $4 billion, is not expected to begin construction for at least a decade, and it is not expected to be complete until the mid- to late 2040s.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/i-84-bridge-danbury-ct-deficiencies-dot-construct-20368074.php

The state government is serving up what Gov. Ned Lamont described Monday as a $4 million “meat and potatoes” grant to replace aging underground utility infrastructure along West Main Street that dates back to the late 1890s. The state funding will enable construction crews to upgrade or replaced approximately 4,440 linear feet water, sanitary, sewer, and storm drainage lines as part of a wider $28.9 million project to redevelop West Main Street between Riverside Street and the Waterbury Green in the heart of downtown. The State Bond Commission in April approved the $4 million allocation that the Community Investment Fund Board approved a month earlier for funding the third phase on the ongoing project to transform the streetscape along West Main Street. Lamont said replacing water and sewer lines is not an exceptionally exciting project, but the aging underground infrastructure dating back to the late 19th Century that this $4 million in state funding will replace is holding back development. He called it a down payment on a new foundation for Waterbury’s future.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/waterbury/article/waterbury-ct-west-main-street-grant-lamont-20367961.php

A committee of the Capital Region Development Authority recently backed a request from the city to transfer $2 million in city funds managed by CRDA to the demolition of the deteriorating, former data processing center on Windsor Street. The full CRDA board must still approve the transfer from a stalled, mixed-use development in Parkville, but typically committee approval leads to backing by the full board. The city expects a $6 million state grant to largely cover the estimated, $9.4 million cost of knocking down the former bank procession center at 150 Windsor St. The city has another $1.4 million set aside for the demolition. The developer of the apartments and parking garage at 17 and 35 Bartholomew Ave., Carlos Mouta, told The Courant that the project is essential to future growth in Parkville because it will provide sorely needed parking, already at a premium in the neighborhood. But Mouta said he understood the need for pulling the funding for the downtown project, as long as it become available again in the future for the development in Parkville, given the need for parking.

How $2 million in public funding could help a CT site needed for future major development

Despite a company’s assurances about using only modern technology, its proposed trash-processing plant in Connecticut hit a wall of public opposition when residents recently voted 10-1 against the idea. The non-binding Plainfield referendum doesn’t stop the Smart Technologies LLC proposal, because the state government — not the town — has authority over it. But the lopsided result shows that despite an extensive public outreach campaign, Smart Technologies still faces a steep uphill battle to build local support. Only 12% of the town voted, but gave the project a resounding defeat: 1,148 to just 125. The company wants to build an unconventional trash-to-energy plant on about 81 acres near Route 12 and Route 14. Unlike typical trash-burning incinerators, this facility would employ “gasification” — a process of break down garbage into gases, which would power a turbine and generate electricity for the power grid. Smart Technologies contends the system doesn’t generate the smoke and ash associated with trash incinerators, and wouldn’t be an environmental hazard. The company, a partnership of O & G Industries and Advanced Waste Technologies International, contends its system can separate hazardous materials as well as recyclable metal and glass from a stream of municipal trash. It directs organic material to an anaerobic digester that produces a biogas capable of being converted into natural gas, and can separately process methane and carbon dioxide to prevent pollution.

The proposal is for a high-tech trash plant. For many CT residents that’s a hard ‘no’

A section of Route 8 in Connecticut is currently under repair. Crews are making improvements to the the Commodore Hull Bridge, which connects Shelton and Derby over the Housatonic River. State inspectors say they found that some parts of the bridge are beginning to deteriorate. Once officials learned of the deterioration, CTDOT signed an emergency declaration to quickly hire contractors to begin working on the project. According to Morgan, the bridge is still safe for travel. However, CTDOT has implemented a 32-ton weight restriction on the bridge to avoid putting any additional stress on it. The bridge will still be open for travel, but different lanes will be closed during different phases of the project. Morgan said it’s too soon to give a timeframe as to when the work will be finished, but CTDOT officials expect construction to continue at least through this month.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/deteriorating-route-8-bridge-connecting-derby-and-shelton-in-connecticut-is-receiving-repairs/ar-AA1G6zTt?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=1e1fd1e766664339b800c78e0658d5b9&ei=39

The town is holding off digging up Main Street and the town green until the fall, due to a glitch in the bidding process, officials said. The new timeline would mean that the disruption could continue through the summer of 2026. All the events, which were moved off the green in anticipation of the work, won’t be able to reclaim the town green this season. Instead, they will remain at the new assigned venues. The planned $13 million downtown and $1 million town green revitalization projects are delayed due to some bidders not responding to the town’s addendums to the plan, said First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove. This sends the project back to the town, state Department of Transportation and South Central Regional Council of Governments for new approvals. The town will start the bidding process from scratch, Cosgrove said.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/shoreline/article/branford-downtown-roadwork-green-events-ct-20348956.php

The projects to rebuild both Westhill High School and Roxbury Elementary School cleared a major obstacle last week after the state General Assembly reauthorized both with larger budgets. The authorization, which was included in the state bond act that passed on Wednesday, sets the the maximum state grant reimbursement at $356.8 million for Westhill and $78 million for Roxbury, according to a press release from the office of Stamford Mayor Caroline Simmons. The most recent estimate for the work — which would tear down the 1971 building and construct a brand new building — is $446 million. The budget was decreased by $15 million due to the size of the project being reduced by roughly 10,000 gross square feet, among other adjustments. If Westhill’s budget is approved, it would go out to bid — likely between November and January of 2026 — at which point the city will receive a “guaranteed maximum price,” which will need to be approved by both the Board of Finance and Board of Representatives. Matt Quinones, Stamford’s director of operations, said the two projects are slated to begin in 2026.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/stamford-ct-westhill-roxbury-school-projects-20364749.php

And appearances to the contrary, that timeline is correct, Wes Pulver, president of the museum association overseeing the $150 million project, said Tuesday as he walked the site of the future 89,000-square-foot, six-story building. “We’ve had some delays, but I’m not stressed about it,” Pulver said walking past an excavator that minutes before was scraping mounds of stone from property between Union Station and the Thames River. “It’s our obligation to not cut corners.” That anticipated framing, expected to last for several months, was delayed after prep work that began earlier this year found a host of underground issues that didn’t show up on easement maps and other survey documents. Those issues included utility pipes, sewage lines and electrical components that needed shifting, and the decision to install underground “vaults” at various locations to allow for safer cable and pipe access. Pulver said project construction manager, the North Stonington-based AZ Corp, worked with city officials and representatives of Eversource, Amtrak, Cross Sound Ferry and other stakeholders to identify work-arounds.

https://theday.com/news/750329/construction-of-150m-coast-guard-museum-set-to-begin-next-month-as-donations-rise/

The remaining St. John’s Towers buildings could be torn down to make way for a residential development that would bring 305 apartments to downtown Stamford. The owner of the roughly 1.6 acre property at 109 Tresser Blvd., Saint John Urban Development Corporation, submitted a project application to the city May 2 and said the plan was to redevelop “the aging, mostly vacant residential towers to be more in line with the residential setting of the surrounding neighborhood,” according to the application for the project. The three towers were built, according to the application, as part of a government program that “maintained the units as affordable” for those making 80% or less of the AMI for 40 years. Those restrictions expired in 2010, though, and no affordability requirement applies to the remaining buildings.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/stamford-ct-st-johns-towers-20359538.php