To celebrate the funding, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg visited New London on Wednesday to get an up close look at the bridge that spans the Thames River. Joined by newly-reinaugurated Governor Ned Lamont and Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal, local representatives and members of industry, the secretary touted the Biden administration’s infrastructure spending. Gold Star Memorial Bridge is the largest bridge in the state of Connecticut at 6,000 feet in length and 150 feet in height at the center span. The bridge is actually a twin pair, one for northbound traffic and the other for southbound traffic on I-95. Fixing the steel trusses is the first step in the project and was already underway during Buttigieg’s visit. Local 15 Ironworker’s Union workers from Hartford took a short break from their work to watch Secretary Buttigieg speak.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/connecticut/article/Pete-Buttigieg-gold-star-bridge-17695086.php

Over the holidays, even if for only a short time, parking was full to capacity at Tweed New Haven Regional Airport. Officials from Tweed and Avports, the company that operates Tweed, said they know of no one who drove to the airport only to find out the airport’s three parking lots were full. They said they are working to provide more parking for the short term — and additional parking is part of the plan when Tweed ultimately implements its $100 million expansion, which also will include a new terminal on the East Haven side of the airport. But that’s an expansion proposal for which Tweed — which has been issued cease-and-desist orders by the city twice in recent weeks for allowing people to park in unapproved areas — has yet to formally apply. Avelo spokesman Jim Olson said Avelo is working with Tweed to make things as smooth as possible for passengers.

https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Tweed-Airport-parking-reached-capacity-on-holidays-17692232.php?src=nhrhplocal

At a nearly three-hour meeting Monday, officials from Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, representatives from Eversource and about 160 others, began discussing the energy price crisis — which is region-wide — and looking for ways states can pool efforts to find solutions, especially when it comes to procuring energy. Utility companies — Eversource and Avangrid — are not responsible for the price spikes. As electric distribution companies, their job is to get the power to homes and businesses. The cost of the actual power is collected by Eversource and Avangrid on behalf of the generator, which gets all the money. Energy generators and utilities are resistant to change how they make money and lobby strenuously to keep the existing system in place, and it is difficult to build new transmission. Lawmakers, many of whom don’t understand the complicated world of energy, have been reluctant to spend money and therefore timid in their embrace of renewable energy and other infrastructure. And, finally, there has been a persistent focus on short-term energy rates, as opposed to investments in upgraded systems and renewables that may cost more upfront but will save money and improve reliability down the road.

The winter energy crunch, what it costs, and what it will take to fix it

The $2.3 million is in addition to the $6.2 million voters approved in 2021. If voters approve the additional borrowing, the commission will have enough money to replace two water storage tanks. If they do not, only one of the tank projects will be done now. The original $6.2 million was for both the tanks and the replacement of 4,000 feet of water mains under Case Avenue, Center Street, Greenwood Avenue, Thibault Avenue, and the eastern section of Holabird Avenue, from Whiting to Florence streets. Those projects were estimated to cost $6.2 million three-and-a-half years ago, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Public Works Director James Rollins has said. Since then, costs have risen 37%, to $8.5 million. The water main project cost $2.2 million, $833,000 more than what was originally projected, Rollins has said. But that project is covered with the $6.2 million.

https://www.rep-am.com/local/localnews/2023/01/02/hearing-set-for-water-proposal-winsted-officials-want-to-clarify-issue-before-saturday-vote/

East Hartford has received a $4 million grant to help it purchase the former downtown Post Office on Main Street and renovate the historic building as an annex to the Raymond Library. The $4 million is a part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, the government funding package that will bring $38.7 million to organizations in Connecticut’s Congressional First District. “I am proud to have secured over $38.7 million for Connecticut’s First District that will support victims of gun violence, move our infrastructure projects forward, and provide our community members with resources like workforce training and financial literacy programming,” Larson said. Ideas for the post office addition in 2021 included a coffee shop to help draw more people to the library and a permanent office for Literacy Volunteers of America, Town Council Chair Richard Kehoe said at the time.

https://www.courant.com/community/east-hartford/hc-news-east-hartford-receives-4-million-20230103-3jfwweyatfdxrfgbm3xy7toyze-story.html

The new owners of a historic Newington building are seeking a change of use from industrial/office space into retail and office space to revitalize the central downtown landmark. The 109,200-square-foot complex of three buildings at 1170 Main St., formerly known as the Keeney manufacturing site, was purchased for $3.1 million by Omni Broussard Two LLC in December 2021. The owners signed a lease in February with Data Mail Inc., which has been in business in Newington for 50 years and employs nearly 1,000 people in its facility on Hartford Avenue. Once renovated, the building will become “an attractive multi-use property and hub in the center of Newington for residents and visitors to shop, dine, drink, work and congregate,” according to the application. Renovation plans to the 6.8-acre parcel include work to the exterior of the building, which would restore the original art-deco-inspired facade.

Renovation eyed for historic Keeney building in Newington

It took a few decades for development to start at the Steelpointe site, and now the latest phase for the East Side property between Interstate 95 and the harbor — a 1,500-unit luxury apartment complex — is again delayed. But whereas the developers previously blamed the lack of a groundbreaking on the global coronavirus pandemic that reached Connecticut in early 2020, the current problem is related to tainted soil from the land’s industrial past. A 2005 state-funded analysis concluded the area had a range of pollutants left behind, including petroleum, heating fuel, corroded underground tanks, hydrocarbons, copper, lead, mercury, arsenic, chromium and PCBs. It has added a level of federal oversight and requirements that were not initially anticipated. That final review and authorization could take two to three months. 

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Contaminated-Steelpointe-soil-slows-plan-for-17683747.php

Residents can expect development at several Washington Avenue locations in 2023, according to Freda. The sites Freda is eyeing include properties on the north and south side of the driveway entrance to Amazon’s campus and a four-acre lot across from the North Haven fairgrounds. “On the northside (of the Amazon driveway), we will be looking for a retail plaza there, with stores and perhaps a restaurant,” he said. “On the south side, you know, there’s a variety of different opportunities that I can’t really share.” Several construction projects are already underway in the area. Connex Credit Union, which currently has a location at 412 Washington Avenue, is building a new headquarters on an adjacent lot. In addition to the housing developments, a number of new businesses opened on Washington Avenue in 2022.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/North-Haven-eyes-Washington-Ave-for-development-17685573.php

A small slice of a trail running from the Canadian border to Key West is now under construction, connecting Bloomfield to Simsbury. The East Coast Greenway is a 3,000-mile trail from Maine to Florida for active transportation like biking, walking, running and inline skating. Connecticut is home to 200 miles of the trail, 104 of which are protected and separate from the road. The route is considered 53 percent completed in the state. The trail remains a work in progress, with the latest update bridging a 1-mile gap from Bloomfield to the Tariffville neighborhood in Simsbury, where bicyclists previously needed to scale a steep hill. The new connection will run along Route 189. 

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/East-Coast-Greenway-Bloomfield-Simsbury-17685492.php

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg will visit New London on Wednesday to highlight the recently announced $158 million federal grant the Gold Star Memorial Bridge is getting for repairs to the northbound span. It’s one of a few visits from the Biden Administration throughout the country Wednesday, to highlight the impacts of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that Biden signed in November 2021, also known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. On Thursday, Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, announced that the Federal Highway Administration has awarded Connecticut $158,150,000 for repairs to the Gold Star Memorial Bridge. This is through the agency’s competitive Bridge Investment Program, which the IIJA established. The northbound span of the bridge, the longest in Connecticut, began the first phase of a $407.7 million rehabilitation in 2020.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20230101/transportation-secretary-pete-buttigieg-to-visit-new-london-this-week/