Connecticut has received approval for its plan submitted to the U.S. Department of Transportation seeking $52.5 million over five years to build electric vehicle chargers across the state. The state will receive $7.7 million in fiscal year 2022 and additional funding in 2023 under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program, Gov. Ned Lamont announced. The funding is part of President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Phase one of Connecticut’s plan focuses on building up to 10 locations consisting of at least four individual fast chargers along state highways. The state Department of Transportation plans to release details by early 2023. As of this July, there were more than 25,000 electric vehicles registered in Connecticut.

CT to receive $52.2M in federal funding for electric vehicle chargers

Projected costs of a pending redevelopment of the Martin Luther King affordable housing complex into a mixed-income community have jumped from $50 million to $62.7 million in a little more than a year. Project organizers blame inflation and rising interest rates, which have forced adjustments to the number of units and ratio of affordable to market rate apartments. The project’s financing plan includes $5.8 million from Hartford and the Capital Region Development Authority, along with a $29.7 million mortgage. The remainder would be drawn from low-income housing tax credits, state housing funds, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funds and deferred development fees. Despite setbacks, Sheldon Oak Executive Director Emily Wolfe said the project is nearly ready to launch, with designs 90% complete and financing lining up. She expects to begin demolition in October with the relocation of the last remaining tenants. She also plans to release construction bid documents that month. Wolfe anticipates demolition beginning in the first quarter of 2023.

Projected price tag for redevelopment of Hartford’s Martin Luther King apartments jumps $12.7M

A developer is looking for approval to build 81 residential units and two commercial spaces on 150 Howard St., partially overlooking Shaw’s Cove. The Planning and Zoning Commission discussed the proposed four-story development on Thursday night with Matthew Greene, the attorney for developer Keystone Capital Corp. and property co-owners One-fifty Howard LLC and Nancy E. Wildes. According to city records, the owners purchased the property in 2017 for $1. In the Waterfront District Zone, Greene said building height restrictions are 25 feet but there are options for the commission to increase that under the special permit provided parking is under the structure. The Planning department did not receive comments from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection until Thursday. Barry Levine, chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission, said the commission would need time to look over the multiple pages of the comments.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20220916/developer-seeks-approval-for-apartments-along-new-londons-waterfront/

While the Offshore Wind Industry Cluster in Connecticut was not among 21 economic development projects the federal government picked to each receive between $25 million and $65 million, its partners vow to continue their work to shore up the burgeoning local offshore wind industry, though perhaps in a scaled-back form. Heading up a coalition, the Southeastern Connecticut Enterprise Region (seCTer) put forth a portfolio of projects totaling $59 million, asking for $39 million in the Economic Development Administration’s $1 billion Build Back Better Regional Challenge to offset $20 million in matching funds. Talking in January, between when the OWIC was selected as a finalist in the federal challenge and when it submitted a proposal for phase 2 funding, University of Connecticut’s Kylene Perras said if they didn’t receive the funding “we’ll be sad, we will be disappointed, but certainly we won’t stop; we’ll continue to explore what may be available.” Perras, assistant dean at the UConn School of Engineering, said this past week that UConn will continue to brainstorm how to move forward.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20220918/offshore-wind-partners-move-forward-despite-missing-out-on-grant/

City officials expect to finally break ground on the new Bassick High School in January and have it open for the 2025-26 school year. During a construction committee teleconference Thursday, Larry Schilling, a who is helping manage the work for the city, said there are a few more issues to clear with the DEEP and state Department of Transportation, after which Connecticut’s school construction office can give Bridgeport the go ahead to put Bassick out to bid. Due to various changes and delays — including the Ganim administration’s abrupt and controversial decision in 2020 to purchase land from the University of Bridgeport in the South End for $6 million and erect the new Bassick there — the price tag increased to $129 million, complicating the state’s original financing approval.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Bridgeport-aims-to-finally-break-ground-on-17447034.php

In anticipation of future air travel growth, Bradley International Airport is embarking on two major projects that will cost nearly $230 million aimed at transforming the airport’s terminal and making room for more airlines, passengers and amenities. A companion, $42 million project will include additions to the east and west sides of the terminal. New sets of escalators and elevators will connect the concourse and baggage claim, also creating new lounge areas for people waiting for travelers arriving at the airport. Kevin Dillon, executive director of the Connecticut Airport Authority, which oversees Bradley’s operations, said the projects will help absorb expected airline and passenger growth in the coming years, putting off the need to build a second terminal. The largest chunk of combined financing for the two new projects — $104 million — is expected to come from airport reserves and borrowing through the sale of bonds. Those bonds would be repaid by revenues generated by the airport.

https://www.theday.com/state/20220919/230m-in-projects-at-bradley-international-airport-anticipate-passenger-growth/

A city official has confirmed that work to renovate 15 acres of Batterson Park will not begin this fall, contrary to initial plans to rehabilitate the once-popular summertime swimming spot. But the city remains committed to the project, according to Thea Montanez, the city’s chief operating officer. “While the planning and design work is moving forward, construction will not begin this fall,” she wrote. The delay could push back the targeted mid-2023 reopening of the park, which is owned and operated by Hartford, but is located between New Britain and Farmington. The confirmed construction delay comes on the heels of the summertime dissolution of the Batterson Park Conservancy, a group composed of neighbors of the park and volunteers, that planned to preserve the park’s upkeep once the renovations and improvements were complete.

https://www.courant.com/community/hartford/hc-news-hartford-farmington-batterson-park-20220915-mcr2eloqy5bbvehvtgcgoiuqgi-story.html

State Street, the old Route 5 car-centric workhorse, will be put on a “road diet” and transformed downtown, with a large portion made safe for cyclists and land freed up for green space and development. This revision, which extends from Water Street north to Trumbull Street, used the Toole Design Group as its traffic consultant with the original direction to make better use of all the parking lots along the Metro-North rail line reviewed by the Wooster Square Study Group and consultant Utile in 2016. One of the major goals is to connect the Farmington Canal Greenway to both the State Street Station and Union Station. Chris Ozyck, an active environmentalist, said the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston could be a model to follow. He said it will be important to get right how the frontages of the new developments interrelate with the bike lanes. “That takes a lot of discussion,” he said.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/New-Haven-plans-transformation-of-State-Street-17444683.php

State transportation officials say they prefer to fully reconstruct the Mixmaster on different road alignments and connections between the Interstate 84-Route 8 interchange than replace the stacked decks with new ones. Officials reiterated the project dubbed the “New Mix” is looking at the long-term future of the interchange and surrounding areas unlike the ongoing Mixmaster rehabilitation project, which will extend the interchange’s serviceable life another 20 to 25 years. Improving the interchange’s safety and functionality, reducing traffic and complementing Waterbury’s economic development goals while meeting Connecticut’s long-term transportation needs are the priorities driving the New Mix project. Under that proposal, the Route 8 alignment would run through an area on Freight Street that city officials are looking to redevelop.

https://www.rep-am.com/local/localnews/2022/09/15/officials-redesign-of-mixmaster-likely-more-sustainable/

Design plans totaling $1.2 million to revamp the police department headquarters were unanimously approved by the Board of Finance Tuesday. This allotment comes after the project was already greenlit for $300,000 in study costs. The $1.5 million total includes pre-construction fees including schematic designs, design development and construction documents created by Brian Humes of Jacunski Humes Architects. This will help set the wheels in motion on the $28.5 million plan that calls for keeping much of the envelope of the current headquarters — a 96-year-old once-retrofitted school building — then knocking down the old addition in the back and replacing it with a new section. It is expected to go out to bid in June 2023, with bids expected to come back a month later in July. Shovels are expected in the ground next fall, with construction is expected to take anywhere from 18 months to two years.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/New-Canaan-finance-board-approves-1-2m-plans-for-17441568.php