Wielding golden shovels adorned with shiny blue ribbons, state and local officials on Wednesday broke ground on the $2.8 million track and field athletic complex at Nathan Hale-Ray High School. The price tag for the project will be $2.8 million, officials said. In April, East Haddam was awarded a $1.4 million state grant, with an additional $400,000 in funding from the Purple Fund Educational Endowment to help offset the cost to taxpayers. The construction of a running track will be an important landmark for Nathan Hale-Ray, one of only two high schools in the state without that amenity, officials said. Once built, the complex will also be available for use by the public. In addition to the new sport facilities, the renovation project will also address drainage and irrigation issues that regularly make the soccer field unplayable, including in 2020, when the entire soccer season was wiped out, officials said.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/East-Haddam-breaks-ground-on-2-8M-athletic-complex-17505824.php

Parents and student athletes were happy to hear he city plans to use $4.35 million to fund renovations at Rice, Blake and Wilbur Cross High School fields, with construction set to begin in as early as the coming weeks. With current funding from local, state and federal sources, the city can only improve baseball and JV soccer fields at Rice, the football field and running track at Wilbur Cross, and varsity softball and soccer fields at Blake, according to City Engineer Giovanni Zinn’s community presentation this week. At Rice Field, the renovation is a part of a larger project to improve East Rock Park, in which the city anticipates getting $1 million for. Similar to Wilbur Cross complex, baseball fields and JV soccer fields will be fenced to control vehicle access to reduce future damage.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Long-neglected-New-Haven-s-Rice-Blake-Wilbur-17506789.php

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has given a $650,000 boost to an ongoing cleanup of a series of mill complexes in Vernon that are collectively targeted for a 200-unit apartment mixed-use redevelopment. U.S. EPA New England Administrator David W. Cash; U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District; and other dignitaries visited the Daniels Mills site at 104 East Main St. Thursday to celebrate the award. Vernon has an agreement with Georgia-based developer Camden Management Partners to transform the defunct mills into 200 apartments with up to 20,000 square feet of commercial space, according to Shaun W. Gately, the town’s director of development services and economic development. The Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development has already directed $6.5 million in brownfield cleanup assistance to the site, Gatley said. This latest infusion from the EPA is expected to carry the cleanup to the point where Camden can secure funding and begin work, Gatley said.

200-unit, mixed-use Vernon residential redevelopment gets $650K federal boost

Despite complaints from nearby neighbors, West Hartford’s town council on Wednesday night gave a key approval to Continental Properties’ plan for 172 luxury apartments about two blocks from Blue Back Square. At a three-hour-long hearing, several business and community leaders along with Kingswood-Oxford School representatives praised Continental’s proposal as a source of economic development and an estimated $800,000-a-year in new taxes. Town resident Marc Shafer said Continental’s vision of a modern, amenity-rich apartment complex would help persuade young professionals to stay in town rather than moving to bigger cities. If the project advances, Kingswood-Oxford would sell the land at 950 Trout Brook Drive to Continental. That income would be important to the school, said Mark Conrad, treasurer of the trustees board.

https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-connecticut-west-hartford-hearing-20221013-6jgkboqnrffyfbmweaeesinfde-story.html

The Federal Highway Administration on Tuesday announced that it released $59.9 billion to 12 programs to help address the nation’s crumbling infrastructure, according to an agency press release. The funding comes from the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The infrastructure law, signed last year by President Joe Biden, provides $550 billion over the next five years to support critical infrastructure efforts like revamping roads and bridges, carbon emission reduction and safety improvements. The Biden administration has focused not only on traditional infrastructure, but also items like broadband internet and climate resilience measures. The Carbon Reduction Program aims to boost projects designed to reduce transportation emissions, such as public transit, bikeways and walkways.

https://www.constructiondive.com/news/highway-administration-feds-60-billion-infrastructure-law-iija-states/634032/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Issue:%202022-10-13%20Construction%20Dive%20Newsletter%20%5Bissue:45232%5D&utm_term=Construction%20Dive

FirstLight Power gathered company and local officials at its power generation station along the Quinebaug River Wednesday to announce it is retiring the last remaining fossil-fueled plant in its system in May 2023 to be replaced with renewable battery facility. The new system still needs state permits and a connection agreement with ISO-New England, which manages the electric grid in all six New England states, Barton said. Construction will take about two years, and the battery facility is expected to become operational in 2024 or 2025. The new battery plant also will be a peak-period only power generating facility and will be co-located at the Tunnel Dam 3-megawatt hydropower plant in Preston. Operation Fuel also runs a job training program to train people for the growing clean energy industry.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20221012/new-battery-storage-facility-proposed-in-preston/

The sheer number of infrastructure projects the DOT will have to manage is mind-boggling. Over the next year, states, territories, tribes and local governments will begin work to improve 65,000 miles of road and 1,500 bridges; invest in 600 airport infrastructure projects; purchase 15,000 new buses, ferries and subway cars; and buy 75 new locomotives and 73 intercity train sets for Amtrak. On top of that, the administration’s five-year goal is to build half a million electric vehicle charging stations. Labor shortages extend to the construction industry, particularly in skilled trades. That could affect the ability of grant recipients to complete projects on time and on budget. A 2021 report issued by the National Infrastructure Advisory Council found that “the workforce development system in the United States lacks the coordination, data, and strategic human capital management necessary to ensure a skilled workforce for critical infrastructure.” Inflation often results in changes to construction contracts to account for increasing costs, which can also affect the project schedule, the Office of the Inspector General’s report states.

https://www.constructiondive.com/news/infrastructure-law-implementation-iija-risk-DOT-OIG-report/633730/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Issue:%202022-10-12%20Construction%20Dive%20Newsletter%20%5Bissue:45195%5D&utm_term=Construction%20Dive

President Joe Biden signed the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in November 2021, marking the single biggest sum for roads, bridges and other surface routes in a generation. Money from the infrastructure act is starting to trickle to federal agencies and states, and these entities have lists of upcoming projects to bid on, including those funded by the IIJA. To further help contractors identify opportunities for new work, several organizations have released trackers and tools mapping out the IIJA’s programs and deadlines. The White House released an infrastructure act guidebook to help potential grantees identify funding opportunities and prepare to receive the money. Policy think tank Brookings’ detailed federal infrastructure hub breaks down IIJA funding by project type and agency, and allows users to zoom into specific grant programs.

https://www.constructiondive.com/news/7-tools-contractors-find-work-infrastructure-act-law-iija-funding/633626/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Issue:%202022-10-12%20Construction%20Dive%20Newsletter%20%5Bissue:45195%5D&utm_term=Construction%20Dive

The White House hosted a summit Thursday to help speed up construction projects tied to the roughly $1 trillion infrastructure law — an effort to improve coordination with the mayors and governors who directly account for 90% of the spending. The summit began Thursday morning and comes at a critical moment for the nearly year-old law as high inflation and worker and material shortages are threatening to delay many projects. The Transportation Department will launch an internal center to provide best practices on project design, planning and construction for state and local leaders. The Commerce Department will have a “Dig Once” effort so that construction workers are not repeatedly punching holes into roads to lay water pipes, broadband connections and electricity and natural gas lines, in addition to other efforts by government agencies and industry groups.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/White-House-aims-to-speed-up-pace-of-building-17506053.php

A more established timeline has been released for Norwalk Hospital’s $220 million expansion, including plans for a massive demolition. In a legal notice alerting the public of its plans, Nuvance Health, which owns and operates Norwalk Hospital, said the eastern portion of Tracey Pavilion and the entire Community Pavilion will be demolished on the hospital’s Maple Street campus. The demolition is part of the hospital’s $220 million renovation and expansion set to be completed by 2026, Nuvance Health spokesperson Donald Fantozzi said. “Following the demolition, construction of the new pavilion is scheduled to begin in fall 2023,” Fantozzi said. “In consideration of weather and other environmental factors, we estimate the building will be complete at the end of 2025 and expected to open in winter 2025-26.” Plans to demolish and rebuild portions of the hospital were first announced in June 2021, following an anticipated “surge” in births.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Norwalk-Hospital-demolition-expansion-17499410.php