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Bridge, tunnel or both? The 90-year struggle to connect Long Island and Connecticut
Several proposals have favored a bridge, dismissing the tunnel concept as too costly to build and maintain. Others have backed a tunnel-only or hybrid design, including a 2017 feasibility study launched by then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Despite the time and effort spent researching the plans, none of them have advanced to the point of construction, hampered by concerns over cost (about $50 billion, according to the 2017 study), environmental harm and a lack of political support. It remains to be seen whether Steven Shapiro, the Easton developer and project’s latest steward, can bring it to fruition. For a Sound crossing, Perez said he envisions crews working from barges to drive pre-assembled concrete piles into the seafloor at shallower depths, since deeper foundations are typically more complex and costly. Another option is to build an underwater tunnel using a tunnel boring machine. Sometimes called a “worm” or a “mole,” these massive cylindrical machines would eat through soil and rock beneath the Sound’s floor and spit it out through a pipe on the other side, where it would be transported to the surface on a conveyor belt. As it excavates, the machine would install pre-cast concrete sections to form the tunnel’s lining.
Wallingford to get three bridge replacements over I-91 with work starting in 2028, CT DOT announces
The Connecticut Department of Transportation announced the full replacement of three bridges over Interstate 91 in Wallingford, a project that will develop over the next several years. The projects still need to go out to bid through a proposal request, but are anticipated to begin construction in spring of 2028 and completed around 2030. For the bridges, the roadways will be slightly reduced in size, with more of the roadway space designed to accommodate sidewalks and paved shoulders to create safe passage for bicycles. East Center St. will undergo the most significant work, eliminating the 11-foot painted median and moving both travel lanes closer together, making room for the paved shoulders and a new concrete sidewalk. In total, the construction is anticipated to cost $60 to 90 million, with 80% of the cost shouldered by federal funds while the remaining amount is subsidized by the state.
Recent Inspections on New Haven, Conn.’s Heroes Tunnel Done Ahead of $150M Upgrade
Crews from the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) have conducted overnight inspections of New Haven’s Heroes Tunnel on state Highway 15/Wilbur Cross Parkway in recent days as they prepare for a $150 million renovation project slated to begin in 2028. The inspections, which started late on Monday, Sept. 22, 2025, and were planned to last through early on Sept. 26, were done to help shape designs for the tunnel’s overhaul to improve safety and travel, Eva Zymaris, a CTDOT spokesperson, told the Greenwich Time. The tunnel, a critical link along Conn. 15 that carries about 74,000 vehicles per day through West Rock Ridge in New Haven, has been wearing down in recent years, the Greenwich Time learned. The latest plans call for repairs to the tunnel liners, updated ventilation and fire-protection systems, better lighting and new signs to guide both drivers and pedestrians. Currently, the project is in the design and environmental review phases.
How 190-foot poles and power lines have turned into one of CT’s biggest controversies
The plan would allow United Illuminating to erect 102 steel towers along the Metro-North rail line ranging in height from 95 to 195 feet, carrying a new 115,000-volt power line to the utility’s Congress Street substation downtown. It’s part of a bigger 25-mile plan to bring the high-voltage line from the Westport-Fairfield border and Bridgeport, linking sections through Stratford and West Haven with 500 new galvanized steel towers, then finally east to New Haven. UI is a subsidiary of Avangrid, a division of Spain-based Iberdrola. Concerns vary along the potentially affected area, many worried the gigantic power lines and poles will destroy the character of the community. UI has budgeted $30 million for acquiring the estimated 19.3 acres along the 7.3 miles, but Fairfield officials believe the actual values of properties could be three to five times as much. The utility estimates it would cost $840 million to $1 billion estimate to bury the transmission lines underground, although property owners have been critical of those estimates, suggesting they are inflated. Similar burials of lines cost between $23 million and $33 million per mile, citing state estimates and similar projects in Connecticut and New York.
US DOT promotion of ‘vehicular travel’ hits popular CT greenway trail hard. What it lost.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration cancelled funding for at least six biking and walking trails across the country, including a $5.7 million grant slated for Connecticut’s Naugatuck River Greenway Trail, or the NRG Trail. In a letter dated Sept. 9, Maria Lefevre, executive director for the office of the under secretary of transportation, said the administration is prioritizing “projects that promote vehicular travel.” The U.S. Transportation Department rereviewed the grant individually, the letter stated, and withdrew funding because the project “no longer aligns with DOT priorities.” The grant was funded through former President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure bill and the NRG Trail was selected for funding in June 2024. The NRG Trail would connect 11 towns in the Naugatuck River Valley. The planned route snakes along the river for 44 miles, bridging towns from Litchfield to Waterbury to Derby. The trail has been in the works for almost three decades, and the pulled federal grant would have helped close the remaining gaps. It would have funded segments of the trail totaling roughly 16.5 miles. Progress on those parts of the trail — in Thomaston, Watertown, Waterbury and Naugatuck — will halt until NVCOG can secure alternate funding.
Ridgefield voters rejected a new $85.6M public safety building. Will they vote yes on the revise?
Ridgefield officials are preparing for their second attempt to get the construction of a new public safety building approved. A referendum on the project will be on the ballot in November, though one such vote on the initiative already failed earlier this year. Marconi said the project failed in February’s referendum vote, when it had initially cost $85.6 million. He said due to public feedback, the project is now $8 million cheaper. The changes included taking out a concrete garage, reducing the square footage and reducing the cost of the site work. The $77.4 million building at 36 Old Quarry Road is designed to house both police and fire crews due to their dilapidated stations.
Enfield OKs zone change for former MassMutual site redevelopment with apartments, condo complex
Officials have approved a zone change that could pave the way for 464 housing units on the former MassMutual site. Branford-based MB Financial Group plans to reuse the office campus at 85 and 100 Bright Meadow Blvd., last occupied by insurance company MassMutual, as a primarily residential development with some commercial space. MB Financial Group purchased the properties for $4 million in May of this year and submitted a zone change application for the two properties in September. Eric Zuena, founding principal of ZDS Architecture, said Thursday that the developer sees the MassMutual campus as “a wonderful opportunity” to revive a well-kept but vacant property and add housing stock to Enfield and the broader Connecticut market.
Central roof among more than $20 mil of approved projects
More than $20 million in bonding for several facilities upgrades, preventative maintenance projects and construction of a new animal control facility was approved at Tuesday’s Board of Finance meeting. In addition to the animal control facility, the Board of Finance approved improvements at local schools and the Rockwell Park Revitalization Project. They also approved some streetscape repairs. Mayor Jeff Caggiano said the city is expected to see some shared reimbursement from the state of Connecticut on most of these projects. The Rockwell Park improvements will be matched with a grant from the Federal government, he said. At last week’s Board of Education meeting, the Board approved a $28.8 million “renovate as new plan” for the school, which would have a projected state reimbursement of 84.64%, leaving $4.42 million for the city to cover. That plan will need Board of Finance and City Council approval, but were not on the agenda Tuesday.
Norwalk breaks ground for $2.7M West Rocks Road sidewalk improvement project
The project will create connected sidewalks fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act for all of West Rocks Road, Rilling said. It will also create three raised crosswalks near Winston Preparatory School, West Rocks Middle School and All Saints Catholic School so pedestrians can cross safely. “The neighbors are really excited because the raised crosswalk and bike lanes and wider sidewalks tend to be traffic calming as well,” said Rilling, who was joined at the event by other local and state leaders, including U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District, state Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, Common Council President Barbara Smyth, and Jim Travers, Norwalk’s director of Transportation, Mobility and Parking. At the ceremony, leaders gathered together in front of a mound of dirt to put a shovel in the ground, signifying the beginning of the construction of the $2.7 million project. Funding for the project includes a $1.4 million federal grant and a $1 million Local Road Accident Reduction Program grant through the state Department of Transportation, Rilling said.
West Haven OKs $32.9M to replace two pump stations that could be health hazards if they break
The city will rebuild two shoreline pump stations that are beyond their useful life. This week, the City Council approved a $32.9 million bond ordinance for the planning, design and construction of new pump stations on East Avenue and Dawson Avenue. City officials said the cost of not doing so could have a deleterious impact on public health. Quadir said the Dawson Avenue pump station, last upgraded in 1993, and the East Avenue pump station, last upgraded in 2005, could present a health hazard if they were to break down as it could lead to sewage overflow. The city will finance the costs with a mix of local and state funding, applying for a DEEP Clean Water Fund grant to cover 20% of the project and using sewer use charge payments to cover the remaining 80%, which will accrue 2% interest over a 20-year period. Last summer, after city officials realized that West Haven was not collecting any fees for new construction for connecting to the municipal sewer system, the council passed a new ordinance allowing the city to charge a fee.
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