Residents on both the east and west sides of the city say they live with intolerable traffic noise caused by highway construction projects and hope state officials can help. Two years ago, the state Department of Transportation embarked on a $500 million highway project to reconfigure the interchange of I-91, I-691 and Route 15 in Meriden to improve traffic flow and make it safer. Before the press conferences to announce the projects, workers cleared trees and brush in the buffers between the highway and the homes, and residents lost their noise barriers. Quinn recently introduced legislation asking the General Assembly to authorize CT DOT to install sound barriers eastbound on I-691 near the Steuben Street neighborhood, on I-91 southbound between the Middletown line and Exit 18, Preston Avenue, for residents on Thurrott Avenue. He estimates the total coverage to be about 1.5 to 2 miles and the cost between $1 million to $2 million per mile, depending on how it’s constructed. Noise barriers in those areas were not included in the state’s project.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/recordjournal/article/meriden-highway-noise-complaints-quinn-bill-20063386.php

The administration of President Donald J. Trump has informed the Connecticut Department of Transportation it would, “to the maximum extent permitted by law,” link federal transportation funding to policies on masks, vaccines, tolls and immigration enforcement. The U.S. Supreme Court has held the federal government can impose conditions on federal funding, but those conditions must be germane to the federal interest in the projects for which the money is used and cannot cross the line from enticement to coercion. Lamont said Thursday that DOT was one of at least three state agencies getting directives establishing new ill-defined conditions for federal funding that arrived after a chaotic 48 hours of vague and ultimately conflicting advise regarding a pause in a broad range of federal funding. Federal grants are one of the two chief ways Connecticut pays for this construction, the other being state borrowing – which is repaid using sales and fuel tax receipts in the budget’s Special Transportation Fund.

Trump ties transportation funding to immigration compliance

A renewable energy company has proposed a 12,000-panel solar farm on Lantern Hill Road. The proposal before the Connecticut Siting Council, by North Haven-based Greenskies Clean Energy, LLC, would transform 28 acres near the border of Ledyard into a 4.99-megawatt solar energy farm. Such a farm would produce enough electricity to power about 700 homes per day, according to data from the Solar Energies Industry Association. According to plans submitted to the Connecticut Siting Council, the project would consist of almost 12,000 solar panels across 458 rows with 26 panels per row surrounded by a seven-foot-high fence. Under state law, the siting council has jurisdiction over siting, construction, and operation of solar farms. The project has received a 20-year power purchase agreement from the state’s Shared Clean Energy Program.

https://theday.com/news/698013/solar-farm-with-12000-panels-proposed-for-stonington-ledyard-border/#

Last week, President Donald Trump told federal agencies to stop disbursing Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act funding, including money that Congress already authorized. The move has thrown climate and infrastructure projects at various stages of development into uncertainty, as his agenda regarding federal government contracts and grants continues to rapidly evolve. Another major announcement this week around funding has led to more confusion. A Monday internal memo from the Office of Management and Budget ordered a pause on all federal grants and loans, starting at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Federal agencies must temporarily halt funding and agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, “including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal,” according to the memo.

https://www.constructiondive.com/news/trump-funding-freeze-iija-ira-projects/738504/

Principal Brian Scott said despite the subzero temperatures, most things went smoothly during the first day of classes in the new Torrington High School building Jan. 22. The four-story, 310-000-square-foot building will cost about $179.5 million, with the state reimbursing the city 85%. The middle school wing will open for classes in September. Wilson expressed thanks to Mayor Elinor C. Carbone, the Board of Education, the building committee “and everyone who worked really hard for the citizens of this wonderful community to make this happen. I mean, this is an amazing facility.”

https://www.registercitizen.com/news/education/article/torrington-high-school-open-20058065.php

Eight school building projects have made the state’s School Construction Project Priority List for 2025. In total, the state’s Department of Administrative Services is providing $152.4 million in grants to support school building projects in Fairfield, Greenwich, Norwich, Plainville and Woodbridge. The combined cost of the local projects is $262.7 million. The estimated cost depends on the building: Osborn Hills’ work is estimated to cost $597,500, North Stratfield’s is estimated to cost $652,500 and work at the middle school is estimated to cost $769,500.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/education/article/greenwich-fairfield-plainville-woodbridge-norwich-20036288.php

State Comptroller Sean Scanlon announced legislation on Monday that would target companies that are under investigation for wage theft by empowering his office to cut off payments for state contracts. The bill would create a system in which the comptroller would be notified when a company with state contracts comes under investigation for violating wage law. The comptroller could then choose to stop payments for that project until an investigation has been completed and penalties are finalized. Scanlon was joined by Rep. Julie Kushner, D-Danbury, who co-chairs the Labor and Public Employees Committee, Rep. Darrell Wilson, D-Norwich, Sen. Jorge Cabrera, D-Hamden, Sen. Joe Toner, executive director of the Connecticut State Building Trades Council, and Kimberly Glassman, the director of the Foundation for Fair Contracting.

Comptroller vows to fight wage theft with proposed bill

Joined by members of the legislature’s Labor Committee and representatives of organized labor for a news conference in the Legislative Office Building, Scanlon said the bill, if approved, would allow his office to take action against companies and contractors who are violating the state’s prevailing wage law. “As the CFO for the state of Connecticut, we sign every check,” Scanlon said. “If this bill passes, I will make sure that if there’s a company or a contractor out there that’s shortchanging workers, we’re going to shortchange them.” Scanlon was joined at the news conference by Kimberly Glassman, director of the Wethersfield-based Foundation for Fair Contracting. The organization’s mission is to promote compliance with laws and regulations related to public works construction. Glassman applauded both Scanlon and the Labor Committee for agreeing to raise and support the bill. Joe Toner, executive director of the Connecticut State Building Trades Council, said the bill would not affect the more than 30,000 unionized construction workers in the state, because they work under collective bargaining agreements. “This is for the unrepresented worker,” Toner said. “We want to make sure the unrepresented workers are being represented so they could enjoy the standard of life that we have in the unionized construction industry.”

Bill would allow CT comptroller to halt payments to state contractors accused of wage law violations

Programs that carve out participation goals for traditionally underrepresented workers on federal construction contracts may be under fire, but they’re not dead yet. That was the take from an attorney who focuses on these kinds of government initiatives after President Donald Trump issued several executive orders this week to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the federal government and revoked a ban on discrimination in federal contracting. The Small Business Administration’s 8a program and the Department of Transportation’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program set aspirational goals for women and other traditionally underrepresented groups to receive portions of government construction contracts. Those programs have faced legal challenges since the Supreme Court banned affirmative action in university admission practices in 2023. While the challenges put the programs under fire, they also prompted changes that could give them stronger legal footing.

https://www.constructiondive.com/news/trump-impact-dbe-construction/738159/

A proposed development with a hotel, restaurants and retail at the corner of Bridgeport Avenue and Long Hill Cross Road now includes housing. Crown Point Associates — owned by Jim Botti, Jr. and his brothers Travis and Trevor Botti — presented the updated plans to the Planning and Zoning Commission Wednesday during a public hearing on the application for a Planned Development District for the 18-acre lot. The public hearing was continued to a future date. Attorney Brian McCann, representing the Hawks Ridge Association, told the commission that the plans presented at the public hearing were a result of extensive talks between the developer and the homeowners. Botti was also the developer behind many other Bridgeport Avenue projects, such as the King Point shopping plaza and a restaurant and bank complex at 828 Bridgeport Ave., as well as founder of nearby Fountain Square, which is now under new ownership.

https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/shelton-developer-adds-housing-hotel-restaurants-20051664.php