The Trump administration is canceling plans to use large areas of federal waters for new offshore wind development, the latest step to suppress the industry in the United States. More than 3.5 million acres had been designated wind energy areas, the offshore locations deemed most suitable for wind energy development. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is now rescinding all designated wind energy areas in federal waters, announcing on Wednesday an end to setting aside large areas for “speculative wind development.” Trump began reversing the country’s energy policies after taking office in January. A series of executive orders took aim at increasing oil, gas and coal production. The Republican president has been hostile to renewable energy, particularly offshore wind. Attorneys general from 17 states, including Connecticut, and the District of Columbia are suing in federal court to challenge Trump’s executive order halting leasing and permitting for wind energy projects. His administration had also halted work on a major offshore wind project for New York, but allowed it to resume in May.

Trump administration cancels plans to develop new offshore wind projects

Bloomfield-based CTEC Solar is planning a 14-acre solar farm on Hartford’s former landfill along I-91, a deal that’s projected to yield a few million dollars to the city over the next 20 years. The agreement is the latest in a series of arrangements where Connecticut cities and towns are leasing closed landfills to solar energy companies. The deals typically provide revenue for the host community while enabling the solar industry to cover essentially useless land with solar panels rather than taking out-of-service farmland, open fields or similar space. Hartford leaders say the agreement will be an environmental and economic win, with the city putting up no money while getting protection from sharing CTEC’s risks. Under the contract, CTEC is responsible for designing, engineering, install and maintaining a ground-mounted array near the center of the former landfill.

Former massive CT landfill targeted to become source for revenue and energy. The idea is spreading

Encompass Health Corp. wants to build a second rehabilitation hospital in Connecticut. The Birmingham, Alabama-based company filed a certificate of need (CON) application on July 25 with the state Office of Health Strategy seeking approval to build a $69.5 million, 50-bed, for-profit rehab facility on property at 596, 612 & 616 East Main St. According to the 467-page CON application, Encompass Health, doing business as Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Branford LLC, would construct a one-story, 54,765-square-foot facility with 50 beds. The construction price includes “land costs and the associated sitework for the property including, for example, grading costs of approximately $1.35 million, rock allowance of approximately $750,000, allowance for retaining walls of approximately $300,000, and underground detention costs of approximately $900,000.”

Encompass Health seeks state OK to build $69.5M rehab hospital in Branford

East Lyme, Connecticut, lies on Niantic Bay and is part of the Long Island Sound. The town has a steadily increasing population of nearly 20,000. Running through the town is I-95, which the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) and Manafort Brothers, Inc. are reconfiguring to improve safety and increase mobility. The project is taking place along a 1.33-mile stretch of I-95. The average daily traffic along this stretch is 80,000, and congestion is common. “The project will correct the insufficient sight lines that people have while traveling along the interstate,” said Andrew Millovitsch, the CTDOT Project Engineer overseeing the project. A final project element involves the installation of 16 retaining walls. Their size will vary from small to huge structures. The retaining walls are being installed to maintain the elevation changes. Located in Plainville, Connecticut, Manafort Brothers Inc. is a “demolition and construction company that performs specialty construction and demolition services as well as general contracting services,” according to their website.

https://newenglandconstruction.news/NEC/article/3416211A-connecticut-dot-project-to-reconfigure-the-curve-on-i-95-in-east-lyme

Three Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) projects won regional awards in the 2025 America’s Transportation Awards competition, sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). Twenty-six transportation projects were submitted by seven states and the District of Columbia in the Northeast Association of State Transportation Officials (NASTO) region for this year’s competition. Projects are judged in four categories: Quality of Life/Community Development, Operations Excellence, Best Use of Technology and Innovation, and Safety. On May 2, 2024, a collision involving a flatbed tractor trailer and a tanker truck carrying 8,500 gallons of fuel on Interstate 95 led to a fire that engulfed the Fairfield Avenue Bridge in Norwalk, Connecticut, for nearly two hours, heavily damaging the two-span structure. After the reopening, reconstruction of the bridge began. The emergency replacement project was awarded to Yonkers Contracting Company, Inc., of Yonkers, New York.

https://newenglandconstruction.news/NEC/article/648002A7-three-connecticut-projects-win-regional-america-s-transportation-awards

Motorists driving through Middletown on Wednesday and Thursday can expect road pattern changes downtown as part of the state Department of Transportation project to improve safety on routes 9 and 17. Union Street may be limited to alternating one-way traffic between Harbor Drive and deKoven Drive with some 10-minute closures for crews to remove the existing bridge steel overnight Aug. 6 to 8, the DOT said in a news release. The overall $50.4 million project includes installing a 1,000-foot, full-length acceleration lane for Route 17 northbound traffic to merge onto Route 9 north, and removing the Harbor Drive on-ramp to Route 9, it said. Retaining walls will be added on the west side of Route 9 to reduce potential impacts to wetlands and Harbor Park, according to the DOT. DOT advises drivers to be careful while in the work zone since there will be construction activity. The project was awarded to Middlesex Construction and is scheduled to be completed in 2027.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/route-9-project-bridge-middletown-ct-route-17-20797568.php

The State Bond Commission has approved $3.5 million for construction of a new indoor waiting room for the Metro-North Railroad station in the former Republican-American building in Waterbury. The funding is a part of a larger $20 million renovation of Waterbury Union Station that also will involve replacement of the existing platform and installation of a new ticket kiosk, upgraded security systems and an elevator. The $3.5 million was included in $1.6 billion in special tax obligation bonds that were approved Friday to finance various state Department of Transportation projects. The new waiting room on the south end of the former Republican-American building will be approximately 1,570 square feet and feature 21 seats, restrooms, water fountains and customer information displays, according to DOT plans.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/waterbury/article/waterbury-train-station-library-flood-funding-20798231.php

Plans for a 198-unit apartment building at 128 Broad Street were approved over two years ago by the Stamford Zoning Board, but the site has remained vacant since then. Now, the residential construction project is poised to begin construction, and a building permit is being issued for the building this summer. Several additional approvals necessary for the building permit, including a lighting plan and a landscaping plan, were granted by the Zoning Board last week. “It’s been two years,” said Michael Cacace, the attorney representing the development team, Stamford-based F.D. Rich Company. “You have have complicated site, and we spent the last two years dealing with a number of issues.” The development team has submitted a landscaping plan, a lighting plan and a design for the Gay Street underpass, which were required under the terms of the original approval. The Zoning Board had expressed an interest in making the underpass as well-lit as possible, and the design team said that goal was being met. The anticipated completion of the 13-story building is for spring 2027, according to the F.D. Rich Company.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/stamford-ct-apartments-broad-street-zoning-20796195.php

Deteriorating sections of a sprawling, World War II-era factory complex in New Britain will undergo a major renovation, thanks in part to a $2 million state brownfield grant aimed at advancing industrial redevelopment. The grant, awarded to the City of New Britain, will support an $8.5 million cleanup and renovation of roughly 123,000 square feet of long-vacant factory space in a five-building, 551,218-square-foot industrial complex that straddles the New Britain-Berlin town line. This $2 million grant helps make the next phase of cleanup financially feasible, Stuart Lichter, IRG founder and president, said Tuesday during a news conference held amid rusting beams and dry-rotted wood inside one of the buildings slated for renovation. Deputy Commissioner Matthew Pugliese of the state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) noted the broader impact of the state’s brownfield efforts, which have totaled $170 million in grants since the program began, resulting in the remediation of more than 2,200 acres of polluted land.

Sections of WWII-era plant in New Britain to be restored, repurposed with help of $2M state grant

After a failed attempt to convert the former MassMutual site into a sprawling sports complex fell through, new developers are detailing their early plans for the property, including a variety of new housing, and indoor and outdoor dining for both residents who would live there and the rest of the public. Developers floated their initial proposal to the Planning and Zoning Commission on July 24. The vision is to convert the property into a residential community that maintains and adds to the attributes that exist on the campus, said Eric Zuena, founding principle of ZDS Architecture and Interiors out of Washington, D.C., and Providence. He noted developers are proposing to carve out sections of the property into four separate lots to make zoning changes and financing easier to obtain.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/journalinquirer/article/ct-enfield-massmutual-mixed-use-development-20789734.php