A Wisconsin-based company that makes shipping, industrial and packaging materials is developing a 1.25 million square foot warehouse off of Interstate 395 in Plainfield that will create 200 jobs. The company, Uline, got approval to build the warehouse from Plainfield officials in April, said Kevin Cunningham, the town’s first selectman. Construction of the warehouse on Plainfield Pike Road started in May, Cunningham said, and the facility is expected to open in June 2026. The Uline warehouse is expected to bring in over $1.5 million in revenue to the town each year, Cunningham said. A limited liability company affiliated with Uline acquired the property at 143-151 Plainfield Pike Road in August 2023. The land had been part of an apple orchard at one time, according to Cunningham.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/business/article/uline-warehouse-plainfield-ct-wisconsin-20781122.php

A long-stalled plan to upgrade the campus of South Windsor High School could move forward in two phases, with the turf field centerpiece to come second. The Board of Education previously requested discussion of the project at the Town Council’s July 7 meeting, but council members postponed discussion to their next regular meeting while waiting for an updated cost estimate. Maneeley said the $2.15 million “phase one” would cover construction of tennis and pickleball courts along with their associated parking required by the Planning and Zoning Commission, and “phase two” would include the lighted multipurpose turf field and traffic improvements, as the courts must be relocated first. The $9.35 million project proposed by the town’s Public Building Commission would address accessibility and code compliance issues at the former Orchard Hill school at 350 Foster St., now the permanent home of the Parks and Recreation Department, as well as a potential roof replacement.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/journalinquirer/article/ct-south-windsor-referendum-high-school-parks-20780273.php

The vacant MassMutual office complex off Interstate 91 in Enfield could get new life as a sprawling mixed-use multifamily development. A Branford-based development group that recently purchased the 65.5-acre office campus, at 100 Bright Meadow Blvd., has submitted an informal master plan to redevelop the site into a mix of apartments, townhomes and amenity and commercial space. The plan is scheduled to be introduced to the Enfield Planning and Zoning Commission during a meeting scheduled for July 24. The master plan shows various amenities, including pickleball courts, pools and a clubhouse. An existing 452,298-square-foot parking garage would remain on-site.

https://hartfordbusiness.com/article/developer-eyes-large-scale-mixed-use-redevelopment-of-massmutual-office-complex-in-enfield/

The Board of Selectmen discussed Monday the idea of calling a second referendum on the sewer project in the town’s beach neighborhood, but held off making a decision pending additional clarity on costs. Shoemaker had drawn up a tentative timeline to include a Board of Selectmen meeting on August 4 to decide whether to move forward with the referendum, following a presentation by Old Lyme Water and Pollution Control Authority chair Steve Cinami. The sewer project is in response to an order from state to clean up contamination of the groundwater at the town’s beaches — Sound View and Area B and three private beach associations—Old Colony Club, Old Lyme Shores and Miami Beach. Old Lyme residents approved borrowing $9.5 million budget for Sound View and Area B by a 2019 referendum. But after initial bids in 2021 exceeded the budget, DEEP committed to covering up to half of the project cost through grants and forgivable loans from the Clean Water Fund. The new bids received this year came in $7.6 million higher than originally budgeted for Sound View and Area B. Although DEEP would cover half of the total amount, the town must vote in a new referendum on the total budget increase.

https://ctexaminer.com/2025/07/22/selectmen-postpone-move-for-vote-on-sewers-in-old-lyme-demand-clarity-on-costs/

“We want to streamline the rules and regulations around what you do as much as possible,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Thursday during an infrastructure conference, ahead of Congress’s Surface Transportation Reauthorization process later this fall. At the conference, Duffy signed an agreement with the Texas DOT that allows it to take more ownership of environmental permitting requirements, in an effort to help the state build infrastructure projects faster and to serve as a model for other states. The DOT also announced $488 million in funding through the BUILD program for 30 infrastructure projects across the country, ranging from bridge replacements to flood resiliency efforts. In a letter that same day, Duffy urged governors nationwide to assume NEPA responsibilities and take the lead on project delivery. Historically, federal agencies have been responsible for conducting environmental reviews and preparing documentation.

https://www.constructiondive.com/news/infrastructure-transportation-reauthorization-duffy-trump/753542/

Shortly before a highly anticipated public meeting Monday evening about its ideas for a sprawling residential development, Crown Equities abruptly dropped out — a decision that stops the project from advancing until September at soonest. The Minneapolis-based developer in mid-June showed preliminary plans for nearly 300 apartments and townhouses during an informal talk with the Farmington Planning and Zoning Commission. Last week, it put forward a revision with just 228 units, all rental or ownership townhouses and single-family homes. Commissioners on June 23 raised questions, particularly about the impact on school enrollments. Moderate-income Connecticut suburbs have grown increasingly wary of large residential projects likely to draw families, since the state provides relatively little education aid compared to what it gives poor suburbs and large cities. Farmington reported spending a little under $20,200 per pupil in 2022-23, and its enrollment currently hovers around 4,100. Last week, Crown Equities submitted a report from one of its consultants, Goman + York, concluding that the impact of the 228-unit plan would be about 50 new students.

Developer downsizes huge CT housing complex on river, drops out of talks

The $155 million reconstruction of Interstate 95 here has passed the halfway point, and in September it begins a new phase that shifts the current layout of the southbound lanes near Exit 74. Southbound traffic will then shift into what is now the project work zone, and vice-versa, Project Engineer Andrew Millovitsch said Thursday. Millovitsch said from July 28 until Aug. 11, the area of Flanders Road beneath and near the southbound I-95 bridge will be closed from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. to let crews safely install steel for the new bridge. After that two-week period, drivers can expect the two-week closure of the Exit 74 southbound off-ramp that drivers take to get to Costco. A detour will bring drivers to Exit 75, Millovitsch said. The project’s Resident Engineer James Therrien said the I-95 shift might sound like a big deal —and it is, especially to managers and crews —but to drivers, it won’t feel hugely different. The project is on schedule and largely on budget, with Millovitsch saying in March costs have risen about $6 million, relatively low for a project of this scope.

https://theday.com/news/766699/traffic-shifts-ramp-closures-coming-for-next-phase-of-i-95-project-in-east-lyme/

Plans last year for new transmission lines through two much bigger municipalities, Fairfield and Bridgeport, spurred the legislature to carve a role for local government and state lawmakers before the state’s Siting Council can approve a utility project. In East Haven, local activists opposing the expansion of Tweed airport, called into question the commitment of Democrats in Hartford to so-called environmental justice communities. This year the legislature passed a bill, House Bill 7004, to allow small towns with 16,000 or fewer residents to vote by referendum on state permitting of unwanted projects. A sponsor of the bipartisan bill told CT Examiner the legislation was a direct response to plans for a trash incinerator in Plainfield. But it could also prevent the construction of a second incinerator in Preston, and the third trash incinerator located in the immediate area. But a week later, on July 8, Lamont vetoed House Bill 7004. “Allowing permitting decisions to be overturned by referenda undermines the principles of objectivity embedded in our state permitting process, will discourage important investments in infrastructure, and will drive up the cost of living for residents,” Lamont said.

A Bill, a Veto, a Question of Where to Build What’s Unwanted in Connecticut

As residents near the Tilcon quarry continue to raise concerns over blasting vibrations, noise, and potential health impacts, town officials and local leaders are visiting the site Monday afternoon to observe a scheduled quarry blast. Members of the Plainville Town Council, town staff, and the director of the regional health district will be present. The blast, scheduled for 2:00 p.m., comes after Tilcon withdrew a request to expand its Plainville quarry by 83 acres, under pressure from neighbors concerned with the disruption and silica dust they say comes from blasting at the quarry on the town line with New Britain. The Plainville Town Council held a special meeting Thursday night aimed at addressing residents’ concerns. Paulhus said other concerns nearby residents have raised are the level of blasting, the vibrations and potential property damage, as well as health issues related to air quality and the quality of drinking water from an aquifer that sits below.

https://www.bristolpress.com/news/plainville-officials-observe-tilcon-blast/article_a5f86c99-b06a-4803-b094-bc8820587e97.html

Demolition started Monday on the last of the buildings in the complex to come to down, located at 270 Mansfield St. off Winchester Ave. The building being knocked down is on a three-acre site containing nine former factory buildings that have been unused and blighted since 1987. The tract it’s on will be redeveloped into at least 100 residential units or 100,000 square feet of commercial space, depending on market forces, officials said. It’s part of a larger multi-phase redevelopment effort by the Science Park Development Corp., which was founded in 1981 by the city of New Haven, the state of Connecticut, Yale and the Olin Corp. to redevelop the former Winchester Repeating Arms Company factory complex. The demolition, abatement and remediation is expected to end next June and is being done with the aid of $10.8 million from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/new-haven-winchester-factory-science-park-20778128.php