The Common Council voted unanimously at its Oct. 9 meeting to approve a $5.4 million bid for the project by Bristol-based Martin Laviero Contractor, Inc. The project will be paid entirely with state funds. New Britain Public Works Director Mark Moriary said the extensive project will begin in the spring and be completed by summer 2026. Moriarty told CT Examiner that the project will include narrowing 1.25 miles of roadway from 48 feet to 32 feet, installing new granite curbing, creating a new multiuse trail, building new concrete sidewalks and pedestrian ramps to meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards, installing new catch basins, milling and paving, new signage and pavement markings and new trees. The project is being funded completely by a grant from the state’s Local Transportation Capital Improvement Program.

New Britain OKs $5.4M in Long-Awaited Upgrades to John Downey Drive

The state’s Department of Transportation has expanded on its plans to overhaul and reconstruct the busy Bishops Corner intersection at North Main Street and Albany Avenue. The plans will be the subject of a public meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 22, at the Bishops Corner Senior Center at 6:30 p.m. The current sidewalks will be replaced by eight foot side paths that will be equally divided for use by pedestrians and cyclists. West Hartford itself is currently in the process of creating its own bike facility plan that will guide them in expanding and updating its bike lane network. The plans are estimated to cost the state around $7.8 million, an increase from the previous estimate of $5.5 million, which was before the inclusion of the new side path meant to accommodate pedestrians and cyclists. The state said that 80 percent of the project will be funded by federal money, with the rest being state funds.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/westhartford/article/west-hartford-bishops-corner-intersection-plans-19851300.php

The proposed 7th House Music Theater at 143 W. Main St. is in the final stages of financing with a bond closing expected later this week, said Robert Cappelletti, executive director of the Meriden Housing Authority. The Meriden Housing Authority and its development arm the Maynard Road Corp. has site plan approval to build the 55,000-square-foot mixed use commercial development and is now waiting for the building department to give it the green light to begin construction. If approved, construction will last 18 months. The theater has generated interest with local and statewide music promoters and radio stations and expects to book 80 acts a year. City Manager Brian Daniels informed city council the venue is one of two downtown projects that will significantly change the transit-oriented district and can be built in about 18 months. The Colony Project is developing six lots along Colony Street to market a lifestyle center to Millenials who want to take advantage of living near the train station.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/recordjournal/article/meriden-7th-house-143-west-main-music-theater-19851297.php

The demolition phase at the Greenwich train station plaza has been completed, and now workers are beginning the construction phase of the $30 million revitalization project that will yield a modernized train station, a new restaurant and new retail space on Railroad Avenue. Ryan Harvey, the chief executive officer of the Ashforth Company, which owns the site, told a gathering of local business leaders and elected officials Monday morning that the project was on schedule and ready for completion by the end of 2025. The event marked the construction phase of the project called Greenwich Crossing. The station was originally built in the early 1970s and was widely seen as outmoded. The modernized station will be recast with granite, cedar and a metal alloy that looks like bronze, and a large clock will be installed in the style of a European train station.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/greenwich-train-plaza-station-railroad-avenue-19852086.php

Hartford HealthCare has filed an application with the city of Hartford seeking to expand its 65-acre flagship hospital campus by adding five buildings. The special permit application to the Hartford Planning & Zoning Commission outlines Hartford Hospital’s draft “facilities master plan.” The garage expansion would be done in two phases and include demolishing the existing garage at 127 Jefferson St., which is slated to begin in early December. The proposal also would combine the lot at 127 Jefferson St. with lots at 143-145 Jefferson St. The special permit request is on the agenda for the next meeting of the Planning and Zoning and Inland Wetlands Commission, which is scheduled for Tuesday at 6 p.m. There was no official price tag on all the projects.

Hartford HealthCare plans new cancer center as part of major Capital City expansion

The Zoning Commission opened a hearing Wednesday at Town Hall for the special permit application for phase two of a proposed residential and commercial development for the property at 90 Old Firehouse Road. The commission extended the hearing to Nov. 20 at 6:05 p.m. before giving applicant Pennrose Properties more green lights to move ahead to ultimate development. Pennrose Senior Developer Karmen Cheung said each phases will include 60 units consisting of one or two bedrooms with solar panels on the roofs and retail space in each building. Financing has been approved for the project with work expected to begin in the Spring of 2025. Remediation has already begun on the parcel. Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess said the material that had to be taken off site by the borough for phase one has been taken away.

https://www.rep-am.com/localnews/2024/10/20/proposed-development-in-downtown-naugastuck-advances-following-zoning-commission-approvals/

The Board of Selectmen unanimously approved an agreement this week for wastewater treatment that town officials said would allow the sewer project for the Old Lyme beach communities to go out to bid before the end of the year. The agreement voted at a special meeting last Tuesday established the terms of service that the New London wastewater treatment plant would provide to Sound View neighbors and residents of the private beach associations Old Colony Club, Old Lyme Shores and Miami Beach. Residents of Sound View and the neighboring chartered beach associations would have to pay that amount — which includes the cost of treatment, the so-called initial connection cost and capital costs — in addition to the cost of sewer construction. The construction of sewers on the Old Lyme shoreline is a project that has been under discussion for more than a decade and is intended to replace the area’s septic systems to solve a water pollution problem identified by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection — a problem that many in the neighborhood dispute, pointing to a lack of up-to-date data on water pollution, to cheaper alternatives, and to the cost burden for less-well-off residents. DEEP committed to paying up to 50 percent of the estimated $53 million project cost through a grant and a forgivable loan from the Clean Water Fund to reduce the burden on residents.

Old Lyme Sewers Move Forward, Bid Expected By End of Year

Train service will resume later this month on the Waterbury Branch Line following weeks of repairs to sections of track that were washed away during Connecticut’s historic August floods, officials announced Friday. Rail service on the route was suspended on Aug. 18 and replaced with buses while workers raced to replace nearly 7,000 tons of washed out trackbed near the Kinneytown Dam in Seymour. The repairs ended up taking about 10 weeks to complete, and necessitated the construction of temporary access roads to move equipment to the washed out areas. Crews will be out over the next week operating test trains in both directions between Waterbury and Bridgeport to inspect the tracks and railroad crossing along the entire line. The DOT cautioned the public to follow posted signs and avoid walking along the railroad tracks.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/connecticut/article/waterbury-branch-line-service-returns-ct-floods-19846397.php

Three years ago city planners approved a new land use policy allowing construction of an office park at Remington Woods, 419 acres of forested property with a large lake. That plan, outlined on a just-launched website, lakesuccess.net, would set aside 358 acres for “conservation space” and use the remaining 61 acres for “renewable energy” projects. It also proposes construction of a “natural science center (to) offer visitors an educational and immersive experience with the region’s wildlife and forest ecosystem.” The company’s estimated completion date for the cleanup is early 2026. The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which would likely be involved should Connecticut buy Remington Woods, did not respond to a request for comment. Gresko would like to see the DEEP involved in some capacity but wants to be sure that agency can handle taking on the responsibly of more parkland and is not “overextended.”

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/bridgeport-remington-woods-sierra-club-19844696.php

Construction is nearing completion on the Bartlem Park South project, a nearly $8 million expansion of the town’s major park on South Main Street across from Cheshire High School, officials said. New playfields, including a new turf field with lighting, are done. Work is expected to be complete near the end of the year on a new bandshell, officials said. The total cost of the project is $7.9 million. Of that, $2 million came from American Rescue Plan Act funds, plus $750,000 in additional state grants. Contractor DeRita & Sons Construction Co. began site work and excavation for the project in March 2023. Kimball said in two recent reports that most of the construction was nearing completion, with final topsoiling and landscaping being done this fall. Scoreboard footings were being installed in September. The town’s electrical work was done and approved by town inspectors. Paving was complete with the exception of final work around the bandshell area.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/cheshire-bartlem-park-south-project-coompletion-19838656.php