Calling it “critical” and long overdue, Danbury Mayor Roberto Alves and other city officials are urging residents to approve a $49 million bond package to pay for a new firehouse, technology for the police department, and a citywide road reconstruction program. Following a public hearing, the Town Council voted unanimously on Monday to authorize the bond and to place the bond package on referendum for Nov. 5. If approved in referendum, the new firehouse planned off Mill Plain Road on the city’s west side, will cost between $18 million and $22 million. Local leaders said work would then begin on the city’s roads with most of the remaining bond money. The bond package will also pay for a major overhaul of the city’s roads.

Danbury Officials Push $49M Bond for Firehouse, Road Repairs and Police Tech

The new $20 million Fairfield Avenue overpass spanning Interstate 95 is taking shape, with orange safety fencing lining the sides and wood planks paneling the bottom of steel beams. “Now that steel has been installed, we plan to re-open the I-95 south, Route 7 on-ramp lane to its original configuration in early September to ease congestion,” state Department of Transportation Spokesperson Samaia Hernandez said in the statement, noting that DOT aims to reopen the bridge fully by the spring. Construction has moved steadily since the fire and DOT’s goal is to pour the bridge’s deck in October, Hernandez said.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/norwalk-i95-cdot-construction-fairfield-ave-bridge-19727780.php

Project officials behind the four-and-a-half-year, $148 million Interstate 95 reconstruction project are warning travelers to brace for the most significant impacts to Route 161 to date. Resident Engineer Robert Obey of the Glastonbury-based engineering firm GM2 said crews on Sept. 8 are set to begin construction of a new bridge that by the end of the year will carry highway traffic on the newly aligned northbound lanes alongside a revamped Exit 74 on-ramp. The new bridge will be constructed south of the existing one, which will be demolished and rebuilt in later phases of the project, which is slated for completion in 2027. Obey emphasized the importance of watching out for construction crews on the highway and Route 161. The work planned over the next three months amounts to $25 million, according to Obey. He emphasized work in this $25 million phase of the project will bring construction crews night and day into roadways where they haven’t been before.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20240828/i-95-reconstruction-in-east-lyme-about-to-have-major-traffic-impact/#

More than a week after heavy rain triggered flash flooding in southwestern Connecticut that may have left up to three people dead, parts of multiple state and local roads remain closed, according to state and local officials. The flooding washed out whole sections of tarmac as well as bridges and rail lines on Aug. 18. Authorities have set up detours at multiple roads damaged by the flooding, as well as barricades or signal devices where damage has narrowed roads to one lane of alternating traffic. The state Department of Transportation says drivers should expect long-term closures at many of the state routes that remain closed.

https://www.ctinsider.com/weather/article/ct-flooding-road-closures-weather-19723618.php

In fiscal year 2023, the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division secured over $35.5 million in back wages for nearly 18,000 construction employees — more funds than from any other U.S. industry. Wage theft can come in many forms, such as not paying overtime, not paying union or pension dues or misclassifying full-time employees as independent subcontractors, who therefore are denied benefits. The reason wage theft is so pervasive in construction, experts say, is because it tilts the business playing field — albeit illegally — in favor of those companies that engage in it. When it comes to prevention, both Rosenberg and Nesse noted that involving labor representatives — unions — can make a big difference. According to Nesse, merely having a third party working to ensure employees get their due can prevent the issue.

https://www.constructiondive.com/news/wage-theft-construction-contracts-unions-labor/725028/

The city’s Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved a two-year extension for Nuvance Health for its planned construction of a seven-story addition to Norwalk Hospital. The two-year extension would be “more than sufficient,” Suchy said, and that “the hope is that construction will have commenced by first quarter of 2026.” The hospital is planning to build a new 191,000-square-foot patient pavilion tower with “associated site improvements,” the city’s website states. The construction of the seven-story pavilion on the hospital campus will replace the Community Pavilion and the Tracey Pavilion, built in 1953 and 1918, respectively, a statement from the hospital said in 2021. The new pavilion will create a “soothing environment for all by providing single bed patient rooms; modern facilities, a new medical-surgical unit; and a mother and infant unit, among other updates and renovations, the statement said.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/norwalk-hospital-expansion-planning-zoning-19717244.php

The North Street Bridge needs to be replaced, but its neighbors are not happy about the 18 to 24 month timeframe it will take. When the bridge was inspected on March 7, 2022, the town’s Department of Public Works found it to be in “critical condition,” which resulted in emergency repairs. But the bridge still needs to be replaced, which is slated to begin in the spring of 2025, said Gabriella Circosta-Cohee, chief engineer. Circosta-Cohee said the current replacement plan calls for the bridge to be constructed using the accelerated bridge construction method which, according to the Federal Highway Administration, is a way “to reduce the onsite construction time that occurs when building new bridges or replacing and rehabilitating existing bridges.” The Board of Estimate and Taxation included $3 million for bridge replacement in the 2023-24 town budget, but the board conditioned the funding upon holding public hearings and providing more information about flooding on West Brothers Brook, downstream of the bridge.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/greenwich-north-street-bridge-repairs-petition-19653898.php

With severe thunderstorms forecast for overnight Monday, state officials continue a cleanup and assessment of last week’s deadly flooding damage, which is expected to take months to and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Teams of workers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and federal Small Business Administration will start assessing storm damage to determine if it meets the requirements of a presidential disaster declaration. If it does, it will make storm victims eligible for federal aid that should greatly help them, Turner said. Such determinations usually take months. Exactly how much the recovery from this storm will cost taxpayers also won’t be determined for some time, but it will be a large figure, Turner said. Lamont visited Seymour on Monday with Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Daniel O’Keefe to announce his plan to allocate $5 million in state funding to a grant program for storm victims. Grants of up to $25,000 will be available for small businesses and nonprofit organizations in Fairfield, Litchfield and New Haven counties that had flood damage. The applicants must have fewer than 100 employees. Damage cleanup and inventory replacement are among the items the grants will fund, the governor said.

State Faces Long Road to Recovery as Flood Damage Assessment Begins

The town has secured $3.46 million in state grants thus far, has tentative approval for two additional $4 million grants and applied for $3 million more, all for a project to turn the Route 2A area in Poquetanuck from a speedway to nearby casinos or shoreline spots into an inviting village atmosphere. The town is ready to launch the first phase of the project from Preston Community Park to Poquetanuck Cove, which includes wide walkways, decorative lighting and crosswalks, traffic calming measures to slow down vehicles, public parking areas and a kayak launch at the cove. The state funding already secured by the town includes a $3 million Local Transportation Capital Improvement Program grant for construction costs, a $400,000 state Community Investment Fund grant for design and planning and another $60,000 from the Recreation Trails Program to enhance the project. Phase 1 is expected to go out to bid for construction next year. But first, the town agencies working on the project will hold three public forums next week to hear ideas from the public on what they would like to see included in the project.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20240824/preston-to-hold-public-sessions-on-poquetanuck-cove-plans/

On Thursday, students will return to school in the old high school and in January, they will move to the new building. With most of the big jobs behind them, crews have begun working their way through punch list items, said Building Committee Co-Chair Edward Arum and Superintendent for O&G Industries Brian Pracuta. Ground was officially broken on the project in October 2022. Initial plans for the 310,000-square foot school, which will house students in grades seven through 12, were to complete the high school portion by December 2024 and bring students in by February 2025. The project, however, is ahead of schedule so students will be let into the high school in January. Middle School students are expected to be let in by September 2025. Major Besse Drive will be closed and only accessible for construction traffic until Aug. 27. Public can access the property via Daley Drive behind the school near the athletic fields.

https://www.rep-am.com/localnews/2024/08/25/torrington-students-to-begin-school-year-in-old-high-school-move-to-new-state-of-the-art-building-in-january/