Following a lengthy due diligence review, Pennsylvania-based industrial real estate developer Bluewater Property Group is pushing ahead with plans for a massive robotic-assisted Amazon warehouse on a 183-acre site straddling Waterbury and Naugatuck. The wetlands applications are scheduled to be formally accepted for review by wetlands boards in Waterbury and Naugatuck this week, but these initial submissions are unlikely to spark much discussion or meet with approvals during the wetlands meetings in both communities this week. The applications are clear indicators that Bluewater has opted to push forward with development following a lengthy review. The original $2.5 million purchase agreement between Waterbury, Naugatuck and Bluewater required the developer to complete due diligence by last November. That deadline was extended by a year. Now, Bluewater is on a deadline to give notice of its intent to purchase the site in November and to complete the purchase in December.

Wetlands applications submitted for massive Amazon warehouse proposal in Waterbury and Naugatuck

“After consulting with the league and local officials, we have decided to debut the … team in 2026,” the organization, run by entrepreneur Andre Swanston, said in a press release. “This additional time will enable us to complete much-needed infrastructure work around the stadium site and continue to build out our talented staff.” Swanston had sought an initial $30 million in state aid. So far, only $16 million has been committed, mainly for cleanup of any contaminated soil on the construction site and to create public access to the waterfront, things that would need to be done ahead of any development on the property should soccer fall through. Half of that $16 million comes from the legislature’s newly-created Community Investment Fund, with the balance made up of grants from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development for cleaning up old and contaminated industrial sites.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/bridgeport-soccer-stadium-connecticut-united-19733322.php

Dan Sammataro, with his hard hat and reflective vest, was briefing DOT Inspection Team 1 one recent morning. It had been 10 days since the historic thunderstorms pounded parts of Southwestern Connecticut, flooding the nearby Stiles Brook that rose over a section of Route 6 and cascaded down the driveway of the adjacent 19th century farmhouse. The term of art for the bridge inspection teams is “scour critical.” When bridges and culverts are designed, the DOT’s hydraulics and drainage department estimates their structural capacities on a scale of one to nine. Those rated three or below are classified scour critical, requiring crews to inspect them after major rain events. Zach Lalima, a DOT bridge safety inspector with six years of experience, held the six-foot probing rod, with markings every 12 inches for measuring. Department of Transportation procedures kicked into place that Sunday night, as agency officials closed the region’s most-damaged bridges and roads, then set up detours for traffic. For many locations, the state’s seven bridge inspection crews made multiple visits.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/connecticut/article/connecticut-bridge-flooding-southbury-monroe-19725933.php

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