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/

Plans to update four schools in Lyme-Old Lyme may cost considerably more than anticipated, given bids discussed on Monday by the Board of Education’s Building Committee. CT Examiner reviewed a number of budget and bid documents prepared by Downes Construction, which is overseeing the project for the district. With bids for Mile Creek Elementary School, the largest single portion of the schools project, still outstanding, Downes told the committee that the total costs were already $7.7 million over budget. Voters in Lyme and Old Lyme approved $57.5 million in borrowing in 2022. So far, bids on the project have exceeded estimates by 27 percent. Planned projects include code upgrades, repairing HVAC systems, boilers, fire protection systems and other improvements at Lyme Consolidated School, Mile Creek Elementary School, Center School and Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School. At Monday’s meeting, Downes suggested that the scope of that work could be scaled back to bring down costs.

Lyme-Old Lyme School Construction Hit With Higher Costs, Possible Cuts

There will be no referendum in November to change either the price or the scope of the $385 million school construction project, leaving project planners with a mandate to complete it for the price approved by voters. The City Council on Monday withdrew two competing ordinances, one to raise the price by $50 million and one to cut the scope of the project to $342 million. Both the School Building Committee and the Board of Education last week voted to recommend no new referendum, affirming they could revise the project to meet the $385 million approved by voters in 2022. The biggest revision so far was to correct a mathematical error that overestimated middle school enrollment by 200 students. The correction allowed a reduction in size for the middle school, dropping the projected cost from $99 million to either $72.5 million for a new school or $69.27 million for extensive renovations.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20240821/norwich-schools-project-to-stay-within-385-million-budget/

Sunday’s downpours resulted in flooding that killed two women in Oxford, compromised or destroyed 27 state bridges and dozens more local bridges, culverts and road shoulders. “Until we clear all the debris out, we don’t know if those wall structures are able to be saved or not,” Eucalitto said, pointing to a nearby storm water catch basin. “This must have gotten clogged with debris, so the water just found its way around that way instead,” describing the way the flood changed the course of the brook, now making rebuilding even tougher. “We’re looking at tens of millions of dollars in roadway repairs and reconstruction,” he said during a brief tour and interview. Above, as a reminder, a little gray cloud in the otherwise sunny afternoon dropped some drizzle. “Right now, we’re reallocating resources that we have available. Moving funds around.” Department workers were on duty nonstop from Sunday night through Tuesday and now they’ll be stationed full-time at places where traffic needs to share the road, which in some cases, like along Route 34 in Newtown, is a single lane.

https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/ct-flooding-southbury-roads-19715581.php