Lamont and Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto of DOT hosted a groundbreaking marking the second phase of a three-phase plan for traffic mitigation and safety measures on the I-91, I-691 and Route 15 interchange in Meriden. The first two phases cost $135 million in state funding and $200 million in federal funds from President Biden’s bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The program in its entirety will cost over $500 million, 80% of which will be covered federally, Eucalitto said. Project labor agreements, which include terms and conditions for the work’s quality and safety, are another important facet of the project, said Andrew Inorio, the business manager of the local Laborers Union. “This is not about a job here today but careers for the next generation of construction workers here in Connecticut,” Inorio said. “These men and women will build the roads and bridges that we will all someday drive on… without their dedication to their crafts, jobs like these don’t get built to the highest standard of quality.”

Lamont celebrates highway project amid industry frustration

Twelve years after New Britain launched an eight-phase program to beautify downtown, improve pedestrian and bike access and encourage business growth, the Public Works Department will complete the final part of the project this week. The Complete Streets project, the bulk of which covers about four miles of downtown, has attracted over $250 million in private investment with tens of millions more expected, according to city officials. They also noted that the city has invested over $60 million in the project and secured more than $32 million in grant funding. “The actual [Complete Streets] project has made the entire downtown area not just connected, but more pedestrian-friendly,” Carrier told CT Examiner on Monday. “Decades ago, the downtown was stagnate; we weren’t encouraging development. But since [CT]fastrak and Complete Streets, there have been a lot of opportunities for development.”

New Britain’s 12-Year-Long Downtown Revitalization Project Nears Completion

The state is again paving the way to further the Constitution Boulevard West extension. The State Bond Commission, at its meeting Friday, approved $1.6 million to support what will be Phase Two of the road’s extension. The city received $5 million from the state in 2022 to complete Phase One of the project, which is already underway. That calls for the connection from Bridgeport Avenue to the Mas property. Phase Two is the roadway work through the Mas property. Construction of Phase One of the Constitution Boulevard West extension was expected to begin again in earnest this spring but remains delayed, according to Lauretti, as the city awaits permitting from the state Department of Transportation. Mike Kanios, the city’s public works director, has stated the goal is to have Phase One done by the fall, but added that some Phase Two work will likely be done during this time, too. Kanios has stated he expects the entire project to be completed by spring of 2025.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/shelton-receives-1-6m-ct-grant-constitution-19495749.php

Within a total of about $857 million in new borrowing approved on Friday, the State Bond Commission voted to approve $74 million for its Community Investment Fund last week, including major allocations for affordable housing and other issues. The Community Investment Fund 2030 – which is part of the larger bond allocations for the fiscal year that totaled over $3.5 billion – is part of the state’s effort to invest in towns around Connecticut through state-funded grants to be spent on issues like fixing brownfields and building more affordable housing. It marks the second time in as many years that Hamden has received state funding for affordable housing, with the city getting $26 million in 2023. The governor explained that the approval of these state funds is expected to unlock $562,500 in federal matching funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service to assist in the effort.

Bond Commission Approves $74 Million For Flood Mitigation, Affordable Housing, Other Projects

A large apartment project proposed for 900 Long Ridge Road has become a test for just how much development residents will accept for the northern half of the city, near the Merritt Parkway. After an outcry from parkway-area residents, members of the Zoning Board in November rejected a plan by Monday Properties to build more than 500 apartments in the mostly empty office park on Long Ridge Road. A month later, Monday Properties appealed the Zoning Board’s decision. Each side now has stated its case in state Superior Court in Hartford, where the matter was assigned. In its brief, Monday Properties chastised Stamford residents who oppose the project as NIMBYs, and chastised the Zoning Board for succumbing to their pressure.

Stamford Redevelopment in the Courts, as Building Boom Moves North

State officials have offered a grant worth up to $1.6 million for the city to create traffic and pedestrian upgrades to Foxon Boulevard. City Engineer Giovanni Zinn said in an April letter to Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker Myers announcing the funds that the corridor has “safety needs” that can be addressed by the grant. The city will be responsible for the design and construction of the improvements by August 2025, after which state crews will repave the road, according to Zinn. The city and state will also enter an agreement as to the maintenance of the medians, including energy costs, damage repairs and landscaping. In an unrelated project, the city has plans to install red light cameras at the intersection of Foxon and Quinnipiac, which is also expected for 2025.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/new-haven-foxon-blvd-safety-upgrades-state-funds-19496337.php

The revitalization of Norwalk’s Wall Street area has been a community goal since a flood in 1955 devastated the area. Now the city is undertaking $25 million in grant-funded projects to revive it. So far, Norwalk has been allocated $18 million in state and federal grants to redesign the streets, expand the sidewalks, add more street trees, improve lighting, and raise crosswalks. Phase 1 will break ground on Aug. 5 on Wall Street between Main Street and Brook Street. This stretch of Wall Street revitalization will be paid for with a $2.4 million grant from the state. About $2 million was used for a contract with Waters Construction, based in Bridgeport. The rest of the funds will be used by the city for other preparation work, Travers explained.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/norwalk-wall-street-revitalization-development-19459433.php

The city is receiving $9 million in state bond funds, including more than $6.4 million from the state Community Investment Fund, that will aid two redevelopment projects in South Norwalk. A total of $3.4 million is allocated to the redevelopment of Meadow Gardens. Under the authority of the Norwalk Housing Authority and in partnership with Sound Communities, the 54 units at 45 Meadow St. will be redeveloped into 55 new units and a community center. The State Bond Commission approved the bonds on Friday in the special meeting, in which over $519 million in general obligations allocations were approved statewide, as well as nearly $337 million in special tax obligation bonds that are mostly used to cover transportation projects such as highway construction and mass transit, according to Office of Policy and Management spokesman Chris Collibee. Another $3 million is going toward the Norwalk Redevelopment Agency’s project to improve the streetscapes in South Norwalk, with a focus on pedestrian mobility.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/norwalk-secures-9-m-state-funds-redevelopment-19492923.php

The first two new elementary schools in a $385 million school construction project received their first local permit approvals Thursday, with plans showing how the two schools would be situated on their properties. The Inland Wetlands, Watercourses and Conservation Commission approved wetlands applications for the proposed new Greeneville and John B. Stanton elementary schools. Both sites posed challenges and involved disturbances of small amounts of wetlands, project engineers told the commission. The two schools should be put out to bid by the end of the year. The proposed new Greeneville School would occupy the site of the former Greeneville School on Golden Street and other adjacent city property on Boswell Avenue, the site complicated by both wetlands and ledge. The project would require filling about 4,500 square feet of wetlands, with the creation of 3,000 square feet of new wetlands as mitigation. Stormwater runoff from the buildings and parking lots would be collected, treated and allowed to seep into existing wetlands and city drains at a slow pace to avoid erosion, engineers said.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20240608/two-proposed-norwich-elementary-schools-receive-wetlands-approvals/

The commission approved $2 million for Montville to build a new animal control facility to replace the current one at 225 Maple Ave., which for years has failed to meet state Department of Agriculture regulations. The new shelter, which will be built in the same location, at the town’s public works department, is expected to provide safer and more humane conditions to both animals and staff, and serve residents of Montville, Bozrah, and Salem, along with the Mohegan Tribal Nation. Proposals for an expanded child care facility in Groton, waterfront improvements in Norwich, and an urban art project at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum in New London are receiving funding under the Community Investment Fund. Over the next few months, NCDC will seek estimates and renderings for the proposals and elicit public comment on the ideas. The commission approved $1.6 million in state funding for New London’s Lyman Allyn Art Museum that will help fund a 12-acre “urban art park” project.

https://www.theday.com/state/20240607/state-bond-commission-approves-funding-for-montville-animal-shelter-groton-childcare-facility-stat/