New rail plan calls for New Haven Line improvements, better Penn Station access

John Moritz

Flush with billions of dollars in Congressionally-approved infrastructure funds, state and federal officials on Thursday released their 15-year vision for Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor that includes promises of increased service, quicker trains and new rail connections. 

The 457-mile link between Washington, D.C. and Boston — representing the nation’s busiest rail corridor — runs straight through Connecticut, where it also shares tracks with commuter trains operated by Metro-North and CT Rail. It also incudes Acela, the nation's only high-speed rail service. 

Each of those services stands to benefit from proposed upgrades included within the Northeast Corridor Commission’s Connect 2037 plan — which also comes with an estimated price tag of $135 billion. 

Less than half of that amount is currently funded through federal, state and local sources, according to the commission, meaning that lawmakers will have to come up with another $100 billion to fill in the gap.

The size of that gap has not budged since the commission released its most recent long-term plan drafted in 2021, even as Congress has approved billions through its Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 

The influx of federal funding, however, has allowed officials to begin chipping away at their “wish list” of neglected projects along the corridor, according to Mitch Warren, the executive director of the Northeast Corridor Commission. 

“Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, for the first time we actually have the money to move these projects forward,” Warren said. “It’s a very exciting time for the Northeast Corridor.”

In Connecticut, those proposals include track upgrades that will usher in speedier service along the New Haven Line, increasing capacity along the Hartford Line and the launching of a long-awaited direct service to Penn Station via Metro-North. 

Many of those objectives were presented as part of commission’s 2021 report, which proposed a “once-in-a-generation” effort to solve major bottlenecks along the route, including a series of century-old rail bridges in Connecticut that will cost roughly $1 billion apiece to replace.

Two of those projects — the Walk Bridge in Norwalk and Amtrak’s Connecticut River Bridge —  were among a slate of projects included in a $16.4 billion funding package for the corridor announced by President Joe Biden last week. The announcement also included roughly $3.8 billion toward the development of the Gateway Tunnel program underneath the Hudson River, which promises to relieve congestion for riders traveling south on Amtrak.

Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto praised the commission’s outlook on Thursday, noting it included several local projects vital to meeting the state’s goal of reducing commutes along the New Haven Line by 25 minutes in 2035. 

“There definitely will need to be more investments,” Eucalitto said. “But the funding that was delivered under the federal-state partnership is going to enable us to hit that goal.”

The majority of projects included within the NEC37 plan ultimately aim to move the route to a state-of-good repair, essentially meaning that trains can travel at speeds that the tracks were designed to handle decades, or even a century ago.

Traveling at faster speeds more typical of European and Asian high-speed rail systems, however, will require billions for new projects that will likely take decades to complete. Currently, Acela trains can only operate at top speeds along limited stretches of the corridor.

“It signals support for the rail system,” Eucalitto said. “Without showing that support, there would be a hesitation to invest in it.”

Eventually, Amtrak aims to be able to make the full trip between Washington, D.C. and Boston in under 6 hours with its next-generation Acela trains. That’s about an hour faster than the quickest currently-scheduled train along the corridor. 

A full roadmap for meeting that timetable, Warren said, will be included in the commission's next long-term plan set to be released in 2025.

OPINION: Company wants to blast away much of Ledyard’s historic Mount Decatur

David Collins

I will admit to having not paid much attention over the years to the significant incline that cars on Ledyard’s Route 12 must climb up and brake their way down, just north of the Naval Submarine Base.

The prominent hill that Route 12 traverses, towering over and looking down the sweep of the Thames River, is such a crucial geographic feature that one of the great heroes of the U.S. Navy, Stephen Decatur, built a fort at the top of it during the War of 1812, when his ships were trapped by a British blockade of the river.

Fort Decatur, at an elevation of 256 feet, gave the commodore the ability to see the enemy approaching from land and sea.

And now, some neighbors will tell you, Mount Decatur itself is under attack, with a proposal by its new owners, who bought the hill as part of the former Dow Chemical plant property, to blast apart some 40 acres of the hillside and remove and sell off the material.

Honestly, I am not making this up. They want to dynamite and carry off a big part of a significant feature of the town, which over the centuries has also been called Dragon’s Hill and Allyn’s Hill.

The project is enormous, unprecedented in town for its size, and would unfold over many years, with continuing blasting and trucking and barging the material away.

If that seems like a tough sell to the neighbors and the town in general, know also that they are not proposing to build anything there, just create a site for some possible but unknown industrial development at some unknown time in the future.

They are not proposing to build any taxable buildings that would create any kind of employment opportunities.

They are proposing instead to sell off some of the town’s history and geography, by the barge and truckload.

Opposition has been building, not just among neighbors — imagine living with years of blasting near your home — but among state and national preservationists who say the proposal to stop the excavation just shy of Fort Decatur itself, is not enough to save the integrity of this significant historic site and its surroundings.

A review of the application from the property owners, an affiliate of Cashman Dredging & Marine Contracting of Quincy, Mass., is scheduled to begin with a public hearing scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, in a hybrid format from the Town Council Chambers.

The hearing, which will begin with a presentation by the applicant, is expected to continue over a number of meetings.

I tried to reach the applicants ― I won’t call them developers because they are not building anything ― through their Montville lawyer, Harry Heller, who didn’t return my phone message.

“This is not just a local issue. This is a nationally-significant historical site,” said Stefon Danczuk of the nonprofit Preservation Connecticut, which is working with a national nonprofit, The Archaeological Conservancy.

The conservancy offered to buy the site but has not heard back from the applicant, Danczuk said.

The fort, which was a wooden structure, survives today as a footprint, where stone gun mounts are still apparent. It’s not open to the public, although the Boy Scouts have led some hikes to it over the years.

It has never been nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, although Danczuk said it meets four important criteria for being included on the register, including a link to an historic figure, to American history, architecture, and resources that have not been completely studied.

In this broad context, it may be unique in Connecticut as an especially significant historic site, he said.

Danczuk said preservationists will argue the commission is supposed to consider impacts of a proposal on the town’s natural features, which Mount Decatur could certainly be considered one of.

Most of the opposition to the proposal, though, is much more local and personal.

Elizabeth Smith, for instance, whose log-style home on Chapman Lane sits directly under a steep cliff at the southern end of Mount Decatur, worries about the blasting dislodging boulders perched precariously above her and damaging her well.

Also she doesn’t understand why Ledyard should tolerate the disruption from years of loud blasting and noisy trucks passing by with no tax benefits.

“It’s going to affect the whole community, and we’re not getting anything from it,” she said.

Expect to hear a lot more than that from residents, as the commission decides whether to allow the new owners of Mount Decatur to haul a lot of it right out of town.

This is the opinion of David Collins

Public hearing on Mount Decatur postponed in Ledyard

Ledyard ― The Planning and Zoning Commission Thursday night postponed until Dec. 14 a public hearing on an application to substantially excavate Mount Decatur after the crowd exceeded the capacity of the Town Hall Annex meeting room.

The commission formally opened the hearing before officially postponing it. The overflow crowd filled the 52-seat meeting room and an adjacent hallway.

No location for the rescheduled meeting was announced Thursday night but officials say it will likely be in a school building, and it will be posted online and in the newspaper.

The owners of the former Dow property on Route 12, an affiliate of a Massachusetts dredging company, are seeking permission for a years-long project to blast and level about 40 acres of Mount Decatur and remove the material that it plans to sell.

The project is drawing opposition from neighbors and state and national preservationists worried about the impact on historic Fort Decatur, which was built atop the hill during the War of 1812.

FuelCell Energy opens 14-MW fuel cell park in Derby, 2nd largest in North America

Andrew Larson

Danbury-based FuelCell Energy has completed the second-largest fuel cell park in North America, a 14-megawatt facility situated along the Housatonic River in Derby.

The company celebrated the opening of its newest fuel cell project on Thursday with state and local leaders.

The fuel cell park on Roosevelt Drive consists of 10 fuel cells, which convert natural gas into electricity through an electrochemical process that is virtually free of emissions.

The facility will supply power to Eversource and United Illuminating through 20-year power purchase agreements. The power is classified as Class I Renewable Energy.

The location was selected by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection through a competitive bidding process for clean energy proposals.

FuelCell Energy also operates the largest fuel cell park in North America, located in Bridgeport.

In addition to powering tens of thousands of homes, the new Derby facility will generate tax revenue for the city, according to the company’s announcement.

FuelCell Energy, founded in 1969, has its roots in Connecticut. The components of the Derby facility were manufactured in the company’s factory in Torrington.

FuelCell Energy said it is one of the first companies to adopt the state’s new “Make It Here” branding, which emphasizes the strength of its manufacturing base. 

FuelCell Energy is also developing a second fuel cell project in Derby on Coon Hollow Road, under the state’s Shared Clean Energy Facility program. When completed, it will produce 2.8 megawatts of power.

FuelCell Energy, a publicly traded company, holds more than 450 fuel cell technology patents in the United States and globally.

CT CONSTRUCTION DIGEST THURSDAY NOVEMBER 16, 2023

Norwich breaks ground on $200 million sewage treatment plant

Claire Bessette

Norwich ― Superlatives dominated the remarks made at Wednesday’s groundbreaking ceremony to signal the start of construction of the city’s new $200 million wastewater treatment plant.

Norwich Public Utilities General Manager Chris LaRose called the plant the largest capital project in city history while Federal Environmental Protection Agency New England regional administrator David Cash said it is the largest sewer infrastructure project in the state. And Jason Nickerson, chairman of Torrington-based general contractor CH Nickerson & Co. said it is the largest project in his company’s 84-year history.

About 40 NPU employees, city, state and federal officials gathered at the plant entrance on Falls Avenue Wednesday morning for the groundbreaking ceremony, followed by a tour of the aging plant that will be replaced piece by piece over the next five years. The project had been under design for the past 20 years resulting in multiple revisions and cost escalations.

State Rep. Derell Wilson, D-Norwich, recalled that he did his high school senior seminar project in 2009 on environmental science and the workings of the Norwich sewage treatment plant.

“To see it now come to fruition, 20 years in the making, being a regional asset, an economic driver for both Norwich and our surrounding communities is amazing,” Wilson said.

Mayor Peter Nystrom stressed the regional benefit of the plant and the critical partnership between NPU and smaller surrounding towns, with the increased Norwich plant capacity allowing Norwich to attract new businesses and surrounding towns to extend sewer service to their residents and businesses.

The plant is located on the narrow man-made island that splits the east and west branches of the Yantic River as it feeds into Norwich Harbor. The plant shares Hollyhock Island with Southeast Area Transit’s main commuter bus terminal and the Thayer’s Marine boat sales and repair facility and its related marine retail business.

Construction will be tricky, with large buses, boats on trailers and dozens of workers traveling on Falls Avenue daily.

The plant must also remain in operation throughout the construction, as aging sewage digesters, wastewater treatment buildings, large sewage pipes and outflow pipes are replaced.

“Over the next five years, the island on which we are all standing will be transformed into a modern, efficient wastewater treatment plant that will dramatically improve water quality in the Yantic, Shetucket, and Thames rivers,” LaRose said Wednesday. “Every community between Norwich and Long Island Sound along the Thames River – Preston, Montville, Ledyard, Waterford, Groton, and New London – will benefit from this project.”

The project is being funded with a combination of grants and loans, with $72 million in grant funding through the state’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund and $128 million in low-interest, 2% loans from the state Clean Water Fund, to be repaid by NPU’s 10,000 wastewater customers over the next 20 years, NPU officials said.

Graham Stevens, bureau chief at the state Department of Environmental Protection, said the project provides an environmental and economic benefit for the city and southeastern Connecticut.

“No longer will we see the overflows of untreated and partially treated sewage to our rivers,” Stevens said. “We are going to be able to handle wet weather conditions, so when we have these intense rainstorms throughout the summer, this new wastewater treatment plant and its systems will be able to handle those flows.”

Danbury Proton renews push for cancer treatment center

Michelle Tuccitto Sullo

Danbury Proton LLC has filed a new certificate of need application with the state Office of Health Strategy to establish a proton therapy center for cancer treatment.

The estimated $90 million center, if approved, would be at 85 Wooster Heights Road, in Danbury.

The OHS previously denied Danbury Proton’s plan, citing factors such as the financial feasibility of the project.

Danbury Proton re-applied for the certificate of need, or CON, in documents filed Nov. 6.

Drew Crandall, a spokesperson for Danbury Proton, said communication between it and OHS has been “significantly enhanced,” under OHS’ leadership since Dr. Deidre Gifford took over as executive director.

“In connection with this re-application, we will continue to work with OHS staff to develop a proposal that OHS can support,” Crandall said. 

Proton therapy uses a high energy beam of protons to target cancer. Proponents say it allows for safer and targeted delivery of radiation, with less impact on healthy tissue and fewer negative side effects.

“The reduced side effects of proton therapy allow physicians to prescribe higher doses to tumors, resulting in improved control of the cancer,” the application states.

Crandall said the need for proton therapy in Connecticut is “huge.”

“Right now, the closest facilities are in Boston and New York City, and they are turning away patients,” Crandall said. “They cannot handle the existing regional patient need.”

The Yale New Haven Health system and Hartford HealthCare have secured OHS approval for an unrelated proton beam therapy center in Wallingford.

Crandall asserted there is enough demand in the state for both facilities.

"Our original estimate for Danbury Proton in April of 2020 was $80 million, but with the delays, inflation and construction cost increases, our current estimate is $90 million," Crandall said. "We do not have concerns about funding, which will be accomplished through bonds."

CT GOP pushes pedal to metal opposing mandated shift to EVs

Mark Pazniokas

Republican lawmakers in the General Assembly on Wednesday ramped up their opposition to regulations that would commit Connecticut to phasing out sales of most new gas-powered vehicles by 2035, a goal intended to reinforce market trends toward zero-emission vehicles.

The presentation comes two weeks before the legislature’s Regulation Review Committee is to consider regulations implementing the latest revisions to California’s clean air standards, which require manufacturers to curb emissions by weaning the new vehicle market off gasoline from 2027 through 2035.

While the regulations proposed by the Democratic administration of Gov. Ned Lamont stem from a law passed in 2004 under a Republican governor, Senate Minority Leader Kevin Kelly, R-Stratford, says they reflect the desires of “unelected bureaucrats.”

“The majority wants to believe that California is better for Connecticut than Connecticut. Nobody represents us in Sacramento,” Kelly said.

House Minority Leader Vincent J. Candelora, R-North Branford, said Republicans are staking out a policy position, not framing a wedge issue for the 2024 legislation session or reelection cycle.

“It’s certainly going to be an issue that continues to be on people’s minds, but this is not about the introduction of the 2024 campaign,” Candelora said. “This is about protecting the residents of Connecticut and providing them choice.”

Adoption of the regulations is uncertain, at best. The 14-member Regulation Review Committee is unusual in that the majority and minority parties have equal representation, meaning that a negative vote by a single Democrat and the promised unanimous opposition by Republicans would kill adoption.

Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, a member of the committee who expressed doubts about the regulations in a Connecticut Mirror interview last month, said Wednesday, “I’m still less than enthused.” 

The 2004 law committing Connecticut to the California emission standards for cars was not controversial, with unanimous passage in the Senate and by a vote of 143-1 in the House. But a 2022 law expanding the commitment to light- and medium-duty trucks had only a single Republican supporter.

Republicans insisted Wednesday they remain committed to clean air, even as issues of climate change and decarbonization have became sharply partisan in Hartford and in Washington.

“I think it goes without saying that everybody here this morning loves Connecticut, loves the beauty of our state, loves its environment,” Kelly said. “And we all want clean air. We want better communities. And we are not opposed to those issues. The question, however, is how do we get there? We think that choice rests with the General Assembly. The administration believes it rests with the bureaucrats.”

The administration’s position is that the regulations offered by Commissioner Katie Dykes of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection do reflect the will of the General Assembly, as expressed in the 2004 and 2022 laws.

The Republicans say setting a goal of eliminating new sales of gasoline-powered vehicles, whether or not it was authorized by the 2004 and 2022 laws, is a major policy decision that deserves another look by the full General Assembly. 

House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said he favors passage of the regulations, but believes the new car market in Connecticut will be dominated by electric vehicles by 2035 regardless of whether the regulations are adopted, simply because the manufacturers will tailor their offerings to the huge markets of California and New York.

New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts are among the states complying with California’s advanced clean car standards.

“The shift to zero-emission vehicles is already here,” Lamont said. “Consumers and car companies are both embracing the change, with manufacturers significantly increasing electric vehicle sales and families choosing to purchase those vehicles in increasing numbers. Following the legislature’s direction and our neighboring states’ decision to adopt the latest California emissions standards will help ensure a predictable, orderly transition to a cleaner and healthier future.”

Ritter said the trucking industry has raised legitimate concerns about the feasibility of shifting to zero-emission trucks by 2035. So far, electric long-haul trucks have not proven practical. Diesel engines can be adapted to run on clean hydrogen that would meet the new standard, but the infrastructure for hydrogen fueling does not exist.

Dennis Lyons, who oversees the coach and tour group business for Dattco, a New Britain bus company, said electric vehicles make sense for its school bus business, with relatively short distances and ample time to recharge between morning and afternoon runs.

One of its clients is requiring all-electric buses next year. Another has shifted from buses powered by diesel to propane, which is a fossil fuel but produces fewer emissions.

But Lyons said they are impractical for its coach business: The distances are far too great, and the batteries are so large that the coaches could not accommodate luggage.

Connecticut Republicans also questioned whether the electric grid, as well as the network of charging stations, would be sufficiently robust by 2035. 

“Right now our electric grid can’t handle if every car were electric. We don’t have the capacity,” Kelly said.

2019 to adopt a framework for modernizing the grid, though the utilities have complained that PURA has shown little sign of approving rates that would allow the utility companies to make the necessary massive capital investments.

Republicans said they are wary of the cost of a shift to EVs or what it would require in grid modernizations.

“I see it as a kind of a reverse Robin Hood, because we have to subsidize the vehicles, we have to subsidize the grid,” said Rep. Patrick Callahan, the ranking House Republican on the Environment Committee. “And it’s forcing our middle and lower class to bear the brunt of the cost. And until we have a real system where we can get cheap, clean electricity in Connecticut, you’re simply trading tailpipe for smokestack.”

Connecticut generates about 95% of its electricity from plants fueled by nuclear power or natural gas. It no longer burns coal.

Charles Rothenberger, a climate-and-energy lawyer with the environmental group Save The Sound, said even in states that burn coal to generate electricity, a switch to electric vehicles still offers a net gain in cleaner air.

He said Republicans were engaging in fear-mongering, especially when they suggest that gas-powered cars would disappear in 2035.

The regulations only would apply to new vehicles sold by manufacturers and would not bar the continued use of gas vehicles or their purchase in Connecticut. Also, plug-in hybrids, which burn gas after their batteries are expended, are defined as zero-emission vehicles under the California standards.

Rothenberger said the concerns raised by Republicans, including unavailability of easy access to overnight charging by homeowners or renters who have no off-street parking, are being addressed by the state. 

The Republicans say there is no guarantee the current planning will produce the necessary infrastructure by 2035.

Connecticut is one of 17 states that chose to adopt California’s emission standards over the more permissive federal rules, an option that reflects the policy initiatives of two Republican icons, former Presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon, and a time when environmental issues crossed party lines. It is one of nine states that have either adopted or are in the process of adopting the 2035 deadline.

Reagan was governor of California in 1967 when the state created the California Air Resources Board to set emission standards and curb the choking smog generated by the state’s car culture. Nixon signed the Clean Air Act in 1970 and agreed to a provision that let California’s older rules stand and gave other states the option of adopting them.

Former President Donald J. Trump attempted to end the so-called California waiver.

Monroe Tractor Brings Case IH to New England

Monroe Tractor is adding Case IH's red equipment to Westborough and Woburn, Mass., and South Windsor, Conn., locations.

With 72 years as a Case and Case IH dealer in New York and Pennsylvania, Monroe Tractor has provided customers with red equipment to handle their equipment needs. Now, it is offering its New England customers more equipment choices with the addition of the Case IH Farmall series, Maxxums, Vestrums, Puma 150, and round and square balers.

With horsepower ranging from 25 to 150, chores can be tackled on everyone's to-do list, from hauling and mowing to loading and towing and then some.

"We are proud to bring back the iconic Case IH brand to Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Our knowledgeable staff looks forward to helping customers get into the right size machine to fit their needs," said Dan Duhn Westborough / Woburn branch manager.

"We take pride in this exciting opportunity to introduce Case IH equipment to the entire state of Connecticut and western Massachusetts," said Rick Bisesto, Connecticut branch manager. "We look forward to providing another line of equipment, top-notch parts and service to our valued customers for years to come."

Monroe Tractor has 18 locations across New York State, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont. It carries everything from tractors, balers, skid steers, wheel loaders, backhoes, excavators, portable screen machines, demolition attachments, precision products, and many other fine brand names for any large or small construction site or farm. Its late-model, low-hour construction equipment is available to purchase or rent by the day, week or month.

"We're here to keep you working."

NYC tackles overdose deaths in construction

Sebastian Obando

City agencies in New York are taking proactive measures to address the alarming trend of overdose deaths among construction workers, according to a New York City Department of Buildings release.

Staff from the Health and Building departments will be visiting construction sites to educate workers on substance abuse, the dangers of fentanyl, proper use of naloxone for overdose prevention and overall work site safety.

At least 269 construction workers died of an overdose in 2020, by far the most of any occupation included in the analysis, according to the release. The initiative aims to directly provide critical information to construction workers to enhance their safety both on and off construction sites.

The decision to target the construction industry follows data revealing construction workers accounted for the highest number of overdose deaths among various occupational groups. 

That mirrors national trends, as construction workers remain particularly susceptible to fatal overdoses, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The construction industry’s 162.6 deaths per 100,000 workers were significantly higher than the 117.9 in food preparation and serving-related occupations, which had the second highest rate, according to the CDC. 

“We know that an injury on the construction site is sometimes just the first chapter of a tragedy, and along with our partners at the Health Department we are committed to promoting the safety of our fellow New Yorkers, both on and off the construction site,” said Jimmy Oddo, DOB commissioner. “Through mandatory drug and alcohol awareness classes to qualify for site safety training cards, and direct outreach on major work sites, we are letting the industry know that help is available.”

DOB requires all construction workers on the larger and more complex work sites in New York City to complete at least 40 hours of site safety training courses provided by a DOB-approved training provider. The training also requires construction workers to take a two-hour drug and alcohol awareness class, in order to learn about the harms associated with chemical dependence and how it may adversely affect lives.

To date, a total of 335,244 individuals in the construction industry have taken the drug and alcohol awareness class as part of their mandated safety training requirement. DOB will also conduct outreach to contractors and site safety professionals in the city, asking construction firms to include drug and alcohol safety information during morning meetings.

Hearing Turns Testy as Developers Seek Approval for 508 Apartments Along Merritt in Stamford

Angela Carella

STAMFORD – This week’s public hearing on a developer’s plan to build multi-family housing in a largely vacant office park got testy all around.

Residents said the developer’s representatives “browbeat” them with false information about the effects of the 508-apartment complex proposed for 900 Long Ridge Road, and fudged a study to make it look like the added traffic won’t be bad.

The developer’s representatives said residents have no facts, only opinions, and charged that the residents’ stated aim to protect the “character” of their neighborhood may mask an ulterior intent.

Residents told Zoning Board members they should represent the people of Stamford, not the developers. The Zoning Board chair chastised residents for referring to apartment renters as “transients.”

And so the three-hour public hearing went. About 40 residents spoke, all of them opposed, with more watching on Zoom.

Joanne Mangione of Loughran Avenue said a complex with 508 apartments is “highly incompatible” with the neighborhood on the edge of woodsy North Stamford.

“I moved here seven years ago with three children to live in a quiet single-family home neighborhood where children could ride their bikes and play ball with their friends,” Mangione said. “Please do not ruin my family’s neighborhood. Are we only concerned about the developer making money, and not the residents who live here?”

Miten Marvania of Maltbie Avenue addressed Rick Redniss of Redniss & Mead, the land-use consulting company representing the developer, Monday Properties, which wants to replace two four-story office buildings with four buildings of similar height.

The new buildings, which will house 56 studios, 235 one-bedroom apartments, 202 two-bedrooms and 15 three-bedrooms, will be set on 36 acres just south of the Merritt Parkway. The site once was home to Combustion Engineering and Nestle Waters, now BlueTriton Brands. Today BlueTriton occupies one building and the other is vacant.

“I live right across the street from this project,” Marvania said. “It takes me 30 minutes to get to the train station. … This is not about making money. This is about people’s lives. You are not understanding what you are doing to people’s lives.”

Looks like L.A.

In Stamford, where several thousand apartments have been built in the last dozen years, traffic is becoming unbearable, residents said.

It’s not safe, said Martin Munitz, who lives on River Oaks Drive, a mile from the development site. Long Ridge is a big state road, but the neighborhood streets are the opposite, Munitz said.

The developer’s traffic study is “self-serving” because it looks only at the volume expected to be generated by the project, Munitz said. “We’re not talking about where else these cars are coming from and where they’re going. We’re not talking about all the FedEx and DHL and Amazon delivery trucks coming through these small intersections and going on these narrow streets.”

The neighborhood “roads are becoming cut-throughs for people trying to get where they are going,” said Human Khan of Shadow Ridge Road. “It’s because Long Ridge is so congested. I lived in L.A. for a few years, and this is starting to look like L.A.”

Long Ridge Road is a raceway, said Madge Kellick of Hunting Lane, a cut-through to Wire Mill Road.

“Nobody does the speed limit on Long Ridge Road. From there, we get tons of traffic flying through the residential streets,” Kellick said. “I can’t get out of my driveway … what are these 508 apartments going to do to help me get out of my house?” 

Sarah Thalheim lives on Vineyard Lane, which motorists use to avoid traffic backed up at the Merritt Parkway entrance.

“The aggressive driving reminds me of the Long Island Expressway,” said Thalheim, a former New Yorker.

Counting car trips

Residents had many questions about the traffic study Monday Properties commissioned from Kimley Horn, a design consulting firm. Redniss said the firm’s report shows that the proposed development will generate about the same number of trips as the office complex.

Residents on the Zoom meeting balked.

Patrick Kazley of Vineyard Lane said he read through the study and found a footnote that says it is in the developer’s “vested interest” to compare the number of trips that would be generated by the apartment complex to what was generated when the office park was fully occupied – not the number of trips since the offices are mostly vacant.

“Based on that, they are coming up with a number and saying it will be the exact same traffic load,” Kazley said. “They disclosed that the client’s commercial interest, not accuracy, drove the results of the study.”

His neighbors didn’t accept the results, either.

“I find it very challenging to think that a half-empty office building has the same traffic as a 500-unit apartment building,” said Julie Vasile of Vineyard Lane. “We need a completely independent company to look at the actual traffic. I just don’t believe data from a company hired by the developer.”

Redniss said the data is accurate and verified by the city’s Transportation, Traffic and Parking division. It is based on an analysis by the highly reliable Institute of Transportation Engineers, Redniss said.

But residents weren’t the only ones with questions. Morris of the Zoning Board asked whether the data is based on actual number of trips counted or an ITE projection. Redniss said the ITE numbers held up when they were compared to traffic at a nearby development.

“The problem we have on the Zoning Board is that the number can be wrong … but nobody ever wants to address that issue,’ Morris said. 

“There are predictives,” Redniss said. 

“I understand what you’re saying – we’re supposed to accept that as reality. We hear, ‘Oh, we talked to [the city] and we talked to traffic engineers and this is what it is,’” Morris said. “And then we hear from residents.”

The ‘runaway train’

Vicki Wray of Hunting Ridge Road said residents have little recourse other than the three minutes they are allowed to speak during the limited public participation portions of Zoning Board meetings.

“I feel like I’ve spent this time being browbeat by Mr. Redniss, in favor of any kind of development anywhere in Stamford,” Wray said. 

Development is “a runaway train,” said Paula Waldman of Old North Stamford Road.

“The boards don’t listen to residents. Many can no longer afford to live here. Condos don’t work for developers so they don’t build them. Young people will never be able to own a home because they’re always paying high rents,” Waldman said. “It’s baked in the cake … much of Long Ridge is owned by a big developer, so this is just the beginning.”

The scene for the tense meeting was set two years ago, when the Zoning Board changed the regulations to allow multi-family housing in the city’s five office parks. They are largely vacant, so city officials have been seeking ways to allow developers to repurpose them. The problem is that most of them are situated along High Ridge and Long Ridge roads, surrounded by single-family neighborhoods.

The distrust exhibited during the zoning meeting didn’t just come from residents.

Redniss said residents “just make stuff up.” Some residents said, for example, that 2,000 people would live in the apartment complex. In fact, the project would have 748 bedrooms, so if 2,000 people live there, there will be 2.7 people per bedroom, which makes no sense, Redniss said.

“It’s just amazing that we can be criticized for presenting data verified by the city, but people can make blanket statements without backup,” he said during the meeting. “If there’s an independent study, will they say, ‘Oh, yeah, this is correct?’ No. They’ll think of other reasons not to do it. … Facts don’t matter; people’s opinions matter.”

People, he said, “are not always right. That’s why this board has listened and why most of the time housing gets approved.” 

A call for decorum

Resident Maria Perez of Pepperidge Road said developers or their representatives should not address taxpayers that way. 

“It’s jarring to hear how they speak to the people of the city,” Perez said. “We should have a say. We are educated about what we need. We should not be spoken to like we have to be told that two plus two equals four.”

Board member Gerry Bosak Jr. agreed.

“I really find it a little bit offensive, the sarcasm,” Bosak said. “Members of the public are nervous, they fumble around to get their points across in the three minutes they get to speak. It takes courage to get on a call and talk about this. We need to encourage that. We need to be mindful of how we represent ourselves on this board.”

The Zoning Board typically approves the large projects that come before them. But when Chair David Stein asked board members to share their thoughts about the Monday Properties plan, they showed they are leaning against it.

“This is the type of building I expect to see downtown,” Morris said. “To put it on this site is like a travesty.” 

Member Rosanne McManus said she liked that the project would use only 30 percent of the land, but “it’s not exactly what I had imagined in a beautiful parklike setting.”

“I can’t imagine why anyone would want a studio out here,” McManus said. “Maybe townhouses or single family homes.”

Board member Racquel Smith-Anderson agreed.

“I would like to see if the applicant could give us options outside just apartments – if there is a pathway for home ownership,” Smith-Anderson said.

But land-use attorney Bill Hennessey admonished the board for thinking of their role in that way.

“It’s not appropriate for the Zoning Board to dictate the form of ownership, condo or townhouse or co-op,” Hennessey said. “You have to deal with the structures and the use, not the user. That’s important to remember.”

The board also should not consider “character,” Hennessey said. A state statute says projects cannot be rejected for incompatibility with neighborhood character, since it has been used to discriminate against certain populations, he said.

“The policy of the state is to create more housing, period,” Hennessey said. “The reason housing is so expensive is because there’s such a limitation on it and competition for it. The only solution is to provide more product, and that’s what the statute addresses. We ask you to think long and hard about everything you’ve heard.”

The Zoning Board did not vote on the project during the meeting. They tabled it until after Thanksgiving. To see the schedule, click here.

CT CONSTRUCTION DIGEST WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 15, 2023

Milford-Stratford rail bridge to be repaired, eventually replaced in $2.2B federal transit project

Nick Sambides

MILFORD — The Housatonic River Railroad Bridge's long recent history of malfunctions and repairs may soon be coming to an end as part of a 12-year, $2.2 billion federal project to first repair and then replace it.

Part of a $16.4 billion federal funding package designed to improve rail service along the nation’s aging Northeast Rail Corridor, the Devon bridge repair is expected to finish in 2026, with the bridge's entire replacement with a new structure occurring in 2035. The package includes Norwalk’s Walk Bridge $1B replacement and the construction of a new train bridge over the Connecticut River, said Josh Morgan, a Connecticut Department of Transportation spokesperson.

"Our railroad infrastructure is incredibly old and it is incredibly important," Morgan said Monday. "It (the funding) is such a game changer for making sure that our infrastructure can handle more traffic and outlive us for another 120 years."

President Joe Biden announced the funding package last week. The "bascule span deck" or drawbridge, features rail tracks that serve roughly 175 passenger trains a day as part of the Metro-North Railroad’s New Haven Line and Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. The drawbridge also controls boat traffic in the Housatonic River.

If 12 years seems like a long time in which to replace a single bridge, consider that the rail and sea traffic that it controls can't be rerouted while the work is being done, Morgan said.

"If it is stuck open or closed, it (the bridge) is stopping one mode of travel or the other," Morgan said. 

That's happened frequently through the years. The quarter-mile structure is 118 years old and has seen its day, said Morgan. In one of its worst malfunctions, in 2015, the drawbridge got stuck in the open position on July 1 of that year and repair work continued over the holiday weekend. It stopped train traffic for several days and rail commuters were reporting 10 to 15 minute delays as of July 6.

Nor can the bridge or its replacement be elevated to avoid interfering with river traffic. That "would increase the grade for miles," Morgan said. "You can’t have the train hit a hill and just go over it."

The bridge "is in bad shape," Morgan said. "It definitely needs the repair and the full replacement."

The $16.4 billion in new funding addresses 25 passenger rail projects on the Amtrak corridor. All of the projects will rebuild tunnels and bridges that are over 100 years old, the White House said in a statement. As matching funds, Connecticut will provide $45.4 million and Amtrak will provide $15.9 million for the bridge replacement, according to the Federal Railroad Administration, which regulates rail safety as one of 10 agencies within the U.S. Department of Transportation that handles intermodal transportation.

Lamont introduces new DECD chief in ‘transformative’ New London

Lee Howard

New London ― Gov. Ned Lamont introduced Daniel H. O’Keefe as his incoming head of the state Department of Economic and Community Development during a downtown news conference Tuesday afternoon.

O’Keefe, the state’s chief innovation officer, previously had been known as a technology investor, most recently as managing partner of Apax Digital in New York City. A Harvard University graduate, O’Keefe received high praise from outgoing DECD Commissioner Alexandra Daum, a former developer who is leaving early next year to accept a position at Yale University.

“He’s worked with countless technology companies that are growing and innovating,” Daum said. “Congratulations to the governor for a good pick.”

Meeting at the High Tide Capital redevelopment project at 133 Bank St., former home of Jason’s Furniture where 13 out of 16 newly constructed apartments are now occupied, Lamont said he wanted to make the DECD announcement in New London because the city over the past few years has seen a bigger economic transformation than any other place in the state.

“We’ve got a tailwind, and it’s a really good economy,” he said in a speech on the first floor of the Bank Street project, where High Tide developer Dash Davidson announced a Texas-based chicken and waffles restaurant will soon locate, marking its third location nationwide. “There’s something people are rediscovering about what makes the state special.”

In an interview after the news conference, O’Keefe said he sees Connecticut moving in the right direction with the recent news that the state saw a net in-migration of about 58,000 people last year.

“It’s really about vibrancy,” said O’Keefe, who is stepping into a job with a $215,000 annual salary.

And in his speech Tuesday, he elaborated by making a positive case for the future of Connecticut.

“The pandemic rewrote the rules, in a way,” O’Keefe said. “That benefits the state of Connecticut. If you have more flexibility on where to live, why not live in a place where the quality of life is high? Why not live in a place that is one of the best in the world to educate and raise your children? And that is exactly what is happening. People are voting with their feet and with their wallets, our population is growing, our economy is expanding.”

Lamont said the state experienced “a bit of a lost decade” before COVID, as young people left the state in droves. But now there’s a new growth in places like New London, which are in the process of becoming “beautiful, dense, walkable communities,” he added.

“It’s just transformative what you’ve seen in this amazing city,“ Lamont said. ”We’ve got to bring our cities back to life in a significant way. Our cities were 30, 40, 50% bigger a couple generations ago. And now they’re coming back, and it’s urban centers, like here in New London, New Haven, Hartford and Stamford where people are rediscovering our state.“

A case in point could be found at 133 Bank St., where the upper floors had been unoccupied for more than a generation before High Tide Capital started a transformation earlier this year. Now, the apartments are nearly fully occupied, and four of the tenants are from out of state, according to the developer Davidson.

“I think this building is a testament to the collaboration between New London and the state of Connecticut but really specifically to the programs that run through the DECD,” particularly the state historic tax credit program, Davidson said. “That’s the reason we’re able to do these historic preservation projects.”

“We just can’t wait to do more projects like this,” he added.

Darien Doubles Sewer Budget for Pipe Repairs, Flood Mitigation

Sophia Muce

DARIEN – Officials voted Monday to double the town budget for sewer system improvements — to $4.6 million — in an effort to combat flooding and lower an annual payment to Stamford.

Darien’s sewer system runs along 81 miles of the town, and flows over to the Stamford Water Pollution Control Facility for treatment. But with an increase in flooding during storms and “questionable” pipe quality, Department of Public Works Superintendent Ed Gentile went before the Board of Selectmen on Monday to request an additional $2.3 million for phases two and three of the town’s sewer project.

“Right now, I’m pretty much solvent at zero,” Gentile said of his remaining budget.

In October 2020, town bodies approved an original $2.3 million appropriation for the Gentile’s sanitary sewer system project. He said the department has completed phase one – inspecting the system, hiring an engineer and repairing some of the broken pipes – and was starting the second phase when he realized he was over budget.

“We’re projected to be at a total of $2.9 million,” Gentile said. “We’re about $580,000 over.”

Gentile said he dipped into federal funds allotted to the town from the American Rescue Plan to offset the overage, but needed the town to issue another bond to continue the improvements. 

The town has continually struggled to mitigate flooding during major events like tropical storms Elsa and Ida, which wrecked Darien houses and businesses.

In a memo to the selectmen, Gentile said the three-phase sewer project focuses on areas with high infiltration rates to eliminate overflow.

He also said that the project will reduce the total annual sewage to Stamford for use of their wastewater treatment plant. In fiscal year 2022-23, Darien paid Stamford about $3.6 million.

The two municipalities first entered an agreement allowing Darien to use the Stamford plant in 1971. Per their current five-year agreement, Darien can send over no more than 3.7 million gallons per day. Gentile did not respond to CT Examiner questions about the town’s sewage output on Monday.

Stamford calculates the town’s payment based on its sewage output and pipe size, so a more-efficient sewer system could seemingly help to reduce the town’s annual cost.

In a Monday email to CT Examiner, Stamford WPCA Executive Director William Brink said the city’s annual average daily intake decreased from 16.2 million gallons per day in 2021 to 14.6 in 2022. Despite new commercial and housing developments in Stamford and Darien in recent years, Brink attributed the drop to 2021 upgrades to the city’s treatment plant and new technology.

“The additional flow from new development appears to be offset by the use of flow saving water fixtures and appliances in new and existing development,” Brink explained.

But even with the eco-friendly technology, Darien’s payment to Stamford has increased by almost 39 percent in the last year, compared to their $2.5 million charge in fiscal year 2020-21.

In phases two and three, Gentile told the selectmen, the department will inspect, clean and fix the remaining 60 percent of the town’s infrastructure. Once the project is complete, he said he can finally be confident in Darien’s sewer system.

“The next phase, and even the next evaluation phase after that, is going to start wrapping up this town to an area where I know the sanitary sewer system is reliable,” Gentile said.

The board unanimously approved the appropriation, with little comment other than thanking Gentile for his work. On Tuesday, Gentile will appear before the Sewer Commission for their approval.

Developer Randy Salvatore seeks city permit for 473-unit apartment development on Hartford’s former RPI campus

CT CONSTRUCTION DIGEST MONDAY NOVEMBER 13, 2023

What does 'capping' I-84 even mean? Greater Hartford residents get answers on DOT's plans 

Emily DiSalvo

HARTFORD — In a futuristic vision of the capital city, cars travel on Interstate 84 inside a tunnel at ground level alongside the Hartford Line rail. Above, there are multi-modal boulevards with bike lanes, buses, and sidewalks.

In the vision, the cars and overpasses and exit ramps that currently consume Hartford's urban fabric are concealed, and the massive interchange linking I-84 and I-91 is relocated away from downtown. 

Understandably, Hartford residents, used to the highway's presence in the city, have a lot of questions for the Department of Transportation engineers who drafted the Greater Hartford Mobility Study, a plan that outlines a future just like that. At an information session hosted by DOT at Hartford's Chrysalis Center Thursday, residents had a chance to meet with engineers and consultants involved with the study and have their questions answered.

"I hope that they can stay engaged," said Kevin Burnham, a DOT engineer who worked on the plan. "I know it's hard when it feels like things are happening that are going to take another generation."

In addition to the public information sessions like the one Thursday, residents have been involved in the process of drafting the study since the beginning, according to DOT officials. Janice Flemming, CEO of Voices of Women of Color, a social justice firm in Hartford, said her organization has been involved in the design process thanks to "house party" meetings centered around transportation.

"When it comes to infrastructure, water, utilities — we're not like at the table, adding our input (normally)," Flemming said. "One of the things I thought the DOT did well is partner with the Voices of Women of Color for the year to begin to survey people on an intimate level."

The Greater Hartford Mobility Study, which has been in the works since 2020, follows decades of planning about what to do with I-84. Leaders have proposed tunnels, closing exit ramps and other fixes as part of the Hartford 400 plan. The mobility study proposes four major projects, Burnham explained. 

CityLink West includes the proposal to lower I-84 and cap the road to allow for development on top. "Capping" I-84 would mean certain sections that run through the city are covered so drivers will be traveling through a tunnel. While the cap is sturdy and can be developed on top of, not every type of development would be feasible, Burnham explined. 

"It might be some open space, it might be some smaller scale," Burnham said. "It's going to depend what the market would bear, what other things other policymakers feel is the right thing to do."

As for the Hartford Line Rail, it currently bends in order to access Union Station. Under the new plans, it would be realigned with the highway and accessible at a new station.

CityLink East centers around plans to relocate the interstate juncture to the North Meadows neighborhood. The area currently occupied by the interchange can then become a "boulevard."

The River Gateway portion of the plan would reconnect Hartford's "central business district" with the Connecticut River. It would also involve the construction of a new bridge to East Hartford.

"The River Gateway is about lowering 91, putting in an urban boulevard capping, and then having a river crossing between Hartford and East Hartford," Burnham said.

Finally, Founder's Gateway proposes the consolidation of the I-84 and Route 2 interchange ramps in East Hartford. These projects would occur alongside some shorter-term projects like improvements on Pulaski Circle in the South Bushnell area.

Some residents like Matthew Mocarsky said they are excited about the plan. Mocarsky said the most important part is the relocation of the interchange because he believes it will allow for residents to access the river.

"This plan goes from being more than just a mobility study and crosses over into an economic development plan," Mocarsky said. "You know, having access to the riverfront is huge for the Greater Hartford area on both sides of the river, East Hartford as well. Chicago's got it, right? Washington, D.C., has it. San Antonio has it. Why can't we have it?"

Other residents are concerned that moving the highway interchange will mean "making the same mistakes in a different place."

"There's very few like precedents around the country for highway relocation, for actually solving the issues that it sets out to do," said Phil Shattuck, a Hartford resident. "Those sorts of things, like the more answers they can give, I think the more comfortable I would be."

Flemming said in meetings with Voices of Women of Color, residents expressed concerns about losing parking to new bike lane projects. Additionally, Ivelisse Correa-Ojeda, vice president of advocacy group BLM 860, said she is concerned that highway construction and relocation could cause certain developments to be demolished.

"I'm curious to see the reconnections that will be made between the North End and the South End of Hartford," Correa-Ojeda said. "I just have concerns with the expansion next to Clay Arsenal and the residential neighborhoods that will be disturbed."

The projects are big and expensive, so Burnham said the timelines are hazy. Design phases for the highway portions alone could take until the 2030s.

"Obviously, this is a big project that will take a number of years to first go to environmental, design, and then construction," Burnham said. "So we're talking about 2030s to get a lot of these things going. A lot of this is hard to say because it all depends on funding."

But some residents say that they have no plans of leaving Hartford and will be here on the other side of it.

"We're gonna get it done," Mocarsky said. "I'll be here every step of the way. I'll help cut the ribbon."

Developer of Testo's site in Bridgeport sues to get permits back

Brian Lockhart

BRIDGEPORT — The battle over constructing a 177-unit, four-story apartment building at the former Testo's restaurant has officially moved to the courts.

As he promised in late October, Stephen Bellis, the attorney for the developer, has filed a lawsuit seeking to ultimately uphold the initial approval for the project and reverse decisions by Zoning Director Paul Boucher and the zoning appeals board to rescind that previously issued approval for the proposed housing complex at Madison and Westfield avenues.

The original zoning permit was sought nearly two years ago by Bridgeport-based contractor John Guedes, and prior restaurant owners Mario Testa, also the city's veteran Democratic Party chairman, and Testa's nephew, Ralph Giacobbe, with representation by the local Russo & Rizio law firm. That zoning compliance application was submitted in December 2021 before new, more restrictive citywide land-use regulations took effect the following January that would limit the proposed four-story building's height to three and also require ground floor commercial tenants.

The permit was formally approved by Boucher last October. The sale to Bellis' client, Amit Lakhotia, and subsequent closure of Testo's were then announced last November although that $3.5 million deal did not close until this past April. It also included a handful of neighboring vacant residential properties owned by Testa and Giacobbe.

There was some public outcry in May after residents learned the zoning authorization for the 177-unit complex had been approved by Boucher without a public hearing before the zoning commission. A few days later Mayor Joseph Ganim in an unusual move got involved and ordered the municipal legal department to review the approval process. Toward that end, the city engaged the private law firm of Berchem Moses. 

On July 26 that effort resulted in the issuance of a legal opinion that recommended Boucher rescind the permit due to alleged flaws in the approval process attributed to himself and the applicants. Boucher immediately did so.

But by that point, not only had the zoning authorization been in place for several months, the building department had also issued one for a foundation in mid-May and demolition permits July 17. The loss of the zoning approval resulted in the foundation permit also being revoked. The demolition of Testo's and the vacant homes went ahead.

Then in mid-August Bellis filed an application with the ZBA asking that body, appointed by the mayor and City Council, to overrule Boucher. That resulted in two nights of hearings in late October during which Bellis, Guedes, Lakhotia and Stephen Studer, a senior partner with Berchem Moses, made their respective cases on restorating the zoning approval and several North End residents, activists and elected officials opposed it.

Ultimately three of the five appeals board members sided with Bellis and Lakhotia, but they needed four votes, so Boucher's decision was upheld. Bellis immediately pledged to take the next step and head to court.

In his lawsuit Bellis reiterates the points he made before the ZBA last month  —  that the original zoning application was not incomplete and did not misrepresent facts as alleged by the city. He added revisions to the apartments plan, which the Ganim administration also used as a basis for Boucher's revocation, "are not true or sufficient" to support such an action.

Bellis further argues that Lakhotia received two zoning approval letters from Boucher prior to purchasing the Testo's property "and lacked any knowledge of the application being 'incomplete' or 'misrepresentations of facts.'" As a result, Bellis said his client "paid $3,550,642 for the property or approximately $21,000 per unit in reliance upon an approval of 177 units (and) obtained a $14 million loan for construction based upon 177 units being approved."

Lakhotia had told the ZBA, "If the project doesn't happen the bank will come after me, my personal assets."

Bellis in the court filing further argues that Lakhotia has "vested rights" in the previously issued zoning and building permits, meaning Boucher cannot revoke them by making a different interpretation after issuance or "for political reasons." 

"(Boucher) never claimed material fraud or violation of ordinance or statute," Bellis adds.

And while critics of the apartment complex complained it required and never received a public hearing before the zoning commission, another of Bellis' arguments is that Boucher's decision to take back the approval should have similarly been heard by that same body.

In a brief statement for his report, Russell Liskov, a municipal attorney who advises the ZBA, said he believed the board's actions were appropriate.

"Now it will be up to a court to determine whether it was appropriate or not," he said.

A $1 billion bridge. The $300 million pier. Why are project construction costs in CT so high?

John Moritz

At nearly $1 billion apiece, the cost of replacing a pair of century-old rail bridges in Connecticut makes them among the most expensive transportation projects in the federal government’s pipeline. 

Both projects — Norwalk’s Walk Bridge Replacement and the construction of a new bridge to carry trains across the Connecticut River — were included in a massive, $16.4 billion funding package announced by President Joe Biden this week with the goal of improving rail service along the nation’s aging Northeast Rail Corridor. 

Connecticut is slated to receive roughly $2 billion from the announcement, including hundreds of millions of dollars for other projects such as laying double-tracks along the Hartford Line and replacing power equipment along the New Haven Line. Additional funding for those projects is being contributed by the state and other federal agencies.

While celebrated by Connecticut’s state and national leaders, these projects have raised some eyebrows along with the question: why do they cost much?

The issue of rising costs has not been limited to rail projects, or even to Connecticut nor the northeast in particular. Study after study have shown that the rising costs of building infrastructure in America has outpaced inflation, and is more expensive than comparable projects in Europe and Asia.

One researcher who has studied the topic, Yale Law School’s Zachary Liscow, said there are a variety of short-term and long-term factors that have contributed to the growth in infrastructure spending, including the cost of materials and labor, as well as public demand for pricey highways. 

The biggest shift in costs, however, coincided with a rise in what Liscow and a co-author dubbed the “citizen voice,” in a 2019 paper. Essentially, their theory goes, as citizen advocates became more successful at holding up projects over environmental or neighborhood concerns, the cost of completing those projects exploded. 

“There have been many good impacts of this, in the 1960s the U.S. bulldozed neighborhoods, they were often low-income neighborhoods, in ways that were very destructive,” Liscow told CT Insider. “Now we have a different regime with its own costs.”

That effect was more pronounced in high-income areas following the passage of 1970’s National Environmental Policy Act, which required the completion of environmental impact statements on federally-funded projects. Connecticut saw the largest cost-per-mile growth in highway spending in the two decades following the passage of that law, according to Liscow’s research. 

Another — and potentially related — factor that experts blame for the rising cost of infrastructure is the length of time it takes to complete projects. 

In the 1950s, for example, the cost of constructing all 111 miles of the Connecticut Turnpike (which today carries Interstate-95) was $464 million, and took about three years to finish. By the early 2000s, when the state sought to overhaul a single, 7.2-mile stretch of that highway around New Haven’s harbor, the cost grew to more than $2 billion, while work lasted 18 years. 

“The No. 1 thing that increases the cost of projects really is time,” said U.S. Dept. of Transportation Assistant Secretary Carlos Monje. 

In some cases, the eye-popping costs of projects can also be attributed to the technical complexity it takes to pull them off.

In Norwalk, for example, engineers had to figure out a way to replace the 127-year-old Walk Bridge without causing major disruption to the 175 Metro-North and Amtrak trains that travel over the bridge every day. Doing that will require taking apart the bridge in pieces before putting it back together with a new, vertical lift design. 

Officials similarly blamed technical difficulties for the ballooning cost to overhaul of the State Pier in New London, which is projected to surpass $300 million. 

The project, which involves the construction of a heavy-lift platform capable of transporting components for offshore wind turbines, has been beset with problems surrounding the massive pilings being driven into the banks of the Thames River. (Others have pointed to allegations of self-dealing by the project’s construction manager, Kiewit Corporation, as an explanation for the cost overruns). 

One project along the border between Stratford and Milford, meanwhile, has the potential to become the most expensive in state history.

The replacement of the quarter-mile-long Devon Railroad Bridge — which, like its counterpart in Norwalk serves as a vital link along the Northeast Corridor — is expected to surpass $2.2 billion once all funding has been approved, according to a letter of intent from the Federal Railroad Administration.

Other commonly-hypothesized reasons for inflated infrastructure costs include the use of unionized workers or differences in geography between projects, though Liscow said there is less evidence to support these claims. 

Major project proposed for former movie theater site in Pawcatuck

Joe Wojtas

Stonington ― READCO of Old Lyme is proposing to turn the former Hoyt’s/Regal Cinema on Route 2 into a recreational center for pickleball as well as constructing four buildings with 124 apartments and 10,000 feet of commercial space on the remainder of the site.

The Old Lyme-based firm is slated to present its design plan to the Architectural Design Review Board on Monday at 6 p.m. at Pawcatuck Middle School. The board will only review the design and appearance of the buildings and make a recommendation to the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Formal approval of the estimated $25 million project is up to the Planning and Zoning Commission, which will schedule a public hearing in the coming months on READCO’s application for a zone change to Neighborhood Design District as well as approval of a master plan and site plan.

During those hearings, the PZC will consider issues such as traffic, parking, lighting, landscaping and other issues. The land between Route 2 and Voluntown Road is currently zoned as Highway Interchange. The NDD is floating zone that provides the commission with a great deal of discretion about various aspects of the project.

READCO, which has owned the property since 1995, not only built the theater there but a Stop & Shop supermarket, McDonald’s, bank and Stonington Medical Center offices. The movie theater closed in September 2022 when Regal went bankrupt. READCO President Michael Lech said his firm sold its other movie theater locations but held on to the Pawcatuck locations.

Lech, who lives in Stonington, said Friday that the project will be the first multi-family project along the town’s Route 2 corridor, a type of development he said his firm is passionate about. He pointed out that the site is not adjacent to any existing residential development.

Lech said his firm is partnering with the Ocean Community YMCA to transform the former theater into a pickleball court facility to address the demand for the fast-growing sport as well as recreational space.

The 10,000 feet of commercial space would be a combination of retail and office use on the first floor of one of the apartment buildings. He said they would be built along Route 2 to create a traditional streetscape feel.

Lech said that while there is no demand for theaters or big box stores in the region, there is tremendous pent-up demand for multi-family housing.

“We’re trying to help out and do our part to address the biggest crisis in southeastern Connecticut,” he said about the demand for housing, especially with the explosion of hiring at Electric Boat.

“We have a track record in southeastern Connecticut and we want to part of the solution,” he added.

Lech said his firm spent a great deal of time looking at the architecture in the borough to make sure the apartment buildings have a traditional New England seaport feel. The apartments would be a mix of one- and two-bedroom units priced at market rates.

As for traffic entering and leaving the site, Lech said vehicles would be spread out through the day and not produce the surge that is seen when movies are beginning and ending. There is a traffic light at the entrance to the site on Route 2 as well as access to Voluntown Road which also has traffic light at Route 2.

Lech said his firm wants to work with the town and community on the project.

“We want to make sure it’s done perfectly,” he said.

Lech said with the $25 million investment there would also be a tremendous tax benefit for the town.

Lech said the project ties in to READCO’s strategy to invest $154 million in southeastern Connecticut projects over the next two years.

On Monday, the Architectural Design Review Board will also review another proposed housing project on Route 2, this one a 113-unit affordable housing project with three-bedroom townhouses, planned for the former Rosalini’s nightclub property.

486 Apartments Approved for Springside Complex as Middletown Greenlights Additional 72

Brendan Crowley,

MIDDLETOWN — The Planning and Zoning Commission approved another 72 apartments for the massive Springside Middletown complex on Wednesday, bringing the Newfield Street development up to 486 units.

Residents in the area urged the commission to consider the traffic impact on the busy street, while supporters praised the developer for going beyond town requirements to hire minority contractors for the project, saying the work was a boon to Middletown businesses.

Attorney Meghan Hope, representing Newfield Development Partners, said the developer bought the 7.5-acre parcel along the Coginchaug River after the commission approved the other 16 buildings that made up phases one and two of the complex in February.

Phase three, approved by the commission by a 6-1 vote on Wednesday, will add another two, three-story buildings, each with 36 apartments, on the land now used as a tree nursery.

Commissioner Seb Giuliano said the commission knew the addition was coming, and there was no effort to hide it. He said he believes the commission would still have approved the development if it was all presented at once, and it fits one of the city’s top goals of increasing affordable housing.

“Nothing increases affordable housing like increasing the inventory of housing units,” Giuliano said. “That is the most effective, surefire way of stabilizing housing costs.”

Two nearby residents spoke at the public hearing about their concerns the development would make traffic on Newfield Street worse. 

A major road connecting Washington Street to Berlin Road in Cromwell, Newfield Street is packed with businesses ranging from small restaurants to expansive car dealerships. And at two lanes for most of its length, traffic gets heavy.

Traffic spills onto neighboring roads like Mile Lane, resident David Winkel said, with people speeding dangerously on the residential street. Adding nearly 500 apartments will only add to the problems, he said, though the developer’s traffic engineer Mark Fortucci said it would increase traffic on Newfield Street by just 1 percent.

Commissioner Marcus Fazzino urged the developer to ask the state for a traffic light at the entrance to alleviate potential problems. Giuliano acknowledged that Newfield Street is busy but, as it’s a state road, the most they can do is ask for a traffic light — the state can’t be forced to install one.

“There are a lot of things out on Newfield Street. I don’t think we can hold this one project responsible for what’s going on there,” Giuliano said.

Middletown resident Anita Ford Saunders said she understands concerns with traffic on Newfield Street, but overall believed the Springside development will have a positive impact on Middletown.

She was one of several speakers at the hearing who praised the developer for their efforts to include minority contractors in the work, exceeding the goals set out as a condition of a 10-year tax fixing agreement the Common Council approved for the development.

Saunders said phase one of the project will bring $2.8 million to minority contractors, and phase two is expected to bring at least that much to them. Phase three means even more work, and it sets a precedent for how developers can work with Middletown, she said.

“Middletown is known for our riverfront, and now Middletown is known for welcoming a private developer and its groundbreaking set-aside policy [for minority contractors] that builds structures and our economy, small business by small business,” Saunders said.

Commissioner Shanay Fulton said she loved that the project gives opportunities to minority contractors and develops the workforce in Middletown, as well as supports the city’s housing needs.

Commissioner Catherine Johnson, the lone vote against the addition, said she was in favor of the apartments but that the open space set aside in phase three was just a detention basin and shouldn’t be considered usable open space required in the town’s regulations.

“It’s very important to give people a place to be, not the skinny leftover [property] colored in to meet a requirement,” Johnson said. “I support the effort — I know 72 units can fit on this site —  but this site plan does not meet our requirements.”

Construction Underway for Madison Affordable Housing Project

Tim Leininger

MADISON — Construction crews have broken ground on the next phase of a new affordable housing development in town, called Wellington at Madison. 

The buildings at 135-137 Cottage Road will consist of 27 units, 24 of which are designated for people who qualify for affordable housing. The 2.6-acre site already has four market-rate units on the property, bringing the total number of apartments to 31. 

The four units, located at the east end of the property, were built while the project was being supervised by a different developer, said Marianne McDermott, director of fundraising and communications for The Caleb Group, a nonprofit that has created affordable housing communities in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. The project, she said, is in collaboration with HOPE Partnership, Inc., an Essex-based nonprofit that develops affordable housing.

“As an entity, they folded,” McDermott said of the previous developer. “That’s when The Caleb Group was called in to do this. We had to kind of start all over again.”

The Caleb Group took over the project in January 2020. 

HOPE Partnership Executive Director Karla Lindquist told CT Examiner that there will be seven one-bedroom units available for households making up to 25 percent of the area median income, six one-bedroom and seven two-bedroom units for households making up to 50 percent, and four two-bedrooms for households making up to 60 percent.

The remaining units are designated as market-rate homes.

Part of the Wellington at Madison project involves remodeling the Henry Josiah Miegs House at 131 Cottage Road, erected in 1808. The exterior of the building was preserved, as well as the fireplaces and some of the original interior wood details.

Four units will be constructed within the house, McDermott said, with at least three of them expected to be affordable housing units.

“We’re excited to preserve the Miegs house and integrate it into this community,” she said.  “… Every community in the United States needs affordable housing,” she said.

McDermott described Madison as a “high opportunity community” for affordable housing projects.

“The community was supportive of this and was supportive and welcoming and wanted to do this project,” she said. “Towns like that, it costs a lot to live in those communities. There are a lot of different scenarios. People do need affordable housing. It allows for people like older people or young families or working class families. Everyone would benefit from living in a community like Madison.”

The community will hopefully be finished in about a year’s time, she added.

For people looking to apply for the housing units, registration dates have not yet been determined. 

“We try not to start a list a year in advance,” she said. “Sometimes it offers false promises. When we have a strong sense of when the property will be completed, we’ll start on applications. The property manager will be beginning a list. People express interest before the project is even completed.”

Depending on the amount of applicants, McDermott said, there may be a lottery. Once applications open, they will be available on the HOPE Partnership website and managed by Demarco Management Corporation. 

“With the amount of interest I have been receiving over the past year and a quarter, we’re definitely not concerned we’ll need to advertise it,”  Lindquist said.

First Selectman Peggy Lyons said Thursday that she was excited to see more affordable housing being built, adding that the town is working toward the 10 percent affordable housing goal set by the state.

“Most communities have struggled with that. In some ways it’s an unrealistic goal. It’s a challenge,” she said. 

One challenge, she explained, is that it’s more cost effective to build dense housing. But there’s a lack of infrastructure in town to accommodate larger communities with affordable housing, she said, plus residents don’t want larger units. 

“What’s nice about this is it’s sort of a sweet spot,” she said. “It’s able to operate with a septic system and it’s creating housing options for people.”

Though the project offers more options for Madison residents, Lyons noted there can’t be preferential treatment for locals in the application process.

“I think it’s going to be a great addition to our town,” she said. “We’re excited to see it launched.”

Hartford’s Bushnell theater worries parking lost to redevelopment could spell trouble

Michael Puffer

Concerns over the loss of parking to redevelopment south of Hartford’s Bushnell Park could trigger a rare conflict between the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts and Capital Region Development Authority.

The two natural allies have slightly divergent interests in the three properties that make up a 2.2-acre parking lot bounded by Capitol Avenue and Buckingham, Hudson and West streets.

CRDA Executive Director Michael Freimuth, on Thursday, told the agency’s Regional & Economic Development Committee that Norwalk-based Spinnaker Real Estate Partners is seeking a CRDA loan to buy the lot from The Simon Konover Co.

Spinnaker’s 2020 purchase of a former state office building at 55 Elm St. from Konover came with an option to buy the parking lot one block to the south, Freimuth said. That option has been triggered, Freimuth said, and Spinnaker is facing a January deadline to make the purchase or let it expire.

Spinnaker is currently engaged in remodeling a former state office complex at 55 Elm St., into 164 apartments, a project backed by low-interest gap financing from CRDA. According to Freimuth, the Norwalk real estate firm is likely to pursue a mix of commercial and residential development on the parking lots to the south, probably with CRDA backing once more.

CRDA board member Robert E. Patricelli is also a member of the Bushnell’s Board of Trustees. On Thursday, he told the CRDA subcommittee that the Bushnell board voted to make an offer on the 2.2-acre site. The theater’s leadership, worried about lost parking for patrons, wants to ensure parking is part of any future development on the site, Patricelli said.

“We feel a solution to the Bushnell’s longer-term parking needs has to be part of the CRDA’s objectives and consideration,” Patricelli said. “Without that, frankly, the principal economic driver of the neighborhood, the Bushnell itself, would not survive.”

Freimuth responded the property isn’t the CRDA’s to sell nor the Bushnell’s to buy. At least for now. Spinnaker has an option to buy it from Konover. 

The Bushnell could approach either entity or both to seek accommodations, Freimuth said. By loaning Spinnaker money for the purchase, the CRDA would have some leverage over the site’s future.

“The one thing we can all agree on is we don’t want a long-term parking lot there, and there has to be something bigger than surface parking,” Freimuth said. “And that’s got to be part of any agreement and any deal and any structure going forward.”

The property in question is part of a larger 20-acre “Bushnell South” area targeted for redevelopment. The city, CRDA, Bushnell theater and Spinnaker all contributed to a 2021 redevelopment plan produced by Boston-based architecture and planning firm Goody Clancy. 

The plan calls for transformation of a wide swath of parking lots just south of Bushnell Park into a neighborhood of 1,200 households, mixed with parks, commercial space and parking structures.

Reached after Thursday’s meeting, Freimuth said Spinnaker would be seeking a $2 million to $3 million CRDA loan to buy the lot. The CRDA could negotiate conditions requiring development consistent with the Goody Clancy plan, and could include a deadline to begin development work, Freimuth said. 

Importantly, a CRDA loan to Spinnaker could rule out use of the site for a federal courthouse, a prospect Freimuth has voiced opposition to in the past.

The 2.2 acre lot is one of three candidates the federal General Services Administration is considering for a replacement for the aging Abraham A. Ribicoff United States Building and Courthouse at 450 Main St. 

The other contenders are a parking lot at 154 Allyn St., and a 10-acre property in the city’s Asylum Hill neighborhood currently hosting a state office building.

Any loan to Spinnaker would come with a condition ruling the 2.2-acre site in the Bushnell South area out of consideration, Freimuth said. 

Naugatuck officials looks to get brownfield grant for former Lewis Engineering site

ANDREAS YILMA

NAUGATUCK — The borough is working to obtain brownfield grant funds in order to assess some properties including the former Lewis Engineering site.

The Board of Mayor and Burgesses unanimously agreed at its regular meeting Wednesday to adopt a resolution in support of fiscal year 2024 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Brownfield Community Wide Assessment Grant and apply for the grant with an amount no greater than $500,000.

Borough officials hope to obtain grant funds for three locations: Parcels Y & Z, which are between the Naugatuck Event Center and the former Uniroyal property near Elm Street, the former Lewis Engineering site at 238 Water St. and the former Hershey Property at 889 New Haven Road.

The USEPA is anticipating the award of 60 community-wide assessment grants in fiscal year 2024 with an estimated $30 million available in funding, according to the resolution.

The request for applications offers a unique chance for the borough to seek the assessment, investigation and site reuse planning relative to several parcels. The grant doesn’t require any matching funds, the resolution states.

Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess said the borough is looking to get the grant funding to assess the properties in order to determine from an environmental standpoint what needs to be done to clear the way for development.

“We’ve already started, we’ve completed phase one studies and there is some work that we’re going to have to do there (Parcels Y and Z),” Hess said. “It’s not extensive but we’re looking for some funding to help us with that. We also are now including the former Lewis Engineering site because something is going to have to happen there.”

The former Lewis Engineering Co. building was demolished in late September a few days after a fire ravaged the industrial building, which caused a partial building collapse and prompted borough officials to bring in an excavator. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection officials were at the scene to collect samples for air monitoring. Workers didn’t find any asbestos or lead.

The two-story, 47,714 square-foot industrial building sits on 1.42 acres and was appraised at roughly $1 million. The building had been vacant for a while.

Hess said the borough has already hired a contractor to make the property safe.

“Under state law, we can go in and get the property safe and lien the property for our costs. So we’ve done that. We’ve hired someone,” Hess said. “We knocked down the walls that are dangerous and the property is now safe and we put a lien on the property for our costs that are in the hundred thousand (dollar) range.”

If someone wanted to buy the property, the person would have to pay off a $250,000 mortgage, pay the borough’s lien and then finally clean up the site before any development could commence.

“The estimated cost to clean site is about $700,000, which means that that property, for someone to buy it, is pretty much a million dollar bill to buy it,” Hess said. “So is it worth that? Is the developer going to buy it? Is something else going to happen? I’ll just say publicly that we are exploring all of our options.”

The site is an interesting property, in an excellent location and is critical to the borough’s downtown development, Hess said..

“We did meet with owner of the property and he is trying to find a developer to come in and develop a project,” he said. “I would be thrilled if that could happen.”