CT Construction Digest Thursday August 8, 2024
Tolland Route 74 bridge reconstruction completed earlier than anticipated
TOLLAND — The Route 74 Bridge over the Skungamaug River, near Skungamaug Road reopened for travel on Tuesday — ahead of schedule.
It was originally scheduled to open in September, and then on Aug. 8.
"This project was completed ahead of schedule thanks to strong partnerships between (the Connecticut Department of Transportation), the town, and ROTHA Contracting," Joe Cooper of the DOT said.
Cooper said that recent inspections determined that the bridge had to be replaced instead of rehabbed because its bridge deck and superstructure were in poor condition.
“With the possibility of the Route 74 Bridge and road being closed into the start of our school year, our town, school buses, and public safety were all engaged in planning and contingency planning for this main bus route issue," Town Manager Brian Foley said at Tuesday's ribbon cutting ceremony for the bridge. "Thankfully, the Connecticut Department of Transportation completed the project with plenty of summer vacation left."
The project was awarded to the ROTHA Contracting Company, Inc., located in Avon, on Aug. 16.
The cost of the project was $4,779,424.50, and was administered by the Bureau of Engineering and Construction, Office of Construction, District 1 in Rocky Hill.
"The project was 80 percent federally funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and 20 percent state funded," Foley said.
Cooper said that tree clearing and installation of access roads were completed in fall 2023, allowing for utility relocations throughout the winter, and that ROTHA Contracting closed the bridge and installed detour signs in May of this year.
Greg DeBacco, owner of Bill's Auto Parts said that he liked when the bridge was closed.
"Less traffic. That's what's good about it," DeBacco said. "Now we got more traffic."
Resident Rick Ostien had front row seats to the construction activity, as his home is located in close proximity to the bridge, and he is pleased.
"This bridge needed it," Ostien said. "We were very fortunate that it didn't collapse with the amount of traffic that comes through. I'm glad to see it opened up."
Ostien said that one day during the construction period, the contractors went beyond their job duties to assist his family with leaving their home.
"As far as the contractors go, these guys are great, cordial. 'What can we do for you,?'" Ostien said. "The other day when they were paving, my wife had to take our sick dog to the vet. Well, you couldn't get out, so my daughter-in-law picked her up where the white signs are, and they put a tarp across the tar — one of the state surveyors did, so they could walk across the hot tar."
According to the CTDOT website, there is still work to be done on the road. Following the reopening, there will be one-way alternating traffic on Route 74, with possible lane closures from Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., until the remaining construction and utility work activities are completed.
And while the rest of the work gets done, Ostien has an idea for another task that can be added to the list to combat accidents that he's seen on the road.
"I hope they put up speed cameras, because you don't need to go 65 through here," Ostien said. "Maybe the seniors will start walking again like before. They stopped because it was dangerous."
Meriden moves forward on 116 Cook Ave. demolition
MERIDEN — City officials are waiting for one document before the state approves the demolition of 116 Cook Ave. and it can finalize hiring a contractor.
"We just have one report from an environmental firm to show what's in the building," said Economic Development Director Joseph Feest. "The state Department of Economic and Community Development gives us their blessing, and we can finish up the bid process. It's imminent and not on the back burner. This is something the city wants to get done."
The vacant and badly damaged former medical office building is the site the city officials selected for a new senior center/health department complex that would replace the outdated senior center at 26 W. Main St. and the leaking Health and Human Services office on Miller Street.
The city received $2 million to demolish the building, and the City Council approved bonding $25 million to build the new center. The city has not set aside money for the demolition. Officials said the project could attract state funding if the building is gone and the site is shovel-ready.
Before building on a capped area of the Cook Avenue site, environmental engineers will identify the extent to which remediation will be needed, which will be factored into the project cost, city officials explained.
Previous concerns about 116 Cook Ave. being within the city's flood plain are less of a concern because of the ongoing Harbor Brook flood control project.
The proposed facility would need at least 25,000 square feet for what designers described as its core program space, including dining, activity and meeting rooms, and other features. Additional indoor amenities, including a gym or walking track, could be added at an additional 8,000 square feet.
Residents also seek outdoor amenities, including a walking trail, social gathering and gardening areas, and the possible addition of outdoor athletic courts.
Meanwhile, the health department component of the project would need its own dedicated space, roughly 15,000 feet, according to designers' estimates. That space would include a public health clinic, the department's Women, Infants and Children program, environmental health, and Board of Education enrollment offices, among other spaces the department needs.
The overall site would need roughly 120 visitor parking spaces as well as 75 parking spaces for the health department and staff, according to designers' estimates.
Senior Center Building Committee Chairman Bruce Fontanella said last month that 12 architects have submitted proposals and city officials will choose three finalists. Later this month, the building committee will get the final selection. Once the three firms are selected, a request for proposals will be drafted, and the City Council will choose the architect and pay for the design. He expects the turnaround time to take about a year and a half, according to meeting minutes.
Demolishing the building at 116 Cook Ave. removes an eyesore from a shabby corner in downtown Meriden that is less involved than demolishing the former vacant hospital across the street, Feest said.
"This helps us a lot," Feest said.
Federal funds to provide upgrades to electrical grid for wind power
Greg Smith
Connecticut will share a portion of $389 million in federal funds for electrical infrastructure projects in New England — including one in Montville — aimed at accommodating an influx of offshore wind power.
The U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday announced it had awarded the competitive grant to Power Up New England, a joint proposal from all six New England states.
The proposal includes the expansion and construction of electrical substations or switching stations in Somerset, Mass., and in Montville. Both are intended to provide better transmission points for offshore wind power — which is brought to shore by power cables buried under the seabed — and boost the amount of power the infrastructure can handle.
The Power Up New England proposal also calls for a battery storage project in northern Maine that will help store energy produced by offshore wind.
News of the federal funds, which will need to be matched by the six states, was cause for celebration among state and local officials who recently signed a memorandum of understanding with neighboring states to collectively solicit offshore wind power bids in an effort to meet renewable energy goals.
“This selection is a strong endorsement of the New England States’ longstanding cooperative approach to solving our region’s grid challenges, including through new and innovative technologies like offshore wind and long-duration storage that will enable us to equitably and affordably transition to a cleaner and more reliable grid,” Gov. Ned Lamont said in a statement.
Federal and state officials gathered Wednesday at State Pier in New London against a backdrop of activity associated with the offshore wind industry. State Pier is crowded with turbine parts, some of which will be shipped off the coast of Rhode Island this week for the start of the installation of turbines at Revolution Wind, a joint project of Ørsted and Eversource and the first offshore wind farm to supply power to Connecticut.
The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is expected to announce within the next month if it plans to purchase more offshore wind power from among several bid proposals submitted to Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
With Connecticut residents smarting from more electrical rate hikes, state DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes said on Wednesday the investment in the electrical infrastructure is a step toward helping to lower costs for future offshore wind projects and the cost of the power from these projects by providing “ready made points on the grid for these projects to plug in reliably and affordably.”
The investments to substations in Connecticut and Massachusetts, Dykes said, will ready the electrical transmissions system for up to 4,800 megawatts of additional offshore wind power. The 704 MW Revolution Wind farm is supplying 304 MW to Connecticut, enough to power 100,000 homes.
Funding for the project comes through the Department of Energy’s $10.5 billion Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships grant program, funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Last month, Connecticut and four other New England states were awarded $450 million in federal funds for a heat pump adoption program, an effort to encourage residents to move away from natural gas and oil heating systems to electric heat pumps, which use electricity to heat and cool.
Part of the stated goal of the government’s grid resilience program is to “protect against threats of extreme weather events, lower costs to communities and catalyze additional grid capacity to meet load growth stemming from an increase in manufacturing and data centers.”
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Connecticut residents are rightly concerned about skyrocketing electricity bills.
“It is a problem that can’t be solved overnight. We need to invest in affordable, environmentally friendly energy sources so we can lower the cost of electricity in people’s homes,” Blumenthal said. “This investment is a solid commitment to the future of energy in Connecticut and New England.”
While the timeline for the Power Up New England projects is 96 months, Eversource officials said the switching station in Montville will be built by 2031 in a remote location off Chesterfield Road.
In May 2022, New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart helped celebrate the launch of an $11 million redevelopment of the former Stanley Black & Decker headquarters on Myrtle Street into 106 market rate apartments.
At the time, the project was expected to wrap-up in a little more than a year.
On Tuesday, Stewart returned to the property to find bare metal studs outlining studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments in a project that has seen its budget jump to $18.7 million, and is now expected to be completed by June of next year.
Developer Amit Lakhotia blames the delay on a longer-than-anticipated state environmental review process and financing hiccups.
New Britain officials have helped, securing a $1.5 million state grant for the project and approving a 13-year tax break. Lakhotia and his investors have also dug deeper into their pockets.
Lakhotia said he now expects to begin welcoming his first tenants at 480 Myrtle St. in February, and will finish off the last punch-list items in the second quarter of 2025.
Design tweaks have added nine apartments to the plans. That, and higher-than-originally-anticipated rents, will help compensate for increased costs, Lakhotia said.
“I’m 100% confident the project is going to fly,” Lakhotia said.
Lakhotia said his expectations are bolstered by the city’s redevelopment efforts along the Myrtle Street corridor.
Stewart noted the recent completion of a nearby fuel cell power generation project, an ongoing expansion by food processor Rich Products Corp., located at 263 Myrtle St., and a streetscape makeover that will push past Lakhotia’s building.
A massive redevelopment of a nearby public housing complex is expected to begin next year.
"The redevelopment of 480 Myrtle St. will add a unique, modern option to the city's housing stock for those looking to call New Britain home," Stewart said. "This renovated building sits a stone's throw from downtown and is an integral part of the exciting development occuring around it on the Myrtle Street corridor."
New Britain-based TLong Construction is performing the work at 480 Myrtle St. TLong President George Taweh, also an investor in the development, said funding delays have held back the project by a year, and prompted him to lend it $1.5 million.
He said he is confident in a return.
“If I didn’t believe in the project, I wouldn’t have floated it $1.5 million,” Taweh said.
In addition to the state grant, Lakhotia is close to securing a $4.3 million C-PACE loan for energy efficient electrical systems and appliances. Investors have contributed $4.5 million. Lakhotia personally invested $500,000, and he borrowed $7.7 million from the Norwalk office of alternative asset-based lender Silver Heights Capital at a 13.5% interest rate.
Lakhotia said banks were hesitant to loan to a project requiring environmental review, a process he expects to clear shortly. Lakhotia said there was not much pollution and his environmental remediation requirements have been restricted to repaving parking lots and adding mulch to planting beds.
He expects to refinance his loan at a reduced rate once the building is complete and tenanted.
The new building will feature amenities on every floor, including a small theater, fitness center, pet-washing station and more.
New Britain has experienced a flood of development interest over the past few years. Lakhotia alone has four projects either underway or ready to launch.
Within a month, Lakhotia said he expects to start an 80-unit apartment conversion of an office building at 102 West Main St. Plans for that building also call for a first-floor restaurant and rooftop lounge.
Lakhotia said he also expects to begin moving tenants into a newly renovated, 24-unit apartment building at 27 Main St., by mid-September. He also plans to begin construction on 10 apartments in a former law office on Ash Street.