CT Construction Digest Wednesday November 17, 2021
Lamont: Multistate climate bill joins tolls in the dustbin for 2022
Between sky-high gasoline prices and the expected infusion of federal funding for Connecticut’s long list of transportation infrastructure projects, Gov. Ned Lamont says he will not resubmit his plan to join a regional consortium aimed at combating climate change to the General Assembly next year — and he confirmed that tolls are also out for 2022.
In June, Lamont said he would give up on tolls after majority Democrats in the legislature were divided and the issue “was just too traumatic for everyone involved.”
Now, rising gasoline prices, the flood of pandemic relief and infrastructure money and the 2022 elections have made any thought of tolls or thee climate measure politically impossible.
Both proposals have caused a drumbeat of opposition from Republicans who haven’t held a majority in the legislature since 1986. Lamont’s plans to back off from the proposals will defuse at least some criticism next year when he seeks reelection and state House and Senate seats are up for grabs, as well as the state’s five congressional seats.
Lamont in an interview late Monday night after returning from President Joe Biden’s signing of the $1 trillion infrastructure bill outside the White House, said that the Transportation Climate Initiative - based on the model of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative cap-and-trade system in which polluters pay for their emissions, will be left out of his agenda for the 2022 legislative session.
Thus past spring the TCI plan was turned down by Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, over the requests of Lamont and Katie Dykes, commissioner of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Neither chamber brought the bill to a vote despite strong Democratic majorities.
Lamont said the opportunity for the $5.4 to $6 billion in new federal revenue solidifies his June declaration that truck tolls are dead.
“We’ve been there and done that and we’re not going to do it again,” said Lamont, who campaigned for governor in 2018 on support for trucks-only highway tolls, which was later rejected by the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate. “We have a lot of new revenue coming in.”
Republican lawmakers have held rallies around the state in opposition to both tolls and the TCI initiative, which they charged would increase pump prices by a nickel a gallon or more. Over the last year prices have hiked more than a dollar a gallon, most recently when the Oil Producing Exporting Nations reduced production.
“We tried to do TCI when gas prices last year were at historic lows, so it’s certainly not going to happen when they are at seven-year highs,” Lamont said. Still, the state will have to make major commitments to become eligible for the forthcoming federal support. “I thought we had aging infrastructure, but so does New York, Illinois, Maine and other states,” he said.
The governor pointed out that the state still has to pay 10 to 20 percent of projects. State priorities include the rebuilding of the Interstate 84 intersections with Rte 8 and I-91, improving train travel to New York City and even adding another travel lane along I-95 in Fairfield County.
House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, North Branford, said Tuesday that the governor’s plan to drop the controversial proposals make perfect sense in an election year. “It’s absolutely not a surprise,” Candelora said. “This is about dropping unpalatable proposals in order to set yourself up for reelection. The bigger issue is what are we going to do about the transportation plan?”
In 2019, GOP lawmakers offered a transit wish list that did not rely on tolls, but counted on using part of the state’s emergency reserves.
Candelora said that with higher gasoline prices on track to give the state tens of millions of dollars in additional revenue, the state should consider repealing last year’s law that would create a new road-usage fee for the heaviest interstate trucks that takes effect in January of 2023 and is projected to generate $90 million in annual revenue based on the amounts trucks travel state highways.
“Given the supply chain disruptions, repealing it would go a long way toward offsetting the price increases,” Candelora said. “It is a very difficult tax to collect. I think it is going to adversely impact our local companies and it will only raise prices at a time when we don’t want to further disrupt an already difficult supply chain system.”
Joe Scully, who as president of the Motor Transport Association of Connecticut represents the state’s trucking companies, agreed Tuesday that the upcoming heavy truck fees should be canceled.
“We have a lot of federal funding coming in and the elevated gas taxes are helping bring in more petroleum gross receipts taxes,” Scully said. “Are they going to do tolls in an election year where gas prices are high and prices for everything else is rising?” He suggested that lawmakers consider reducing the state taxes on gasoline, diesel and gross sales of petroleum products, including the current 35.75 cents per gallon of gas at the pump.
State Sen. Will Haskell, D-Westport, co-chairman of the legislative Transportation Committee, a supporter of Lamont’s toll plans, said Tuesday that it is still a good idea to have nonresident drivers contribute to Connecticut’s transportation projects.
“Honestly where I am, I still think it’s crazy that out-of-state drivers get a free pass,” Haskell said.
“But I don’t think tolls or TCI will take center stage because we have so many priorities, so many problems in the transportation sector that I don’t anticipate them to take up all of the energy of the Transportation Committee,” Haskell said in a phone interview. In particular, Haskell wants safer streets for bicycles and pedestrians. “We need to make sure Connecticut gets its fair share of federal funding.”
State Senate Minority Leader Kevin Kelly, R-Stratford, who has led a series of public demonstrations against tolls and TCI, said Tuesday he hopes that Lamont’s plan to his previous initiatives is “sincere” and beyond campaign politics.
“Tolls and the TCI gas tax were never about transportation or the environment,” Kelly said in a statement. “They were about money. There are better ways to achieve cleaner air and make investments in transportation without taking more from taxpayers' wallets. The public has done a phenomenal job speaking out and rallying with us against these new taxes.”
Republicans last held majorities in both the House and Senate in 1985 and 1986.
State starts long-awaited Route 202 project in Brookfield to alleviate 'horrendous' traffic
BROOKFIELD — A long-awaited road-improvement project begins this week on Route 202.
Construction crews are starting to cut up the busy road between BJ’s Wholesale Club and the intersection at Old New Milford Road to move utility poles and an underground gas line ahead of road upgrades.
Construction was slated to begin this summer, but was pushed back to November.
For the past six years, this roughly $8.5 million state project has been in the planning and design phase, according to Greg Dembowski, community development specialist. Approved upgrades, paid for by state and federal funds, include sidewalks, bus shelters, and left-turn lanes and traffic lights at several intersections. The town hopes the project will prevent car accidents and alleviate traffic.
Traffic signals will be installed where Federal Road intersects with Old New Milford Road, as well as at the intersection of Beverly Drive and Hardscrabble Road.
“It’s horrendous, especially during weekends and holidays,” Dembowski said of the traffic at the Chick-Fil-A and Shop Rite Plaza driveway entrances off Federal Road.
First Selectman Steve Dunn estimated the Chick-Fil-A intersection reports an accident once every six weeks.
“It’s a very dangerous situation, and luckily, I don’t think anyone has been seriously hurt,” he said. “The traffic on [Route] 202 is getting untenable.”
Another highly anticipated grocery store, rumored to be one of the new-age Amazon Fresh stores, is expected to open off Route 202 at the Candlewood Plaza Shopping Center by Kohl’s next month. Officials have yet to confirm the store’s identity, but the store could generate more traffic.
Construction likely will continue until November 2023, according to Charles Murad, project engineer with the state Department of Transportation. There are 481 calendar days in the construction plan. This does not count “winter shutdown days” between Dec. 1 and March 31.
“We won’t be going in and disrupting everyone during the holiday season,” Murad said.
The area likely will see heavier traffic while construction is underway due to lane closures and construction vehicles.
“There will be some growing pains during construction,” Murad said. “After we’re done, it’ll be a tremendous improvement.”
Residents have been waiting a long time for these road improvements.
A 2015 Western Connecticut Council of Governments study showed 442 crashes between 2010 and 2012 on the lower Federal Road corridor from White Turkey Road to Route 133, with roughly 30,000 cars driving on parts of lower Federal Road every day.
The following year, the state Department of Transportation held a public information session in town to discuss the scope of the project.
Discussion of a left-turn signal for the Chick-Fil-A off Federal Road made it ionto the first selectman debate as candidates prepared for the municipal election. While Dunn won’t be first selectman by the time the project is finished, he said he is glad the state project is finally moving ahead.
“We started working on this almost exactly six years ago with the state, and it’s finally nice to see it coming to fruition,” he said.
Torrington approves $1.86 million bid for Prospect Street rehabilitation project
TORRINGTON — By next spring, the rehabilitation of Prospect Street should be under way, with new sidewalks, curbing, pavement and a new bicycle lane, according to officials.
Yield Industries LLC, a Torrington-based construction company, was awarded the $1.86 million contract for the project by the City Council.
The project is being paid for with a $1 million grant from the state under the Department of Transportation’s Local Transportation Capital Improvement Program, and about $1 million from the city. The accepted bid also includes at 10 percent contingency fund and 10 percent for “incidentals” including reports and surveys.
Prospect Street, which begins on Litchfield Street/Route 202 and continues to North Elm Street, is home to the Northwest Connecticut YMCA, Vogel-Wetmore School, several churches and St. John Paul the Great Academy, formerly known as St. Peter St. Francis School. Metered parking is provided up to the Pearl Street intersection.
“Upon review of all bid... documents, Yield Industries LLC of Torrington was determined to be the lowest responsive and responsible bidder with a base bid of $1,856,615.00,” according to a memo from Public Works Director Raymond Drew.
“This award has been authorized by the Connecticut Department of Transportation,” the memo said.
City Engineer Paul Kundzins said all sidewalks are being replaced or removed, except for those at Vogel Wetmore School.
“Those have already been replaced and are in good shape,” he said.
“I hate that the state requires us to go with the lowest bid,” said City Council member Ann Ruwet. “But I’m happy to see we’re using a company from Torrington.”
In November 2020, the city held an online forum to discuss the street project with residents. The discussion was led by City Engineer Paul Kundzins, City Planner Martin Connor, Economic Development Director Rista Malanca and engineers from Milhone and McBroom, who developed the design.
Prospect Street’s upgrades already include new gas lines in 2016, drainage upgrades in 2017 and the water mains upgraded in 2017. The road itself needs to be repaired — those who drive on it can attest to areas that are too narrow if cars are parked on either side; uneven pavement and the beginnings of potholes. There is little access for cyclists, and the sidewalks and driveway entrances also need repairs.
The city plans to remove all asphalt paving, curbing, sidewalks and driveway aprons, replacing them with new asphalt and concrete sidewalks, driveway areas and curbing. Dedicated bicycle lanes will begin from the Pearl Street intersection, where there is a traffic light, and continue to the end of Prospect Street at North Elm Street.
Past Pearl Street, no street parking is permitted. The road is wider, allowing for dedicated bike lanes to be added that will continue to North Elm Street, Kundzins said. The sidewalk is also being eliminated on one side for the bike lane, while sidewalks will remain on the other side of the street.
Danbury looks to hire director, purchase Summit space for career academy
DANBURY — The city and schools are developing the academic and construction plans for the new career academy as they await approval of a state grant for the $99 million project.
This includes seeking an academy director and purchasing the space where the new school will be built inside the Summit, a 1.2 million-square-foot development on the west side.
Mayor Joe Cavo said local officials likely will meet next week to discuss next steps for the career academy, which is expected to serve 1,400 middle and high school students. The school is on track to open in the fall of 2024.
“We’ll have a better handle on things at that point,” he said Monday.
The architect, city, state and school officials haven’t talked much since the beginning of the academic year, so Superintendent Kevin Walston said he wants to bring the building committee back together.
“We just feel like it's time to get everyone back at the table, making sure we’re still OK for 2024-25 because this building (Danbury High School) is busting at the seams,” Walston said at last week’s school board meeting.
Danbury hasn’t heard feedback from the state on the application it submitted earlier this fall to earn an 80 percent reimbursement for the project, Cavo said.
That may be in part because the official Danbury had been working closely with no longer works for the state. Kosta Diamantis, who was in charge of school construction projects like Danbury’s, quit last month after he was placed on paid leave due to a personnel issue, the Connecticut Mirror reported.
Cavo said he’s not too concerned for now.
“While we’re doing our work, there’s no need to pressure them (the state) on this at the moment,” he said. “But at some point, we’re going to have to have a conversation with them.
Noel Petra, Department of Administrative Services deputy commissioner of real estate and construction services, is interim director of the Office of School Construction while the agency recruits someone to fill the position permanently, according to a spokesman with DAS.
“The Office of School Construction Grants is reviewing and evaluating the Danbury Career Academy application and will continue to work with all parties involved,” spokesman John McKay said in an email.
The city is working to secure preliminary construction estimates based on a recently completed set of drawings, said Antonio Iadarola, director of public works and city engineer.
Meanwhile, an appraiser is determining the value of the “pods” at the Summit before the city purchases them for the classrooms, Cavo said. He said he’s not sure when the city could close on the purchase. Appraisers are backed up with work because of the hot real estate market.
“It’s hard to say,” he said. “It was a little complicated to find the appraiser that had the experience needed to look at a building like that with the complexity of it and the size of it.”
Construction won’t be too complicated because the school will go into an existing building, Cavo said.
“We just have to make the insides accommodate for our needs and classrooms and educational space,” he said. “As far as I know, everything is on track, except for this little issue with the state.”
Academy director
The schools aim to hire a director who will better connect businesses with the high school and career academy.
“This position would be kind of a new idea for our school district,” Walston said the board meeting. “This position specifically would be charged with developing partnerships in our Danbury and greater Danbury community to make sure our kids have relevant experiences outside of Danbury High School.”
With its new high school, Danbury plans to develop six “academies” for students in the existing high school and new building to study career fields. There will be 24 “pathways” for students to choose from.
Danbury’s career academy is modeled after a similar school in Nashville, which has a position like this.
This director would support the internships, job shadow, early college and other similar experiences that high school students are expected to pursue. He or she would coordinate scholarships, donations and even an academy foundation, as well as develop partnerships with universities.
“It can’t wait until the academy opens in 2024,” said Kara Casimiro, chief officer for academic affairs, who has been leading this work already.
Mayor-elect Dean Esposito said he plans to coordinate with school leaders to ensure the district has the funding needed to operate the academy
“This conversation will continue throughout the entire year, and we will work as partners to ensure the continuation of our legacy of success here in Danbury,” he said in a statement.
Students in the Academy of Scientific Innovation & Medicine and the Academy of Global Enterprise & Economics will attend the new school. Students at Danbury High School would study the other academies, which center on information technology and cybersecurity; professional and public service; art, engineering and design; and communications and design.
Students are expected to connect with the businesses in the Summit. These businesses include Nuvance Health, which signed a lease last year to rent 220,000- square-feet of office space.
“Our plans for the Summit are moving forward to relocate select administrative and support departments to that site,” spokeswoman Andrea Rynn said in an email. “Some departments are already operational at that location with the remainder to make the move in the coming months.”
Next door to Danbury's sprawling Summit complex, plans for a warehouse headquarters in the wetlands
DANBURY — As the city works with the owner of the sprawling Summit office complex to build a school for 1,400 upper grade students, a New York-based moving and storage company has plans to build a warehouse headquarters just to the west.
The plans by Clancy Moving Systems to build a 190,000-square-foot warehouse and associated buildings on 29 acres next door to the Summit is the latest example of Danbury’s booming west side.
It is also an example of the complexities of building on environmentally sensitive land. The mostly-wooded terrain where Clancy wants to build, just west of the 1.2 million-square-foot Summit complex, contains 6.7-acres of wetlands.
Wetlands, which are ecologically important for wildlife, also provide natural flood protection by slowing storm water runoff and draining it.
That means Clancy must get permission from the city’s Environmental Impact Commission before the company can seek a zoning permit and site plan approval from the Planning Commission.
Consultants have already submitted a 290-page stormwater management report in preparation for a Dec. 8 appearance before the EIC.
“Our only discreet disturbance to the wetlands resource on the subject property is the wetland crossing to access the northern portion of the property,” said engineering consultant Paul Szymanski, in a letter to the EIC.
Szymanski was referring to a proposal to build a 190,000-square foot warehouse and office building, a 4,000-square-foot fleet dispatch center and maintenance building, and parking areas for tractor trailer storage among “other various associated site amenities.”
“(The) applicant will hire an engineer to be in charge of erosion controls and will inspect the site once a week and after heavy storms,” the consultant wrote. “[I]f a problem on the site occurs it shall be brought to the attention of the Zoning Enforcement officer within 48 hours in writing along with a statement of how the problem was remedied.”
The project, which would be built in phases over two years to minimize the effect on the sensitive land, calls for the “disturbance” of 4,700-square-feet of wetlands, or about one-tenth of an acre.
Immediate neighbors include Abbey Woods, a 470-unit development, to the south.
The warehouse project is just north of an approved power plant and high-technology campus at 100 Saw Mill Road that was granted permission to hook into the city’s water and sewer system after a partisan battle on Danbury’s Republican-controlled City Council. Democrats wanted the power plant proposal scrutinized because of its proximity to the $99 million career academy at the Summit. Republicans argued that the proposal had been property vetted and used their majority to outvote Democrats.
Clancy, a Patterson, N.Y.-based company, which has locations in Danbury, Newtown, New Milford and Stamford, did not return a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.
Killingly voters green-light $28M community center bond
Killingly voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a nearly $28 million bond question that will allow for the town’s community center to re-locate to a soon-to-be refurbished former school building.
The $27.8 million bond, which passed 323-179, will cover the cost of shifting recreational programming from the dilapidated Broad Street community center to 79 Westfield Ave., a facility that houses school district administration offices and classrooms for EASTCONN students.
The bonding will pay for nearly $15 million worth of roof and brick work at Westfield Avenue and pay for $13 million in other upgrades that would allow the recreation department shift.
The project calls for major heating, cooling, electrical and handicap-accessible upgrades to cafeteria and theater areas at Westfield while moving the food and community store to other parts of the building. Additional security doors, restrooms and parking areas would also be added, along with a new roof and exterior bricks.
The project, which has been in the discussion phase in one form or another for more than a decade, is expected to take up to two years to complete, though no date has been set for work to start.
Mary E. O’Leary
NEW HAVEN — The future of New Haven will include a developed shoreline that can safely support residences and capitalize on its waterfront as a major asset.
In part that will be possible with a planned project at 501-585 Long Wharf Drive that will include up to 500 apartments on the site in two towers, as well as a market and other amenities, according to officials.
The Board of Alders has approved a zoning text amendment to a Planned Development District at 501-585 Long Wharf Drive that paves the way for the proposed apartments on the site.
Multiple alders have expressed confidence in the vision of city staff and the developer, the Fusco Corp., that growth in the harbor district was intrinsic to the future of the city.
And after multiple previous hearings and hours of testimony, the board believed that Fusco’s two proposed apartment towers, one 13 stories, the other 15 floors, a public market, food hall and landscaped park will safely open up development at Long Wharf.
They vote was unanimous despite the recommendation of Brian Thompson, director of the land and water resources division of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, that the alders turn down the proposal over potential flooding concerns.
“Since Long Wharf Drive leading to the subject parcel will itself be partially flooded, there appears to be no way to provide dry access to 500 residential units on the property during such flooding and storm events,” Thompson wrote.
Fusco representatives argued previously that their plan with its Type 1 construction using steel, concrete, masonry and glass; its 15-foot first floor elevation, two more feet than required; the 26 foot elevation to its first residential floor will protect the residents.
Alder Adam Marchand, D-25, said the Fusco proposal will greatly improve access to the shoreline “and make it much more inviting and open,” with amenities for the public.
Addressing the recommendations of DEEP, Marchand asked should New Haven “retreat from the shoreline or should we embrace the shoreline?”
He said he takes the concerns of DEEP seriously, but is satisfied with the response of city staff, particularly City Engineer Giovanni Zinn, that “we are not abandoning our shoreline, we are developing our shoreline.”
Fusco and the city both put implementing the Long Wharf Responsible Growth Plan, with its emphasis on natural methods of stormwater drainage and protection for important infrastructure, such as the rail yards and highway, as central to success.
Both Alders Abby Roth, D-7, and Steve Winters, D-21, said figuring out how to pay for raising roads to prevent flooding — such as on Long Wharf Drive — was crucial and should be done sooner rather than later.
Marchand said New Haven often uses public funds, whether local, state and federal, to invest in reclamation that results in private investment, such as the Downtown Crossing Project.
He feels the potential public investment needed to elevate Long Wharf Drive compared to what the residential development will bring to the area “is a really good ratio.”
Fusco’s Maritime Center headquarters is adjacent to the proposed site for housing, something that was approved three decades ago. The PDD amendment was necessary to allow for residential uses.
Alder Anna Fusco, D-10, said the Fusco proposal “was a great start to the revitalization” of that area. She thanked them for being prepared in all aspects of their planning and was confident that they would build a safe project.
This is an important step but just the beginning for the development, as it must go to the City Plan Commission for detailed site plan review when the developer decides to move ahead.
Contacted after the meeting, Zinn said New Haven has to grow.
“Only by growing are we able to deal with the challenges that climate change brings to us. Growth is important to allow us to protect ourselves,” he said.
The city engineer said the city takes the arc of looking at the whole harbor district from Water Street, the highway and the Canal Dock Boathouse, not just the 4.3 acre Fusco parcel.
He said elevating roads is one aspect of the proposed five neighborhoods suggested along the water in the Long Wharf Responsible Growth Plan.
Zinn said they’re looking at building a road network from a walk-ability point of view, as well as one that protects vulnerable users.
“Those are the kind of discussions we are having internally and with our partners,” Zinn said.
CT airport authority may take over running Bridgeport's Sikorsky
BRIDGEPORT — When Mayor Joe Ganim took office six years ago his administration initially wanted to get out of the business of running a municipal airport that was continually operating in the red.
And that option, which was abandoned, now appears back on the table for the city-owned, Stratford-based Sikorsky Memorial. On Tuesday Gov. Ned Lamont and the Connecticut Airport Authority revealed the latter is exploring playing a big role at the facility in order to return commercial passenger service there and ensure the airport has a viable future.
“This is an exciting moment for the City of Bridgeport and the Connecticut Airport Authority,” Lamont said in a statement. “The easier it is for travelers to reach our state, the stronger it makes our state’s economy and contributes to tourism. These steps are necessary to ensure the growth at Sikorsky is sustainable and that we are maximizing this transportation asset to the fullest extent possible.”
The term “takeover” was not used. But, according to the news release, Bridgeport City Hall and the CAA are “discussing the possibility of the CAA providing advisory services or even entering into a lease agreement and directly investing into the facility to ensure ... the resources necessary to capitalize on available state and federal funds.”
The authority was created a decade ago to manage Bradley International in Windsor Locks and five other state-owned airports — Danielson, Groton/New London, Hartford/Brainard, Waterbury/Oxford and Windham — and get them off the Department of Transportation’s books.
Sikorsky, which typically runs at a half-million-dollar deficit that impacts Bridgeport’s annual budget, is not currently part of the CAA’s portfolio, though the organization has in the past provided some assistance there.
Ganim aide Dan Roach, who for the past several years has been focused on improving Sikorsky, in a brief interview Tuesday said, “We’re interested in working with the CAA to either assist in operation of the airport or become the operators themselves.”
Under such circumstances, Roach explained, the property would remain Bridgeport’s but the authority would assume the financial responsibility. Roach added that another benefit of such an arrangement is that the CAA is in a position to move faster on completing the upgrades necessary to revive the long-defunct regular passenger flights.
Tuesday’s announcement comes as Bridgeport has fallen behind in the airport expansion contest with New Haven’s Tweed, whose new commercial passenger carrier, Avelo, just this month launched flights to Florida.
The Ganim administration, meanwhile, has spent the last few years planning upgrades and crafting development strategies to revive Sikorsky’s commercial passenger operation — the complex currently caters to business, charter and private flights — and unsuccessfully trying to land a carrier.
It was Lamont who had in his proposed 2019 transportation plan at first pit the two entities against each other for state support. Since then, though, the Lamont administration has argued both facilities have important economic roles to play.
And Kevin Dillon, the CAA’s executive director, in a quote included in Tuesday’s announcement insisted “commercial service is within reach at Sikorsky Airport.”
This past summer Lamont’s administration agreed to allow the city to begin to use $7 million previously set aside in 2018 by then-Gov. Dannel Malloy to overhaul one of Sikorsky’s two runways. The decision was significant because Malloy’s administration had initially required the $7 million be matched by an unnamed private carrier and not spent until “all necessary financial commitments and assurances” from that airline were in place — terms that Bridgeport was unable to meet.
The Ganim administration had instead found itself in a situation where a new carrier — Breeze, established by by Jet Blue founder and former New Canaan resident David Neeleman — had wanted to fly out of Sikorsky, but a final deal was never reached because the Federal Aviation Administration first wanted the required infrastructure improvements in place.
Breeze has since been flying out of Bradley, but as of last May had indicated the aviation company continued to evaluate the Bridgeport market and Sikorsky.
Tuesday’s announcement by the state about the CAA’s potential involvement in Sikorsky referred to the $7 million, stating “construction will soon begin to undertake necessary capital projects that allow for the development of commercial flights at Sikorsky Airport.”
Last spring, before Avelo announced its use of Tweed, Bridgeport and some of Sikorsky’s tenants agreed to share the $47,000 cost of hiring the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis at the University of Connecticut to study the airport’s potential.
Fred Carstensen, the center’s director, in an interview at the time said scrutinizing whether Sikorsky or Tweed was better situated for increased air travel was “not officially part of our remit” but “inherently in the background.”
Reached Tuesday, Carstensen said the center is finalizing the Sikorsky study. He said he believes that a revitalized airport will make the region “more competitive and attractive as a place to locate” for businesses, adding that eliminating commercial passenger service there, including tearing down the former terminal, “really minimized its capacity to be an economic driver.”
Asked about the possibility of the CAA running Sikorsky, Carstensen said the authority has done a good job with Bradley International.
“Bringing Sikorsky under the umbrella of the authority seems on first look to make very good sense,” he said. “We should have unified management” of Connecticut’s airports.
As for Michelle Muoio, Sikorsky’s current manager hired by Bridgeport in 2017, she sent her own email to tenants Tuesday afternoon welcoming the news of the authority’s potential involvement. She wrote “no specifics are available at this point in time and more discussions will occur.”
“I will keep you posted with any relevant details as soon as they can be shared. You should expect no change to provided services or operation of the airport at this time,” Muoio wrote. “In recent years, many improvement projects, plans and studies have been completed. We are on a great trajectory, but there is obviously still more work to do here. A potential CAA collaboration is a great opportunity to continue modernizing the airport and complete improvements that will benefit every user. Stay tuned.”
AECOM CEO: 'We are positioned to benefit from nearly every line item' in infrastructure bill
Dallas-based contractor AECOM reported revenue of $3.4 billion on its fourth quarter 2021 earnings call, a 6% decrease from fourth quarter 2020. However, fourth quarter 2020 included an extra week, so adjusting for that anomaly, the firm's revenue increased by 1%.
Revenue also increased 1% to $13.3 billion from fiscal year 2020 to fiscal year 2021 but rose 3% when accounting for the additional week in 2020.
Driven by an 18% growth in contracted backlog, AECOM posted a total backlog of $38.6 billion, down 6.3% from the $41.2 posted in the fourth quarter of 2020. Construction management contracted backlog increased by 21%.
Dive Insight:
AECOM's results came on the heels of the passage of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, which was signed into law by President Joe Biden on Monday. CEO Troy Rudd said the legislation will provide much-needed, long-term funding certainty across the company's strongest markets, such as transit modernization, electrification, environmental remediation and climate resilience.
"Importantly, we are positioned to benefit from nearly every line item in this bill," Rudd said. "We anticipate this funding will increase our addressable market and our most profitable business by double digits over the coming years, and we expect the most meaningful benefits in fiscal 2023 and beyond."
However, even before the bill, Rudd saw strength in the company’s government work.
"In addition to the strengthened federal funding environment, all of our state and local clients are on equally strong footing," Rudd said on the earnings call. "Today, state DOT budgets are significantly above prior projections and the fiscal outlooks are stronger."
Financial outlook
Coming into AECOM’s earnings, Krzysztof Smalec, an equity analyst on the industrials team for Morningstar, told Construction Dive that one possible way to drive growth is to continue margin expansion, particularly in the international market. In the fourth quarter, the company said it posted its strongest margin in its history with an adjusted operating margin on a net service revenue basis of 19.8%, which was a 290 basis point increase over the prior year.
"We continue to make progress on our margin improvement initiative and remain confident in our goal of achieving double-digit international margins," said AECOM CFO Gaurav Kapoor on the earnings call.
A key focus for AECOM has been growing its program management business. The company showed progress in that space by winning projects in Saudi Arabia, including a social, economic and sustainability project in Al-'Ula City.
AECOM also tightened its focus on environmental, social and corporate governance objectives by investing at the natural capital laboratory in the U.K.
"We established this project in 2019 to study the environmental change and biodiversity impact with precision by leveraging drones, artificial intelligence, GIS [geographic information system] data and thermal imaging," Rudd said.
With its earnings report, the company also rolled out Digital AECOM, which includes its global digital-focused consulting services, hosted services products and digital tools to enhance its delivery of core engineering and design services.
Biden touts infrastructure bill at snowy, rusty bridge in NH
COLLEEN LONG, HOLLY RAMER and ALEXANDRA JAFFE, Associated Press
WOODSTOCK, N.H. (AP) — Fighting sagging poll ratings, President Joe Biden set out Tuesday on a national tour to persuade everyday Americans of the benefits of his big, just-signed infrastructure plan. First stop: a snowy, rusty bridge in New Hampshire, a state that gave him no love in last year’s presidential primaries.
Biden left the state in February of 2020 before polls had even closed on his fifth-place primary finish. But he returned as president, eager to talk up the billions in investments in upgrading America’s roads, bridges and transit systems that he signed into law Monday.
Walking across the rural New Hampshire bridge that’s been tagged a priority for repairs since 2014, Biden framed the infrastructure law in direct and human terms. He said it would have a meaningful impact here, from efficient everyday transportation to keeping emergency routes open.
“This isn’t esoteric, this isn’t some gigantic bill — it is, but it’s about what happens to ordinary people," he said. “Conversations around those kitchen tables that are both profound as they are ordinary: How do I cross the bridge in a snowstorm?”
Biden is down in the polls but hopes to use the successful new law to shift the political winds in his direction and provide fresh momentum for his broader $1.85 trillion social spending package now before Congress.
The president held a splashy bipartisan bill-signing ceremony Monday for hundreds on the White House South Lawn, where lawmakers and union workers cheered and clapped.
“America is moving again, and your life is going to change for the better,” Biden promised Americans.
The president and members of his Cabinet are moving, too — spreading out around the country to showcase the package. Biden himself has stops Tuesday in Woodstock, New Hampshire, and Wednesday in Detroit to promote the new law as a source of jobs and repairs for aging roads, bridges, pipes and ports while also helping to ease inflation and supply chain woes.
“As he goes around the country, he’s really going to dig into how these issues will impact people’s everyday lives, what they talk about at their kitchen tables,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
Also this week, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan will take a tour through the South, hitting Louisiana and Texas, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland will visit Massachusetts, California and the state she represented in Congress, New Mexico, and Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Ohio, among top administration officials on the road.
The president, whose poll numbers have continued to drop even after passage of the bill, is pleading for patience from Americans exhausted by the pandemic and concerned about rising inflation. The White House says the infrastructure funding could begin going out within months, and they say it will have a measurable impact on Americans’ lives by helping create new, good-paying jobs.
During his new Hampshire stop Tuesday, Biden said there were 215 bridges deemed “structurally unsafe" and 700 miles of highway in the state listed in poor condition, which he said costs residents heavily each year in gas and repairs.
In addition to speeding repairs to roads and bridges, Biden touted the law's investments in upgrading public transit and trains, replacing lead pipes and expanding access to broadband internet. The law, he said, is estimated to create an extra 2 million jobs a year, and he insisted it also would improve supply chain bottlenecks that have contributed to rising prices for consumers by providing funding for America's ports, airports and freight rail.
Biden defeated Donald Trump by 7 percentage points in New Hampshire in the 2020 election, but his popularity has sagged in the state. In a University of New Hampshire Survey Center Granite State Poll last month, his overall favorable rating was 34%, with 53% having an unfavorable view.
On Tuesday, the president visited a bridge that carries state Route 175 over the Pemigewasset River. Built in 1939, the bridge has been on the state's “red list” since 2014 because of its poor condition. Another bridge over the river was added in 2018.
“This may not seem like a big bridge, but it saves lives and solves problems,” Biden said.
New Hampshire’s Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, who planned to greet Biden at the airport, sent a letter to the president Tuesday asking him to work with Congress to earmark even more infrastructure funding for the state. He also urged Biden to address supply chain issues, workforce shortages and the rising cost of construction materials.
“Ensuring that roads get built, bridges get repaired, and drinking water gets improved will be even more challenging given the economic challenges Washington seems oblivious to," Sununu said.
Under the funding formula in the bill, New Hampshire will receive $1.1 billion for federal-aid highways and $225 million for bridges, the White House said.
The infrastructure bill overall contains $110 billion to repair aging highways, bridges and roads. According to the White House, 173,000 total miles or nearly 280,000 kilometers of U.S. highways and major roads and 45,000 bridges are in poor condition. The law has almost $40 billion for bridges, the single largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the national highway system, according to the Biden administration.
Many of the particulars of how the money is spent will be up to state governments. Biden has named former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu as the liaison between the White House and the states to help ensure things run smoothly and to prevent waste and fraud.