ACEC/CT Update

New Haven Holiday Tradition

The Eli Whitney Museum in Hamden will open its annual model train exhibit Friday, November 28th. Click here. The museum is a wonderful place to bring your kids, grandchildren or anyone interested in Connecticut's engineering heritage.

State's Share of Stimulus Projects

The details of a federal stimulus package are yet to be determined, but one of the important factors will be how much of a transportation project would Connecticut be expected to fund. Connecticut is hoping that the Feds will come up with 100% of the money. See article.

State's Budget Woes

The General Assembly met in special session yesterday to consider budget cuts and revenue enhancements to meet a growing state budget deficit in this fiscal year. They passed measures which will trim about $71 million from the $700 million deficit. However, the problems facing the Governor and General Assembly this year pale in comparison to the $6 billion deficit forecast for the next two fiscal years which start July 1, 2009. The last time the state faced such a problem, Governor Weicker and the General Assembly passed a state income tax to fill the gap. The options this time around are fewer: raise taxes, cut state employees, cut funds for municipalities, reduce state programs.

While President-Elect Obama has promised a big stimulus package in January, it won't be enough to forestall difficult decisions. Members of the ACEC/CT Government Affairs Committee, our lobbyist Dave O'Leary and I met with Robert Genuario, Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management last week. One of the topics of discussion was that the state should be ready with a variety of transportation, clean water and other infrastructure projects to take advantage of any stimulus package. We also discussed the deficit in the state's Special Transportation Fund. With gas under $2 per gallon, this may be the opportunity to raise the per gallon fuel tax to revitalize the fund. We had the same message with Senator DeFronzo, Co-Chair of the General Assembly's Transportation Committee.

Speaker Amann, ACEC's Raymond Provide Outlook for 2009

Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives, James Amann, gave his frank opinion about what needs to be done to address the state's budget deficit, transportation infrastructure problems and green energy needs at the ACEC/CT dinner meeting held at the New Haven Lawn Club yesterday. Speaker Amann, who is retiring from the General Assembly in January, is considering a run for Governor in 2010. Amann encouraged members to contact their state senators and representatives to introduce them to the work they do and keep in contact during the session which begins in January. The state faces a $3 billion deficit over the next two years. ACEC President and CEO Dave Raymond updated members about changes engineering firms face in 2009 with an Obama administration and a new Congress. There will probably not be an infrastructure stimulus package until the new President is inaugurated. Taxes on higher income individuals and businesses will rise. Unions will get many of the goodies they have been seeking for the past eight years. Infrastructure spending will increase and will include transportation, water and energy projects. The reauthorization of the transportation fund will be a major legislative effort in 2009. Labor unions will make contracting out more difficult but state and local budget problems will probably forestall major growth in the public employee work force. Rod Bascom, Rob Yirigian and Ruth Fitzgerald won prizes in the ACEC PAC raffle. Speaker Amann was presented with the ACEC/CT Legislator of the Year Award and Past President Bob Jurasin was presented with a plaque for his two years of service as President of ACEC/CT.

Green Building Council Updates LEED

The US Green Building Council has voted to update its LEED rating system for commercial buildings. See link to USGBC. This is a major update which goes into effect in 2009. In the mean time, building officials, design professionals, contractors and owners are working to find a way to implement a state mandate that new construction over $5 million (not including residential under 4 units) must comply with LEED Silver or its equivalent. There is a move to delay the required implementation date of January 1, 2009 and find answers to many important questions which were not answered in the legislation. The law may be up for revision during the special session of the General Assembly next Monday.

High Demand for Green Construction Jobs

 The Wall Street Journal reports high demand for individuals who are qualified to design and build sustainable buildings. Connecticut is the first state to require LEED or equivalent certification for all new construction over $5 million starting in 2009. And although there is an effort to delay the implementation of this requiement, many owners are already on board. With a slowdown in the construction industry, are you making yourself and your firm more valuable by being able to offer these services?

NTSB Calls for Better QA for Bridges

The National Transportation Safety Board has released its recommendations as a result of their investigation of the collapse of the interstate bridge in Minneapolis, MN last summer. Check out the ENR story.  Their recommendations include better inspections and better quality assurance of bridge designs.

Mass Governor Proposes Breakup of Turnpike Authority

The Boston Globe reports that Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has proposed breaking up the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and giving their assets within Rt 128 to the Massachusetts Port Authority and the remainder to the Highway Department. Details on who will assume the debt and other budget issues would have to be worked out. Leaders in the legislature seem skeptical. The real question is, "What would this mean for maintaining and building the transportation system in the state?" As we've seen in Connecticut, Governors are prone to recommend organizational changes when faced with larger systemic problems within the state's transportation system.

Rt 7 Project Hits Snag

The ConnDOT project to improve Route 7 in Western Connecticut has run into some problems with the original survey work. Read Stamford Advocate article. It doesn't appear to be anything on the scale of the I-84 fiasco, but it's never a good thing when a project in the Governor's town hits a delay.

"Nobody Goes There - It's too crowded"

Interesting article about the plans to expand the New Jersey Turnpike and the problem of "induced demand" for highways.  See Philadelphia Inquirer article. How does this apply to I-95 in Connecticut? I've heard it said that truck traffic on Connecticut's interstates may rise by 50% over the next ten years. Would a demand tolling system help? 

Comments?