An out-of-state contractor will secure the largest contract for the Hartford-New Britain Busway, a $567-million project launched, in part, to create Connecticut jobs.

Apparently 13 is a lucky number for Central Connecticut transit riders and businesses. That’s because after 13 years, Connecticut and the Federal Transit Administration have finally signed off on a Full Funding Grant Agreement for the Hartford-New Britain Bus Rapid Transit, scheduled to begin operations in 2014.

The New Britain to Hartford bus way is expected to begin operating in 2014. On Monday morning, a federal grant agreement was signed at a ceremony at Central Connecticut State University.

Bids well below previous estimates were received this week by the Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT) for the first major construction contract for the New Britain-Hartford Busway.

Estimates for the work ranged as high as $35 million, but the lowest bid came in at $26.7 million from Manafort Brothers Inc., of Plainville, Connecticut. Manafort’s bid will be reviewed over the next 60 days before the contract is awarded and the work will begin in 2012.

A transit project that took too long to materialize and is no longer valid is now a jobs bill. There are alternatives. Maybe we should just build some pyramids. The result would be the same and we would save $22 million a year. How’s that for fiduciary duty?

Federal approval of $275 million for the New-Britain-to-Hartford busway appears to be imminent, but opponents aren’t giving up and have gone to Washington to press Republicans and anti-tax groups to intervene.

As the battle over the proposed busway to Hartford moves to the final rounds, the lines between opponents and supporters are becoming more predictably partisan. Click on this headline to read more of this story.

Sen. Joseph Markley, R-Southington, questioned the environmental soundness of a $569 million, 9.4 mile rapid transit bus route project from New Britain to Hartford Wednesday night at a public hearing he requested regarding the plan’s inland wetlands permit. Click on this environmental headline to read more.

An opponent of a proposed $573 million bus-only corridor between Hartford and New Britain said Monday he is optimistic that the project will be killed because full funding has yet to be approved.

With unemployment in the construction trades topping 30 percent, it was easy to round up a crowd Thursday night to stand behind the controversial Hartford-to-New Britain Busway, a $567 million project that could mean 4,100 construction jobs, beginning this fall. The Connecticut Mirror reports.

A diverse group of non-traditional allies has banded together to rally for the New Britain-Hartford Busway project, the first bus rapid transit system being built in Connecticut, according to the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters.

NEW BRITAIN — Looking to put on a major show of public approval, supporters of the Hartford-New Britain busway are campaigning for a big turnout when state officials give a public update about the project Thursday evening. “This bus rapid transit project will help relieve congestion on our most crowded highway, reduce pollution and oil
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The state Department of Transportation has scheduled a public meeting Aug. 11 to discuss its construction timetable and show the latest version of its maps and potential commuter schedules.

One hiking trail — the Ives Trail — will arc from Devil’s Den on the Redding-Weston border north into Danbury, then west into Ridgefield.

BRISTOL — A contingent of local business leaders said restoring Hartford-to-Bridgeport passenger train service through Bristol could spur economic development up and down the line, benefiting Plymouth and New Britain as well as their own city. Read more here: Busway Dispute: Both Sides Dig – Courant.com. Blog this! Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Recommend
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‘In two months we could have 900 people working,’ U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal. RELATED: Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is faced with his first major transportation policy decision: After a dozen years of planning, should the state proceed with its first true rapid-transit project, a $570 million Hartford-to-New Britain busway? With a press conference today, environmentalists,
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The busway is a good idea, one that can be brought to fruition in three years. Killing it now would be totally wrongheaded, Tom Condon writes.

NEW BRITAIN — To build interest in the proposed New Britain-Hartford Busway, the state Department of Transportaion will host a three-hour conference Monday at the CCSU Student Center to discuss the status of the project, its scope and goals.

Wesleyan economics profs say Hartford should have its own high-speed regional transit system — namely the proposed New Britain-Hartford Busway.

State Sen. Don DeFronzo has criticized the state DOT for shifting funds from other projects to cover the escalating cost of the proposed New Britain-Hartford busway.