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Officials knew New London State Pier upgrade was more expensive than Lamont proposed

Office of Governor Ned Lamont
/
Connecticut Port Authority

The chairman of the Connecticut Port Authority has acknowledged that officials knew it would cost more to upgrade the State Pier in New London than what the Lamont administration had proposed in 2019.

The Lamont administration had pitched the project as a $93 million public private partnership in May 2019. State officials actually estimated it would cost about $120 million, Connecticut Port Authority Chairman David Kooris told the state’s Bond Commission

“To be totally frank there probably should have been more nuance conveyed at that time," he said, "that it was a preliminary estimate.”

Since then, design changes and permitting delays have ballooned the cost. It’s now estimated to be about $255 million.

“The truth of it is the estimates were off and when the market told us the actual cost to implement, it was higher,” Kooris said.

The bond commission approved borrowing another $20 million to complete the project. The staging area for an offshore wind energy farm is expected to be completed next year.

As WSHU Public Radio’s award-winning senior political reporter, Ebong Udoma draws on his extensive tenure to delve deep into state politics during a major election year.