Town officials on Tuesday approved a contract with a Shelton-based engineering firm to survey and design a new sidewalk at Talmadge Hill Train Station.
The Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 at its regular meeting in favor of the $15,900 contract with Tighe & Bond.
The sidewalk will run along the north side of Talmadge Hill Road, from the upper parking lots down the hill past the train stop to Route 106, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann.
The construction work itself—involving the replacement of an existing sidewalk and an extension—will be paid for through a state Local Transportation Capital Improvement Program or ‘LOTCIP’ grant, Mann told the selectmen at their meeting, held in Town Hall.
First Selectman Kevin Moynihan, participating in the meeting by phone, said the LOTCIP funds had been allocated four years ago “and we are just trying to keep them.”
“They are being directed to three different transpiration-related projects for sidewalks, and this is one of them,” Moynihan said.
The others are for sidewalks on Park Street and Richmond Hill Road, officials said.
Moynihan said, “These funds have to be used for transportation-related projects and access to the trains is one of the criteria.”
The funds could not be used for a parking deck at Locust Avenue, he said.
Selectmen Kit Devereaux and Nick Williams joined Moynihan in approving the contract, which includes $2,000 in contingency funds.
Devereaux asked whether New Canaan has a good chance of getting the funds for the project.
Mann said the town has been pre-approved by the state and just needs to finish the sidewalk design.