A long-running construction project in New Canaan is now expected to stretch into the 2026-27 school year, officials said Tuesday, raising traffic concerns for the town.
The water company, Aquarion, four years ago began installing a 36-inch water main in New Canaan, leading to road closures and detours on the eastern side of town. The final stretch of that project will see construction crews install the pipe on South Avenue—a state road, Route 124—from Harrison Avenue to Farm Road, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann.
Typically, a construction company would allow some time between when the pipe is installed and the road is patched, and a full milling and repaving of the same road, Mann told the Board of Selectmen during its meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. (Usually, road projects are completed in two stages, where crews wait a season to a year before repaving in order to allow the road to settle, Mann said.)
Yet the company now said it plans to install the pipe this summer and immediately repave starting in September, he said.
“They usually wait a season before repaving the roads to let the construction settle, and in this project, they aren’t,” Mann said. “When I was asking in the past to accelerate, they said they wanted to wait an entire year. Now all of a sudden it’s their best interest and they’re going to accelerate.”
The comments came during a general update on public works projects in New Canaan.
Selectman Steve Karl voiced concerns about the timing and feasibility of the project. He questioned whether the contractor could realistically complete the work within the projected timeframe, stating it would be practically “impossible.”
“It’s the highest traffic area that we have in our entire town during that particular time,” Karl said. “There’s no other time of the year where you have a higher concentration of traffic than on Farm Road, South Avenue, and that whole area.”
Crews are expected to work from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in an effort to avoid school traffic and bus schedules, Mann said.
Mann said he would have preferred to pave next summer rather than during the busy fall season. If the road isn’t given enough time to settle, it could possibly warp in three to five years, Mann said during an interview after the meeting.
Noting that South Avenue is a state road (Route 124), Mann said during the meeting: “It’s not my road, it’s not our road, but it is our people driving on it. They’re going to be working during our busiest time, which is September through November, right when school starts.”
Karl said: “Please tell them [Aquarion] the community is very concerned about the time. I would say that we will be watching.”
Mann said that his department has a progress meeting with Aquarion next week.
The next progress meeting for the Public Works Department will be held on May 26 at 10am.