The Board of Selectmen last week approved an extension of an approximately $240,000 contract to repave portions of two roads downtown that originally had been slated for the repair work next year.
Those living along two stretches of Main and Park Streets near the center of town have already had four years to decide whether they want to hook up their homes to a natural gas main, and if they haven’t done it yet they likely will not, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann.
If those homeowners do want to connect in the future, they’ll pay the cost of repaving a trench in the roadway themselves, instead of Eversource, Mann told the selectmen during their June 7 meeting.
“This is a stretch of Main Street from Lakeview to Maple,” Mann told the selectmen during their meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “So we won’t touch Maple to Cherry only because the library is under construction. Once they are done we will do that last little piece. And then Park Street from 106 to Elm, basically in essence takes up everything that they’re going to be doing.”
First Selectman Kevin Moynihan and Selectmen Kathleen Corbet and Nick Williams voted 3-0 in favor of the $243,848.80 contract with Norwalk-based FGB Construction.
“We have got to get these roads paved,” Williams said. “People are tired and we’ve got to get it done.”
Eversource, just like Aquarion with its water main work downtown, reimburses the town for related repaving expenses, Mann said.
The milling and paving project is to start within one week, he said.
The work comes as Eversource prepares to hook up buildings on the two-way stretch of Elm, as well as Pine and Grove Streets, to natural gas, Mann said. The town also will “repave those after they are done,” he said.
The selectmen asked whether any of the road originally planned for repaving in 2022 would be bumped to next year with the additional work on Park and Main (no), whether any condominiums along those stretches of Park and Main Streets opted to connect to natural gas (one or two, but it’s difficult to service a condo complex) and whether Eversource itself has reached out to all homeowners along the route (yes).
About time. I’ve had suspension failures on both my cars that needed to be fixed. TWICE each. This was a very poorly done project.
Roads are a disgrace. Long overdue to be repaved.
Please add Church Street to the short list!
Please be sure that Elm St. going past the New Canaan train station is paved next. I have never seen roads in such disrepair!
Let me add my voice to the chorus: the areas of town where he natural gas pipeline was constructed are a bumpy mess. We have moved way too slowly to repair them. How about Mortimer, Brinckerhoff and Lockwood? Those roads are a moonscape. Similary Mead Street. Honestly now, what is taking so long? This really needs to become a priority for town government – we don’t need words, we need action.