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Downtown Madison Construction Passes Speedbump

As of Aug. 29, the Town of Madison learned the Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT) had cleared the last-minute hurdles it had imposed on the town’s downtown improvement project, according to First Selectman Fillmore McPherson.

“We have just received our approval,” he said. “So hopefully we can actually get underway with construction this week.”

The DOT delays were particularly dismaying to many involved with the project planning, which itself ran into a decade-plus of delays and hurdles before it was officially kicked off (with Governor Dannel Malloy in attendance) at a June 30 groundbreaking ceremony. The DOT raised objections almost immediately after the groundbreaking.

The downtown improvement project, which began several years ago, was given a budget of nearly $2.5 million from combined state and town funding. The first phase of the project, which involved moving power lines back behind the buildings, totaled nearly $360,000.

“People hadn’t really noticed when we put lines behind the buildings—that is out of sight,” said McPherson. “We have about $2 million left, which is what we will spend on this upcoming phase of the project and this will be the most visible phase.”

This more visible phase also is the root of the latest delay. When the town went to bid in the spring, bids came back nearly a million dollars higher than given funding, sending town officials back to the drawing board.

“We got the plan down to the $2 million, which is what we have money for,” he said. “But since we had to go back and do some redesign work, that has contributed to the approval delays with DOT.”

McPherson said the town is ready to move forward with the project now that approval has been granted.

“[T]he contractor is ready to start,” he said.

The project itself will remove visible poles and wires from the road, new sidewalks will be put in, crosswalks will be added, new streetlights will be installed, the median will be replaced with built-in plantings, and many of the trees on the street will be replaced. An irrigation system will be added for the trees and McPherson assured residents that the large sycamore tree will not be moved.

“The big sycamore tree in front of Tony’s Barber Shop is going to stay,” he said. “That is one of the signature trees of downtown and we are not touching that one.”

McPherson also noted that construction will have minimal impact on local business.

“While we are working they are not going to tear up all the sidewalks at the same time,” he said. “They are going to be moving from west to east doing little sections at a time to minimize the impact on the stores downtown.”

Construction will begin shortly and stop around Nov. 15 for the winter and resume in the spring.