Press

Derby aldermen approve contracts for downtown development

Jun 21, 2019
Mmi Press Derby Downtown Development M 2019

DERBY — Plans to give downtown a long-overdue makeover is inching closer to reality.

The Board of Aldermen at its meeting last week voted to approve three contracts for engineering, planning and consulting services related to development on the south side of Main Street.

According to the city Chief of Staff Andrew Baklik, work will include extension of the design of Factory Street, the design of an intersection at Main and Elizabeth streets, and the design of a roadway that connects Elizabeth Street to Factory Street.

“These are important steps that will run parallel to the Main Street (Route 34) widening project,” Baklik said.

Baklik said the engineering and planning work will be paid using funds from a $5 million grant the city received from the state Department of Economic and Community Development.

Baklik said the same firm responsible for the design of the Route 34 widening project, Luchs, DeCarlo & Doll, was awarded the first contract, and will be responsible for the design work for the roads surrounding Main Street.

“Some of the work can be viewed as an extension of the Route 34 widening project, which includes the design of an intersection at Elizabeth and Main and the extension of the design of Factory Street,” Baklik said. “The ‘U’ Street Plan that would join Elizabeth to Factory Street, 3D renderings and traffic studies related to the roadway are also a part of this contract.”

Engineering firm Milone & MacBroom was awarded the second contract to do “updated base-mapping, geotechnical/environmental assessment of the land, the question of filling versus utilizing the existing topography and preliminary utility and infrastructure work,” according to Baklik.

Read the original article here.

(c) New Haven Register, 2019