Council Passes MDC Project on to TPZ for Consideration
NEWINGTON - The Town Planning and Zoning Commission will weigh in on requested easements related to a Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) water and sewer project that will take place at the congested Cedar Street and Willard Avenue intersection.

       The Town Council voted unanimously to forward the item to the TPZ via the 8-24 process at its last regular meeting. Per state law, the Council has to refer the matter to the Town Planning and Zoning Commission (TPZ) before taking final action of its own. The Council is allowed to override the TPZ’s decision, even if the Commission rejects the easement request.

       The MDC is looking for the approval of easements that will allow them to complete the construction of a relief sewer along northern Cedar Street between Old Farms Road and Mill Brook--one piece of a larger, comprehensive sewer and water project.

       The need for the easements, from both the town and a slew of private properties, are prompted by grade changes and utility conflicts from Willard Avenue to where the relief system ties in to the Mill Brook sewer, Town Engineer Chris Greenlaw and MDC personnel told the Town Council at its Jan. 12 regular meeting.

       The easement agreements with property owners--of five residences along the problem stretch of the route--as well as the town and the Catholic Church Diocese have already been mutually accepted and are just waiting on the official go-ahead, according to Project Manager Adam Thompson.

       The MDC will start with the former, a 20-inch thick water main that will run down Veterans Drive, south on Willard Avenue and then west onto Old Farms Drive. That’s expected to take between 30 and 60 days, according to the MDC.

       The sewer portion, however, could take a year and a half to two years to complete, according to Thompson. That’s partly because work will stop during the winter months in order to not impede snow removal, he said. The work during this phase will take place at the Cedar Street/Willard Avenue intersection.

       â€"It’s a big project,” Greenlaw said. â€"It’s going to be a beehive of traffic. It’s going to be noisy. It’s going to be dirty. It’s going to be an inconvenience.”

       But hopefully not too much of one, MDC personnel have said. Their proposal is to redirect Cedar Street southbound traffic up to Alumni Road for a reroute back onto Cedar. Motorists going north to enter Newington High School will be allowed through.

       For the rerouted motorists detouring onto Alumni, a gate separating the road from Willard Avenue--a major talking point during a traffic safety reengineering-related public hearing last year--would have to be taken down, MDC personnel said. The Department of Transportation (DOT) put up the gate more than 10 years ago.

       The MDC wants to perform the work at night, as to prevent traffic impact during the intersection’s busiest hours, Thompson said.

       The Newington phase of a larger $2.1 billion Clean Water Project is slated to cost $10 million.

       The MDC held a public hearing on the project at Town Hall Tuesday night.
MORE NEWINGTON NEWS  |  STORY BY MARK DIPAOLA  |  Feb 03 2016  |  COMMENTS?