Engineer Jeff Hopper of Luchs Consulting Engineers.

DERBY – A $3.8 million road improvement project is being planned for Division Street and Seymour Avenue.

The majority of the project is being funded through the State of Connecticut’s Local Capital Improvement Program (LoCIP).

Derby and Griffin Health are kicking in $125,000 each for design costs.

Alderman Rob Hyder and Derby City/Town Clerk Marc Garofalo said the City of Ansonia should also be kicking in money, too, because part of the project involves land in Ansonia.

A letter from Derby Mayor Joseph DiMartino was sent to Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti but there was no response as of Aug. 14, according to statements made at a public meeting.

DIVISION STREET IMPROVEMENTS

The project includes an estimated $3.4 million in repairs to Division Street between Silver Hill Road and Emmett Avenue.

The road will be reconstructed, sidewalks on both sides of the road will be made ADA compliant, pedestrian signs with flashing lights will be installed, a retaining wall will be built, and the intersection of Division Street with Chatfield Street and Silver Hill Road will be realigned.

Decorative lighting will be added, including in a dark section of sidewalk that passes under Route 8.

SEYMOUR AVENUE IMPROVEMENTS

Seymour Avenue from Division to Spring Street will receive new sidewalks, decorative lighting, and safer pedestrian crossings, including the installation of flashing lights to warn motorists of crossing pedestrians.

Currently the sidewalks are crumbling or don’t exist in spots along Division Street and Seymour Avenue. The sidewalks are narrow in spots with utility poles in the middle.

Employees from Luchs Consulting Engineers said the project’s overall goal is to improve safety and better connect the neighborhoods.

NEAR THE ER

Improvements are also planned for the intersection of Division Street and Maple Avenue close to the Griffin Hospital emergency room entrance.

The project starts at Division Street and Silver Hill Road, near the former nursing home Griffin purchased, tore down, and used for parking. Griffin employees walk to work from the property or take a shuttle bus.

The hospital also has extensive holdings on both sides of Spring Street.

Garofalo noted that the project is worthwhile, but costs for sidewalk maintenance in Derby are the responsibility of the property owner. He said it’s important to ask Ansonia to chip in for costs, since properties on one side of Division Street are in Ansonia.

Linda Fusco, Mayor DiMartino’s chief of staff, said Ansonia should have been approached when the project started under former Mayor Richard Dziekan’s administration. Alderman Hyder said it was brought up but the requests fell on “deaf ears.”

The final design for the project is scheduled to be set in the fall. Construction could start in the spring or summer of 2026.