With Election Day next month, Mayor Anita Dugatto’s administration is reminding residents of improvements to Witek Park in east Derby and in the area of Chatfield Street next to the Leo F. Ryan Athletic Complex.
In a prepared statement released Oct. 5, Dugatto thanked the city’s Department of Public Works and the Board of Aldermen for making safety improvements to walkways in the area of Hawthorne Avenue across from Roseland and up toward the playing fields of the athletic complex.
The city installed crosswalks across Hawthorne Avenue last year and repaired sidewalks leading up Chatfield Street. Previously, pedestrians had to walk on the road, a dangerous situation.
Derby DPW employees have also cleared overgrown bushes that covered sidewalks on Hawthorne Avenue.
Click here for a previous Valley Indy story on the subject.
The city also fixed and added sidewalks on Chatfield.
“I live in this neighborhood and there is substantial foot traffic in and around the field each day,” Art Gerckens, the president of the Board of Aldermen, said in a prepared statement. “The city not only addressed a huge safety concern, but our Department of Public Works really stepped up to the plate and made the area around the field look more attractive.”
On Oct. 6, Dugatto sent word about improvements at Witek Park on Academy Hill Road.
Over the summer DPW employees built and installed a 9‑foot pedestrian bridge over a spillway. The bridge lets workers hike around the reservoir in an uninterrupted path.
Previously, walkers had to traverse a hill and walk along busy Academy Hill Road to get by the spillway.
“Because the bridge was build by DPW employees, labor and materials (it) only cost the city about $8,000,” DPW Director Anthony DeFala said in a prepared statement.
“Outsourcing” the work would have cost about $50,000, DeFala said.
Click here for a previous story about the bridge.
The city also replaced a roof on a small accessory building next to the spillway and installed new fencing and landscaping.
In addition, the city fixed the parking lot and drainage issues along Academy Hill Road and improved the parking area near the soccer fields in Witek Park.
“By doing as much work as possible in-house, we controlled our costs and were able to maximize our investment in this community asset,” Dugatto said in a prepared statement.
Here’s a video of the bridge being installed at Witek Park:
