A photo from May 2023 showing the Route 34 widening project in Derby from the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments.
DERBY – The majority of the work on the Route 34/Main Street widening project is scheduled to be done by Oct. 10, according to Linda Fusco, Mayor Joseph DiMartino’s chief of staff.
Fusco relayed the news at an Aug. 22 meeting of the Derby Property and Development Committee. That group is a subcommittee of the Derby Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen.
Route 34 is a state-owned road also called Main Street in Derby. The widening project added lanes to the road, and also changed street patterns in downtown Derby.
Downtown Derby has been a construction zone since April 2021, when a state contractor started the $6.3 million renovation of the Derby-Shelton bridge, which connects Route 34 in Derby to Route 110 in Shelton. That project is wrapping up as well.
The Route 34 widening started around April 2022, when contractors started widening the road and adding new sidewalks as part of a $18.7 million construction project from the Derby-Shelton bridge to the Route 8 on ramps.
While Fusco said the majority of the widening project will be done by early October, she also pointed out the state contractor has to deal with an unexpected issue. An aqueduct was discovered under Route 34 going toward the Route 8 south entrance ramp. There’s no water in it, but engineers want to fill it in to protect the integrity of the new roadway, Fusco said.
It’s likely that work – which involves accessing manholes to pour in filler – will be ongoing past Oct. 10, she said.
In addition to the road and bridge work, Trolley Point, a 105-unit apartment building, is also being built on Main Street/Route 34 in Derby next to a Route 8 south onramp.
In 2020, Derby approved 203 townhouses for Factory Street next to Main Street. However, that project never moved forward and the investors are in a lawsuit.
The city also wants to move a scrapyard on Factory Street out of the redevelopment zone and, armed with state grant money, has been negotiating with the property owner for years.
Derby History Project
Derby resident Jack Walsh also spoke to the Aldermanic subcommittee Aug. 22 to pitch a project that would put city artifacts in one location downtown.
Prior to the start of the widening project, two water wheels were on display next to the entrance of the Derby Greenway near to the Derby-Shelton bridge. The two pieces of machinery provided electricity to Derby mills in the 1800s and had been discovered under a building that was being torn down on Main Street.
Click here for a write up on the water wheels from The Electronic Valley.
Walsh said the items are an important link to Derby’s industrial past.
Walsh said the water wheels should be placed back in the area along with Belgian blocks that, until 2017, formed the road bed on part of Caroline Street in downtown Derby.
The blocks were removed under Mayor Anita Dugatto’s administration because they were damaging plows in the winter and made the road slippery. However, at the time Mayor Dugatto promised to make them a part of some type of display once the Route 34/Main Street widening project was done. She asked the blocks from Caroline Street to be kept in storage, which happened.
Walsh said the Belgian blocks are an important connection to Derby’s maritime past because they were literally used as ballast in ships that would dock in Derby. Click here for more from The Electronic Valley.
Walsh advocated for a small park or monument combining the blocks and the water wheels, an idea that has garnered support from city officials. The subcommittee voted to take Walsh’s suggestions to the full Derby Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen. They are scheduled to meet again 7 p.m. Sept. 12.
