The Derby Board of Aldermen took some baby steps last month that could, eventually, see Hawthorne Avenue finally get a face lift.
Hawthorne Avenue is on Derby’s west side, running parallel to Route 34 and the Housatonic River. It stretches from Anson Street all the way to Derby Neck Road behind Osborndale State Park.
The road has multi-family houses on the Anson Street side, then transitions to single-family homes closer to Roseland Apizza.
Officials can’t remember the last time the road was paved. Spots of Hawthorne are in bad shape — such as the intersection with North Avenue, just up the road from the Dew Drop Inn.
The total cost to repave the road from curb to curb is estimated to be $1.75 million, according to the Valley Council of Governments.
Federal money is available to cover 80 percent of the project.
Derby has to come up with about $380,000 to make the project happen, according to Derby’s Economic Development Office.
Last month the Aldermen unanimously voted to support the project.
Sheila O’Malley, director of the city’s Office of Economic and Community Development, said in an email the fate of the repaving depends entirely on whether the city officials can come up with their 20 percent.
“If we can’t find the money, then we don’t move forward,” O’Malley said.
Meanwhile, utility companies have been out marking where the gas and water lines are all along the road.
The project calls for the road to be stripped down then repaved — it will not be widened.
Editor’s note: The writer lives on Hawthorne Avenue.
