Oxford town officials cut a red ribbon Wednesday to officially open the town’s newest road, Commerce Drive Extension, which provides access to more than 200 acres of industrial land that could amount to about 35 new construction lots.
“People were reluctant to develop that area because of the snake pit (road) you had to drive through. Now you have direct access,” said Herman Schuler, the town’s economic development director.
The land is owned by various private interests, not the town, but the town would benefit from the development of the land in the form of tax revenue and jobs, Schuler said.
The road stretches 1,000 feet, roughly a fifth of a mile, beginning at the corner of Jacks Hill Road and North Larkey Road and ending at Christian Street.
The road provides a straight and safe road for large trucks to travel in the town’s industrial park area. Previously, trucks had to drive on a winding portion of Jacks Hill Road, said First Selectwoman Mary Ann Drayton-Rogers.
“It is something our residents needed to have done,” Drayton-Rogers said.
The new road cost roughly $465,000 to build.
The construction began in May and was completed in late August.
Earthworks Excavating Inc. built the road.
It took nearly four years to get all the permits from the Army Corps of Engineers and other entities to build the road, Schuler said.
The roadway has been part of the town’s industrial roadway development plan since early 2004.
Those in attendance at the ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday included Dave Sippin, president of Sippin Oil and representative of the Commerce Park Industrial Park; Mark Oczkowski, owner and president of Earthworks; Curt Jones, project engineer, Bill Johnson, chairman of the Oxford Planning and Zoning Commission; Rob Saracino, chairman of the Oxford Economic Development Commission; and two members of the Planning and Zoning Commission, Janis Hardy and Patrick Cocchiarella.
Al Benoit, a member of the Oxford Greens Homeowners Association, also attended.
Drayton-Rogers saidt the project involved shared funding.
She thanked David Sippin of the Commerce Industrial Park for contributing $210,000 to the cost — the town picked up the remainder of the bill.
