Town Engineer Bryan Nesteriak talks to a resident during community road forum.
SEYMOUR – Since 2014, nearly 30 miles of Seymour’s 82 miles of roads have been repaved, seven miles of roads have been fully reconstructed and thousands of feet of sidewalks have been replaced.
That’s according to Seymour Town Engineer Bryan Nesteriak, who participated in a forum with residents in August to talk about the most basic yet most crucial aspect of town government – making sure the roads work.
Nesteriak, who owns B&B Engineering, said an analysis by his firm of the town’s 300 roads done in 2016 rated the roads with letter grades, similar to a grade on a test. The roads that received poorer ratings of C’s and D’s were the ones that Nesteriak said his office has been focusing on.
In 2014, Nesteriak said the town began a road bonding program, fixing some of the town’s more problematic, large-scale roads.
In 2014, $5.6 million was bonded for improvements, in 2017, another $4.5 million was bonded and in 2020, another $5 million was bonded.
Some of those roads that received major makeovers, thanks to the borrowed money, included Buckingham Road, Washington Avenue, Shelton/Pershing Avenues, Elm Street, Moss Avenue, Old Ansonia Road, Main Street, Silvermine Industrial Park, as well as sidewalks on Woodside Avenue, according to Nesteriak.
The long-awaited $4.3 million makeover to Holbrook Road was also completed in July.
Looking ahead, Nesteriak said a $7 million makeover for Bungay Road, Botsford Road and West Church Street is awaiting a third-party review from the state, with construction slated to kick off in spring 2024. The project will be funded through the state’s Local Transportation Capital Improvement Program (LOTCIP) fund.
The three connected roads, which serve as a significant transportation hub for vehicle traffic, will undergo a full-depth reconstruction, according to Nesteriak. The project in part will be done in three phases, and include new roadway base, new pavement, consistent lane widths, new drainage, new curbing and new sidewalks that will connect West Church Street all the way to Seymour High School on Botsford Road.
The project is also slated to include installation of a rapid flashing beacon at the crosswalk across from Ralph Hull Funeral Home on West Street, near a narrow, almost blind corner, that will alert oncoming motorists when people are crossing the street during funerals and wakes, according to Nesteriak. There will also be 35, new on-street parking spaces at Bungay School to help ease bus and drop-off traffic.
Nesteriak said some other roads in town, including the state-owned Clinton Road, which has been the scene of numerous accidents over the years, are on track for major improvements. He said the town also anticipates receiving grant money to make downtown sidewalk improvements, and is hopeful funding can be secured to fix the problematic Seymour Avenue, which Nesteriak said has needed repairs for more than 20 years.
Out of the eight residents who attended the forum over the summer, seven expressed concerns about Tibbets Road, a dead-end road they say is riddled with potholes and poor drainage issues.
“There are 55 potholes on Tibbets Road and it has not been paved for years,” said Tom Groves, who lived on Tibbets for 25 years.
“The quality of our road is very poor, and there’s been a lot of heavy truck activity adding to the deterioration of the road,” said Melanie Anderson, who has lived on Tibbets for 38 years.
Anderson said in her nearly 40 years living on Tibbets, she can’t recall when it was last paved. She noted that the road also gets its heavy share of traffic, due to the Little Laurel Lime park located at the end of the road.
Other residents said drainage on Tibbets is poor, causing their driveways to flood.
Nesteriak said Tibbets has been on the town’s radar.
“The road is definitely on our list for repairs, I just don’t know when that will be,” Nesteriak said, noting funding needs to be found in order to get repairs going.
