A 2021 shot of Main Street in Derby, from Valley Aerial Optics.
DERBY — People should start seeing activity connected to the Route 34/Main Street widening project starting Friday or Monday, state officials said this week.
“Crews will begin mobilizing over the next several weeks for work that will include the clearing of small brush, placing silt fencing, and installing signage. We expect a minimal impact to motorists,” Josh D. Morgan, a spokesperson for the state Department of Transportation, wrote in an email to The Valley Indy.
Some of that work could start Friday, or Monday at the latest. Heavy rain is expected late Thursday. Weather is always a variable in construction projects.
In January the state awarded an $18.7 million contract to C.J. Fucci Inc. of New Haven to build a new Main Street in downtown Derby.
The project includes the reconstruction of Route 34 (Main Street) from the Derby-Shelton bridge to the Route 8 interchange.
The Derby-Shelton bridge is currently undergoing a separate, $6.3 million renovation project.
It is supposed to improve traffic conditions in downtown Derby — without turning Main Street into a highway.
The project will create two through lanes in each direction on Route 34 separated by a center median, with new, dedicated turning lanes at intersections. There will also be improvements to traffic signals, including the interconnecting of the signals to improve traffic flow, according to info posted on the website of the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments.
“Improvements will be made to Elizabeth Street, Minerva Street, Water Street, and Factory Street. Elizabeth, Minerva, and Thirds Streets will be converted to one-way circulation. Traffic will travel north on Minerva and south on Elizabeth,” according to the project’s description.
The work is expected to take two to three years to complete.
“The contractor is mobilized and now that the weather is breaking they are prepping advance signage warnings that the project will begin,” said Rick Dunne, the executive director of the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments. “There will also be press that will come out of CTDOT regarding closures and rerouting‘s as they may be required during overnight or weekend hours.”
The project has been discussed for the better part of a decade. It’s not clear when or if a ribbon-cutting will take place to ceremoniously mark the start of the long-anticipated project.
