Eversource begins first phase of gas line project

Work on a multi-phase project that will improve the reliability of Eversource Energy’s natural gas customers in Wallingford got started Monday.

Eversource will spend $14 million this year on the first phase of a 17-milelong project that ultimately will link existing gas mains in Wallingford and Middletown. The project also will allow Eversource to add service in Durham and Middlefield, two communities where the company currently does not provide natural gas service, said Mitch Gross, a company spokesman.

“We’re in the process of building redundancies adding equipment into the system for reliability purposes,” Gross said of the primary goal of the project,

The first phase of the project involves installation of 5.6 miles of line from Wallingford east along Route 68 to the Durham line, he said. Work on that phase is expected to be completed by the end of November.

During the second phase, scheduled to begin next spring, crews will install about eight miles of line from Middletown south along Route 17 to the intersection with Route 68 in Durham, Gross said.

The final phase of the project, which will begin in spring 2019, will complete the link-up of the two natural gas pipelines, Gross said.

Bill Akley, president of gas operations at Eversource, said company officials will be “working closely with town officials throughout the project to minimize any traffic disruptions in the community.”

Crews are working in town Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Drivers may experience delays due to alternating, one-way traffic in the construction zones.

Eversource has several other projects that will link different sections of its distribution network, One similar project is going on in Danbury while another link is being installed from Plainfield to Franklin in eastern Connecticut.

The resiliency projects are in addition to Eversource’s ongoing expansion of its natural gas distribution system and replacement program of its older gas pipelines. Eversource provides natural gas to 229,000 customers in 72 communities in Connecticut.