Making Ansonia beautiful
City moves ahead with sidewalk improvements, demo work
ANSONIA — Efforts to beautify the city are underway, with a major eyesore scheduled to come down this week and several streetscape projects in the works.
Standard Demolition is expected to begin the first phase of demolition Monday at the collapsing SHW Casting Co.
The city has enough money to begin the inner portion of the demolition, which will take about two days, according to Sheila O’Malley, the city’s economic development director.
Plans to demolish all three interconnected buildings on the former Farrel Corporation site are dependent on approval from the Valley Council of Government’s revolving loan fund.
Also in the works are several streetscape and traffic improvement efforts, including new sidewalks from Pulaski Highway to Prindle Avenue, synchronized signals on Main Street and pedestrian improvements on State Street.
Norwalkbased Grasso Construction is expected to complete by the end of this month the installation of almost 4,000 linear feet of sidewalk from Ansonia High School on Pulaski Highway to the Charger Practice Field and Emmett O’Brien Technical High School on Prindle
Avenue.
“It all depends on the weather,” said Chris Verissimo, Grasso’s foreman on the site.
Already Grasso has completed the sidewalks from Finney Street extension almost to the high school crossover. Still left is a small section that will include a crosswalk to the high school lot.
“Hopefully we should be completed just before or just after Thanksgiving,” Verissimo said. “Any day it gets cold we can lay curing blankets on the sidewalks.”
Mayor David Cassetti, a Republican who is facing off against Democrat Phil Tripp in Tuesday’s election, said the sidewalks were removed from the high school building project in 2000 because of budgetary problems.
“That was a detrimental mistake,” he said. “These sidewalks are not only a necessity for the kids who walk to school and to the practice field but to residents who walk their dogs on that street.”
Superintendent of Schools Joseph DiBacco agreed.
“I can say the sidewalks are much safer than what existed previously,” he said. “To get walkers off of the road and on the sidewalk is an important safety improvement.”
All but about $ 120,000 for the $ 1.3 million project will be coming from state and federal monies filtered through the Local Transportation Capital Improvement fund.
Because the crossover to Ansonia High is located on a hill, Cassetti said there can’t be a traffic signal. So a flashing beacon warning drivers of pedestrians possibly crossing the street will be installed.
“We see a lot of kids walking down to the training field from ( Ansonia High School) while we’re working,” Verissimo said.
Downtown at the intersection of Main and
Bridge streets, construction and utility crews ripped up a portion of the sidewalks and are placing new underground wiring that will better synchronize the downtown traffic signals as part of a state Department of Transportation contract.
O’Malley said the city has also received about $ 400,000 from DOT in the form of a connectivity grant to improve the area between the railroad station and proposed Main Street apartments.
She said she will be seeking another $ 700,000 in Local Transportation Capital Improvement funds to redo the sidewalks on Main Street from Bridge Street to the Maple Street bridge.
The sidewalks near the old Firestone building just before City Hall are slanted toward the gutter and will be lowered several inches, with steps built leading up to the businesses in that area, Cassetti said.
Those sidewalks will be handicappedcompliant, have brick paver bands and granite curbs — all improvements already made on Wakelee Avenue.
Another $ 1.2 million grant will be used to make similar improvements on State Street.
O’Malley said there will be a flashing rectangular beacon that will warn motorists of pedestrians crossing to the YMCA or Armory. That project also includes paving Union Street.
O’Malley expects the downtown and State Street projects will begin in the spring or summer.
“A lot of people use the YMCA and this will make their routes there, to Assumption School and the Armory safer,” said Domenico Filippone, whose third ward aldermanic district includes this site.