Streetscape to get more stimulus funding

Stonington - The state has awarded the town an additional $500,000 in federal stimulus money for Phase 2 of the Mystic streetscape project, allowing the town to extend the scope of the work from Willow Street to the train station on Route 1.

The additional money will also allow the town to install 44 decorative lights not just in those areas but along Cottrell, Holmes and Willow streets, Route 27 and Broadway, upgrade the Civil War monument in front of CVS and install five solar-powered trash compactors.

"This allows us to rebuild our infrastructure, which is something that has been needed for years," First Selectman Ed Haberek said Tuesday.

The town expects to complete Phase 1 of the streetscape project early next spring. The $900,000 of work, which is being funded with federal money, extends along East Main Street from the drawbridge to Willow Street and includes new lighting, sidewalks, curbs, pavement and signs that point to destinations.

The town already had $500,000 for Phase 2 but that did not allow for much more than new sidewalks, curbs and lights from Willow Street to the train station.

But Haberek and Director of Planning Bill Haase continued to make monthly trips to state Department of Transportation headquarters to push for more funding.

When another project the state had planned to fund did not complete its design in time, the DOT official that Haberek and Haase had been meeting asked if Stonington was interested in that money.

Now with a total of $1,084,000 for the work, the town will spend $137,500 to replace the rusted and broken fence around the Civil War monument and upgrade the landscaping. It will spend an additional $229,000 to install 47 high-pressure sodium lights.

One of the more interesting aspects of the project may be the $37,800 the town will spend to buy and install five combination recyclable containers and trash compactors.

The 32-gallon, solar-powered units can hold as much as 200 gallons of compacted garbage.

The Big Belly units, which are used in New York City, Philadelphia and outside Fenway Park, send text messages to the town when they are full.

Haberek said the units will be especially helpful during special events and the busy tourist season because they will not have to be emptied as often.

Benches and bike racks will also be installed.

Phase 2 work also calls for redesigning the intersection at the monument so it functions more like a traffic circle, according to Haase. Brown or tan concrete blocks will help guide motorists through the intersection much like the new red pavers in downtown Pawcatuck.

Phase 2 is slated to begin next spring and be completed later in the year.