Madison Downtown Construction to Commence Week of Sept. 8

In a meeting at Town Campus on Friday morning, Madison Town Engineer Mike Ott presented the construction schedule for the Madison Center Project to First Selectman Fillmore McPherson, EDC Chair Ryan Duques and Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Eileen Banisch. Ott reports that construction will begin the week of September 8, just after the Labor Day holiday.

The first things that will occur will be:

Installation of construction signage

Removal of dead and diseased trees

Pavement cutting along curbing (resulting in temporary closure of parking spaces)

Cutting across Route 79 at Route 1 for placement of underground utility conduit

Once the initial pieces of the project are complete the construction will begin to remove and replace the curbing and sidewalk.

There will be temporary parking and business access disruption as the project moves in phases along main street. Disruption will be limited to sections as the project will concentrate on one area before moving to the next.

This will significantly reduce any disruptions to parking or business access. Retail stores will be visited in-person and notified when construction will be near their entrance and disruptions will be discussed and alleviated as much as possible. It is important to note that any disruption will be brief.

It is anticipated that work will begin on the east end of downtown at the corner of Wall Street and Route 1 near the Post Office.

“While the EDC had hoped that this project would have kicked off earlier in the summer, the silver-lining of a later start is that there will be no impact to summer visitors and residents that visit our downtown. The construction, which is already designed to have low impact on our the commercial district will also commence during a slower retail period,” Said Ryan Duques, chair of Madison’s Economic Development Commission.

Construction on the sidewalks and curbing will complete for the year by November 15, allowing for full parking and access to retailers and businesses during the holiday shopping period. Any uncompleted phases of the sidewalk and curbing will restart next spring. From the most up-to-date information on the project visit www.MadisonEDC.org

PHOTO: Madison from atop the Scranton Memorial Library. Picture taken from the EDC webcam on Friday, September 4 showing a last view of Madison before construction starts. Time-lapse video of construction as well as updated information can be found at www.MadisonEDC.org