Improvements Underway For Meriden's Natural Gas Service

MERIDEN, CT — Utility company Eversource is in the midst of a $2.9 million natural gas improvement project in Meriden where 9,800 feet of old cast iron and bare steel pipe is being replaced with more durable plastic lines, according to officials.

The upgrade project will help deliver natural gas more reliably to customers, and is safer and better able to handle fluctuations in underground temperatures. Since 2012, Eversource has replace more than 120 miles of older gas lines throughout Connecticut.

"These investments allow us to further modernize the gas distribution system, minimizing repairs and any service interruptions," said Al Marsocci, Vice President of Gas Operations at Eversource, in a statement. "Proactively upgrading the system helps to ensurethe continued safe and reliable delivery of natural gas to our 226,000 customers in Connecticut."

From an Eversource release:

The Meriden upgrade project is underway, with construction crews working between the hours of 7 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Work will be done along Home, Reservoir, Ames and Fowler avenues, Golden, Morse, Pasco and Lockwood streets, Lockwood Street Extension and Fowler Avenue Extension. In May, another phase will begin with work on Wilcox Avenue, Colony Street and Colony Place.

Eversource communicates with community leaders and customers where work is being done to minimize the impact to traffic and coordinate with other roadwork happening in the town. Driversmay experience delays due to alternating one-way traffic. Customers may experience a short disruption to their natural gas service when the new line is being activated and they will be notified in advance by letter, phone or an in-person visit. This gas line improvement project is expected to be complete by the middle of June.

For information on Eversource’s natural gas expansion efforts, visit Eversource.com.

Photo credit: Eversource

(Editor's Note: Patch is re-posting this story in case you missed it the first time around.)