Main Street North Sidewalk Extension
Town of Woodbury
On paper, the assignment was simple: Design a short, infill sidewalk. However, the bigger picture revealed underlying complications including utility location, topography, business accessibility, and regulatory requirements. All had to be resolved within a constrained budget.
Client need
Enhancing the Main Street sidewalk was a priority for the town, given the existing foot traffic along this busy segment of State Route 6. Despite only spanning over 1/10th of a mile, the anticipated benefits of this extension far outweighed its length. Safety took precedence, considering the street’s unfortunate history of pedestrian accidents. Another crucial aspect of the project was ensuring that the new sidewalk seamlessly integrated within the existing community characteristics. Running in parallel was the need to meet CTDOT requirements because the sidewalk ran along State Route 6. Layered on this challenge was the town’s modest budget, as funding was secured through a Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP) Grant.
The assignment was complicated due to the constrained site. The team was required to construct the new building while the existing facility and site amenities were in full use, leaving little room to spare.
Our approach
The sidewalk abutted a number of small businesses whose driveways traversed the planned walkway. The property owners voiced their concern about the impact of the new sidewalk on their driveways and business operations. To address their concerns, M&J’s team met with each business owner individually to discuss the details of the project. In response, our engineering team designed a path that minimized the impacts on the existing utilities and businesses that lined Main Street without compromising the project goals.
Results
Because of our proactive interactions with the abutting property owners and our relationship with the town, the required easements were successfully obtained without delay. Part of this success was the business owner’s understanding that while this project was initiated by safety concerns, it was an equal investment in economic development.