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Closing in on
commuter lot
revamp
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — The refurbishment of the Kennedy Drive commuter lot may go out for bids this fall and then construction in the spring, according to Town Administrator Elaine Sistare.
Having completed the conceptual plan, J&D Civil Engineers LLC of N. Grosvenordale is now working on the construction cost estimate for the project.
Eversource is due to sell its small lot at the edge of the commuter lot to the town. They are still working on “environmental concerns” and assessing what easements they might need in the future (for example, for overhead or underground wires). In the meantime, she said, Eversource has given the town permission to go ahead.
Plans call for the congested lot entrance near the intersection to disappear and the entrance come in very close to the town-Eversource border.
The conceptual plan drawn up by J&D calls for 195 parking spaces, 20 electric (EV) charging stations, relocated handicapped parking spaces and possibly another set of stairs next to the Centreville Bank stairs to get to the Main Street/Union Square area. In addition some landscaped strips dot the plans. Entrances and exits would be reworked. Storm water improvements would also need to be made, going under Kennedy Drive toward the Quinebaug. Sistare added the town would also like to include a revamp of the public restrooms on the edge of the commuter lot. It would include refreshing the doors, painting and also perhaps roofing improvements.
Town officials had thought the project would come to $900,000; however, Sistare said at 30 percent it’s already at $1.5 million. Funding would come from the town’s $2.7 million American Rescue Plan Act fund.
“The project will probably have to be done in phases,” she said.
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