According to an estimated traffic study done in 2013 on Route 302 near the approach to Main Street, 9,200 vehicles pass that way daily. It is probably true that most of the people in those many vehicles do not even know that they are passing across Bridge No. 03271, over an unnamed brook. However, the Connecticut Department of Transportation has taken notice of this bridge and is planning a two-year construction project that includes a bridge replacement of a 16-foot span by 7-foot-high precast concrete box culvert and new cast-in-place wingwalls, as well as a short sidewalk running from Main Street to the Route 302 back driveway of the police station (Town Hall South), all at the cost of $2 million. This work would be undertaken with some expense to The Pleasance, on the north side, and to the Ram Pasture, on the south side, as both properties would be impacted.

The Pleasance, owned by the Scudder Smith Family Association, LLC, will take a hit, losing a major portion of some shrubs and flowers planted on the hillside along Route 302 to make room for the five-foot-wide sidewalk, as well as a total loss of the clump of trees - eight dawn redwoods, several evergreens, and possibly a maple and a dogwood - at the Route 302 entrance to the back of the police station. The DOT has said that the trees must go to give room for the equipment necessary for the bridge construction and also that they plan on a major rip-rapping of the area between the driveway and the bridge. The loss of those trees will have serious impact on that portion of The Pleasance, opening up the gazebo and the bocce court to the sight of traffic, as well as the noise from passing cars. The trees planted there provide less exposure from Route 302 to the back of Town Hall South, considered by many to be one of the least attractive nonresident buildings on Main Street.

The Ram Pasture, owned and maintained by the Newtown Village Cemetery Association, will lose approximately eight feet of its property and the State of Connecticut will take a permanent drainage right of way for a total of 1,336 square feet, plus or minus. The wider bridge will also change the look of the northern side of the pasture.

Maureen Crick Owen, president of the Newtown Village Cemetery Association, said, "I understand the state's need to replace the bridge, but I am very concerned with the aesthetic and environmental impact on Ram Pasture, even with the majority of the state's work within its 50-foot right of way. Ram Pasture, part of the Borough Historic District, is also a landmark in Newtown and provides a beautiful vista for our residents as well as for those driving through town. The Cemetery Association has owned and maintained Ram Pasture for decades and will continue to preserve it as part of the rural New England village character that is still in our town, despite the changes to come."

At a meeting early this fall that the owners of The Pleasance, representatives from the Village Cemetery Association, First Selectman Pat Llodra, and other town officials had with five representative of DOT, the question of the sidewalk was one of the main issues. Mrs Llodra asked if the sidewalk, which goes nowhere and connects with no other sidewalk, could be eliminated, thus infringing less on The Pleasance.

Also, since the sidewalk would be on state property, the question was raised as to who would be responsible for snow removal from the sidewalk after Route 302 is plowed.

All arguments fell of deaf ears; DOT maintains that the sidewalk plan will remain.

According to DOT, the purpose and need for the project is to address the structural deficiencies and functional obsolescence of Bridge No. 03271 that is structurally deficient due to the poor condition of the superstructure, and functionally obsolete due to the inadequate deck width. The proposed structure will be widened to provide adequate curb-to-curb width, accommodate a new sidewalk to the north, and improve intersection sight distance at Elm Drive.

This is a two-year project, probably starting in March 2017 with the relocation of utility poles, moving an eight-inch water main more to the south, and temporarily relocating an existing eight-inch steel gas main further north. An existing ten-inch sewer main that crosses Route 302 west of the bridge, along Elm Drive and through The Pleasance, will have a concrete encasement installed around the existing main within the vicinity of the proposed bridge and wingwall construction to help protect and maintain the existing sewer while construction activities are ongoing.

Final construction activities, including paving of about 420 feet of roadway, loaming, and seeding will be completed using standard traffic control, as needed.