On Monday, April 23, a construction clock will start ticking, signaling the official start of a 222-day period during which workers will reconfigure the widely-offset intersection of Church Hill Road (US Route 6), Edmond Road, and Commerce Road, creating a conventional four-way signalized intersection of those streets by shifting the southern end of Edmond Road about 300 westward.

The long-awaited state Department of Transportation (DOT) project is intended to generally improve traffic flow and thus reduce motor vehicle accidents in a congested area that has the highest accident rate in town. Many of those collisions occur when motorists attempt to make left turns while entering or exiting the many commercial driveways in the area. The work also is intended to improve pedestrian safety. Sidewalks will be constructed along both sides of Church Hill Road in that area.

DOT spokesman Kevin Nursick said April 17 the bid for the construction project, which is scheduled to completed by November 30, has been awarded to Arborio Construction Company of Cromwell at a price of $2.85 million. The project affects an approximately 1,100-foot-long section of Church Hill Road.

The price for the work is considerably lower than had been estimated. An earlier DOT cost estimate placed the work at well over $4 million. Mr Nursick said the planned work is the project that DOT has been planning for the past several years and is not scaled down.

"[Cost] estimates are just that - estimates - the [construction] marketplace dictates the actual price," he said.

The projected work period is now only one construction season long. It was previously thought that work would exceed one construction season.

DOT Project Manager James Zaharevich said that initial work at the site will involve deciding which trees will be removed and then removing them. Early work also will involve repositioning about ten utility poles in the area to make way for construction.

The DOT plans to construct approximately 900 linear feet of new roadway for Edmond Road, which will meet Church Hill Road at Church Hill Road's current intersection with Commerce Road. The existing southern end of Edmond Road will be demolished and replaced with turf, Mr Zaharevich said.

The roadway changes mean that the access driveway for Newtown Pizza Palace at 65 Church Hill Road will be shifted from Church Hill Road to the new section of Edmond Road. Also, Wheels Citgo gas station/convenience store at 67 Church Hill Road will have a new driveway that connects to the new section of Edmond Road. The gas station also will continue using its existing driveway, which links to Church Hill Road.

The modified intersection with turning lanes will facilitate traffic flow through the junction and make it simpler for tractor-trailer trucks to maneuver through the area, Mr Zaharevich said.

Church Hill Road will be slightly widened to improve traffic flow, he said. New stormwater drainage structures will be installed in the area. New traffic signals will be installed at the new intersection of Church Hill Road, Edmond Road, and Commerce Road. Also, new traffic signals will be placed at Church Hill Road's intersection with eastbound Interstate 84's Exit 10 ramps. The traffic signals would be synchronized to improve traffic flow.

Since last fall, extensive site development work has occurred at 73-75 Church Hill Road, where Sunrise Church Hill Road, LLC, plans to build a 12,000-square-foot retail center near Exit 10 of I-84. The project will include a coffee shop with drive-through window service. The complex will have five commercial tenants. The retail center's main driveway would be located at the traffic signals positioned at the intersection of Church Hill Road and the Exit 10 ramps for eastbound I-84. A rear driveway would link to the new section of Edmond Road.

During the course of the intersection reconfiguration project, Church Hill Road traffic will be reduced to one-way alternating traffic flow, as needed, Mr Nursick said. Such alternating-traffic restrictions would be limited to the hours of 9 am to 3 pm on Mondays through Fridays, as needed, he said.