Work on Maple Avenue has temporarily ground to a halt because Guerrera Construction has been called away to work at the Danbury Airport. “We’re a little delayed because I guess an airport takes precedence when you are talking to the FAA,” said First Selectman Matt Riiska.
He had hoped to have the work completed in the first weeks of June.
Riiska expects work to resume in two weeks when there will be some final cleanup to do and a top coat of paving will be put down. Final landscaping will be delayed until the weather is more seasonable.
Riiska has been in contact with the state about replacement of two South Norfolk bridges swept away in last July’s flash flood. The Smith Road bridge final design will be completed by July 2025 with work expected to be done by spring 2026.
“When they are finished with that, they will start on the Old Goshen Road bridge,” he said. It is hoped that bridge will be complete by fall 2026.
The state has held the town harmless in reconstruction of the bridges, assuming all costs for engineering and replacement. Riiska said there is no plan to install a temporary replacement for the Smith Road bridge because of the cost.
“We just don’t have the funds for that,” he said, citing a figure for the temporary structure of just under $500,000. “The state doesn’t want anything to do with it.”
On River Place, Riiska has been promised that bridge work on will start by next week after a 20-month hiatus. “They said they would start Friday, but I will believe it if I see it next week,” he said. “It’s been a long, arduous process of coming to an agreement on pricing and timing.”
The project was stopped in November 2022 when it was discovered that one headwall was not sitting on a firm foundation.
Finally, Riiska said he is negotiating with the state DOT to mill and pave Route 44 in west Norfolk where the road has been disturbed by infrastructure changes being made this summer. “I’m trying to talk them into milling and paving so it is not so bumpy for cars and plowing during the winter,” he said.