‘Dangerous’ intersection to get new traffic light

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NAUGATUCK — The Board of Mayor and Burgesses recently approved a bid to put a stoplight at the intersection of and Maple Street and Old Firehouse Road, in front of the fire house.

The construction contract went to NY-CONN Corporation of Danbury for $172,400.

A state and federal grant will pay for 90 percent of that cost, as well as 90 percent of the $33,500 cost of inspections during construction, leaving Naugatuck to pay roughly $20,600 out of its pocket.

Naugatuck also paid for the design work for the project, which has taken about five years to get off the ground, according to Public Works Director James Stewart.

Stewart said construction will start in the spring and take three to four months to complete intermittently.

The Department of Transportation removed the previous signal at that intersection due to structural failures in 2005.

Stewart said the intersection is one of the most dangerous in Naugatuck and there have been many accidents there, including some involving pedestrians.

Stewart said it took several years to get funding for the design, and then find funding for the construction, and finally get designs approved by the state.

“It’s a state and federal project so it has to be done to their standards,” Stewart said.

The project will be funded mostly through a local accident reduction program for projects between $50,000 and $300,000.

The borough previously received a grant and completed a similar project at the intersection of Andrew Avenue and Rubber Avenue, Stewart said.

He said he has also applied for a grant to replace the signal at the intersection of Hoadley Street and Melbourne Street, another dangerous intersection with outdated lights that don’t meet current standards.

Modern traffic lights have a trigger in the asphalt to change the light when a car is waiting on one side and no other cars are around.

The light at the intersection of Hoadley Street and Melbourne Street has a simple timed system, so cars often have to wait for long periods, even late at night when no other cars are in the vicinity, Stewart said.