Barrington's downtown gets a makeover
Village center streetscape project made possible by bond
The long-awaited village center streetscape improvement project that began last month will continue until colder weather arrives.
The project, known as the "Village Center Connectivity," consists of sidewalks, street trees, and site amenities such as benches, crosswalks, street lighting for Maple Avenue, West Street, Wood Avenue and Cottage Street.
The project is an effort to make the business district more user-friendly, especially for pedestrians.
The work began on Wood Avenue with the installation of granite curbing and sidewalks as well as drainage and utility upgrades. The construction bid in the amount of $1,285,140.21 was awarded to Hartford Paving Company of Johnston.
This has been a plan three years in the making. In 2013, officials engaged Birchwood Design Group to work with the town and other stakeholders to create concepts included in a cost estimate of $1.6 million.
That amount provided the basis for the Village Center Streetscape Bond totaling approximately $1,481,887 —sufficient to cover the bid from Hartford Paving, plus a 10 percent contingency, or $1,413,654. That amount was approved by voters at the financial town meeting in May of that year.
BETA Group was hired in late 2014, with the Barrington Town Council’s authorization, to complete the engineering necessary to finalize the plans and contract manual. Over the past 18 months, BETA has worked closely with town officials to refine the plans.
The project area included excluded Waseca Avenue from the first phase — the decision was based on financial constraints. Waseca Avenue will be a separate project to be completed in the future.
Depending on weather conditions, work may continue on the north side of Maple Avenue from just west of the AAA property to Daisy Dig’Ins.
Barrington Town Planner Phil Hervey said the town council added a section of sidewalk to be installed on Maple Avenue from Prince's Hill Road to West Street.
“The council voted to use $70,000 from the Roadway Bond to install 600 feet of sidewalk and curbing on the south side of Maple Avenue,” he said.
Next April, the project resumes on Maple Avenue on the south side in front of Vienna Bakery.
Four angled parking spaces in front of Vienna Bakery will be delineated and a public sidewalk will be built on the bakery’s property to eliminate the existing conflict where vehicles have to cross the sidewalk to park.
An easement for the sidewalk and public parking spaces will be needed between the property owner and the town before work can proceed in this area.
The plans call for creating a three-way stop at Maple and West with new stop signs on Maple for both directions of travel. This will need to be approved by a town council ordinance.
Other improvements include repaving Cottage Street.
Barrington Town Manager Jim Cunha said although conditions during the construction can be trying, the end result will be positive for the area.
“This improvement project will enhance the neighborhood and make the business district more user-friendly. We are all about supporting local business,” he said.
