The city of Hartford is ready to start the next leg of “traffic calming” and streetscape improvements along Park Street in the Parkville neighborhood, a city official says.
About a 2,000-foot stretch of four-lane Park Street, from Park Terrace to Bartholomew Street will be narrowed to a single traffic lane eastbound and westbound, straddled by bike lanes, said Public Works Director Kevin Burnham.
In addition, an esplanade lined with trees and plantings will divide the lanes. New sidewalks, plantings and decorative light poles will complete the streetscape, Burnham said.
The city has authorized awarding a $3 million contract, funded with federal dollars, to T&T Concrete & Landscapes LLC of Hartford to begin work around August, he said.
The street work coincides with Hartford developer Carlos Mouta’s $5 million plan to refurbish the former Bradlees discount store/Stop & Shop supermarket shopping center at Park St. into a revitalized neighborhood retail plaza, Pope Commons.
Farther up Park Street, work is close to wrapping up on streetscape enchancements between Sisson Avenue/New Park Avenue and Prospect Street, including new sidewalks, bike lanes, lighting and repaving.
Separately, the city is wrapping up final designs for streetscape improvements on a 3,000-foot stretch of Farmington Avenue, from Marshall Street to Kenyon Street/Girard Avenue in the West End/Asylum Hill neighborhoods, Burnham said.
The timetable for this approximately $3 million streetscape project will wait on the Metropolitan District Commission’s completion of water main improvements along the route, he said. That means most likely the first shovels in the ground won’t be until next summer.
