Allen St. Drainage Improvements and Reconstruction Phase 2 Project Update

To: Property Owners and Residents in the Allen St. Basin and in the Hampton-Eton Sub-Basin. The Allen, Brighton, Stewart, Hampton, Eton, Newbury, Roxbury Neighborhoods.

Mark Moriarty, Mark Czerepuszko, Jason Outlaw and Cardinal Engineers hosted an informational meeting Thursday 11-14-24. We were pleased with the presentation. The planning is moving along. The bid ready documents should be completed by 4-1-25 per Director Moriarty.

“The City of New Britain, alongside Cardinal Engineering, are working on the design of the Allen St. Drainage Improvements and Reconstruction Phase 2 Project. This project is the second phase of improvements to Allen St. which focuses on mitigating the reoccurring flooding in the area as well as completing the corridors’ streetscape improvements. This phase of the Allen St. Improvements involves approximately 0.7 miles of Allen St. from Oak St. to Beacon St.”

“Here are some of the improvements:

New 54″ to 66″ reinforced concrete storm mains will be installed to replace the existing 24″clay storm main from Dixon to Beacon.
New sidewalk and granite curbing will be installed from Oak to Stanley.
From Oak to Stanley, the road will be reconstructed with new pavement.
Existing asphalt will be milled and paved from Stanley to Beacon.
2500′ of existing 100 year old water main will be replaced.
The sanitary sewer main will be upgraded from a 12″ clay pipe to a 24″ PVC pipe.
Based on the preliminary estimate, the construction cost will be approximately $14.4M.”

It’s the City’s responsibility and policy to keep our property owners and residents informed and involved when such projects are undertaken. We certainly appreciate the extra efforts with this costly, complex and long overdue project. Now we need to fully fund the project and complete the construction in a timely manner for the benefit of all.

Our city officials (elected and appointed) are working to complete this project as soon as possible. Now our state legislative delegation (Lopes, B. Sanchez, M. Sanchez, Turco, Defronzo), bonding commission leaders Napoli and Piscopo, and Governor Lamont must close the deal regarding the state bonding initiative of $10M.

See flyer, below.

Allen St. Drainage Improvements and Reconstruction Phase 2 Project Urgent Notice to All State Politicians and Officials: The Allen St. Phase 2 Project must be funded immediately. Allen St. and our surrounding neighborhoods have flooded ten times since July 4, 2023. We have listed 21 reasons for our pleas for help. Governor Lamont we need your leadership now. Please expedite and fast track the $9.7M Allen St. Bonding Initiative. We know it can be done! 1) The City of New Britain has committed $4.2M for the $13.9M Allen St. Project. 2) The Allen St. Project is critical to resolving chronic issues including flooding due to storm-sewer failures, sanitary back-ups and breaks due to insufficient capacity and the system's age. 3) Allen St. and the surrounding neighborhoods are not in flood zones. 4) Storm-sanitary cross connections exist on Allen St. further contributing to this public health emergency. 5) Our quality of life is suffering and our property values have declined by 15%. 6) The unhealthy contaminants in the flooding water include; bacteria, fecal matter, fats, motor oil, grease, etc. 7) Flooding anxiety and distress are real health issues. 8) Our taxes increase while our neighborhoods continue to flood. 10 floods since July 4, 2023. 9) We demand our fair share of money from state bonding initiatives to fund our most pressing need; The Allen St. Phase 2 Project. 10) The compromised Allen St. System creates an open air cesspool on Allen St. and in surrounding neighborhoods. 11) Our properties are the catch basin-toilet bowl, where contaminated flood water gathers, waiting for rain events to end before receding. 12) Intense rainfall overwhelms the compromised Allen St. System flooding our neighborhoods and retention pond. 13) The elevated terrain in our area surges the uncontrolled flood water through our properties. 14) Water tables rise and flood water infiltrates and saturates our land. The resulting increased underground water pressure threatens our foundations and slabs. 15) Factor in the related hidden underground soil erosion, settling, shifting and potential sink holes, our foundations and structures are all at further risk. 16) Sink holes cause damage with an estimated cost on average of $300M per year in the USA. 17) Our neighborhoods (50+ properties) resemble that of a third world country during these flooding events. 18) The cause is undeniable...The effects will be catastrophic if the flooding is allowed to continue. 19) The compromised Allen St. System and the required upgrades are beyond our control. 20) The resulting flooding and the related damage is beyond our control. 21) Weston-Sampson Engineers wrote that the Allen St. Project must be a high priority because the infrastructure is at crisis levels. Get Involved! Stay Informed! Frank Chase: fchase989@yahoo.com 860-989-7205 — *Governor Lamont Flyer*

Mayor Stewart has already committed approximately $4.4M to the project. We applaud everybody’s efforts thus far. But there is more to do…

We will continue with our efforts to champion this project to completion for the benefit of our property owners and residents in the 177 acres of developed, congested, critical residential neighborhoods noted above. We cannot take our foot off the gas. The flooding must stop as soon as possible.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

F&S Chase

Recent frequent flooding photos:

Stanley-Roxbury-Newbury Typical Retention Pond Flooding.