Westfield Water Main Repair Work Should Be Complete Within a Month

Work on the water main replacement in Westfield section of Middletown which began in June will be complete “before the snow flies,” according to Water and Sewer Department Director Guy Russo.

Because the area hasn’t been repaved, the line, which runs along Country Club Road, past Moody School and Smith Park, makes for bumpy driving heading east. The road is blocked off to through traffic at the intersection of Ballfall Road by a police cruiser daily.

“We’ve been installing a water main all summer. … to improve service pressure for the entire district west of Interstate 91, to improve fire service west of I-91, and give us a second source of water for that area. It’s been a source of problems for years,” Russo says.

Low water pressure has plagued residents of Westfield for at least a decade, when the industrial area of the city near the former Aetna complex on Middle Street put high demand on water coming from Higby Reservoir. When there is an emergency like a fire or routine pipe flushing, residents notice the lack of pressure.

A $3 million road bond paid for the repairs. Work will be done by the middle of November, as well as the road repair,” Russo says.

Rockfall resident Linda Kestenbaum has found several city streets difficult to traverse.

“I realize that in order to place sewer lines and other underground services that it is necessary to rip up pavement, but some of the roads [like Boston Road and Minor Street] are nearly impassable.” … Country Club Road has been “a detoured and ripped-up mess for about a month now.”

Deputy Director of Public Works Bob Dobmeier acknowledges the project has taken longer than expected.

“The issue on that street lately has been the amount of blasting that has been done to properly install the water main to the minimum depth requirements,” Dobmeier  explains. “This has resulted in much more roadway impact and construction than a normal installation.” 

Most of the very noisy work, like blasting, is complete. Russo explains the remainder of the project will take place in two ways.

“Smith Park to Moody School will be a permanent patch, done and finished before the snow flies. Smith to Miner Street is going to be temporary. We blasted a lot of rock in the road. We’ll do that after because it’ll settle down over the course of the winter.”

In the spring, Russo says, along with public works, he’ll “determine the limits of paving. It’s likely a more extensive road repair than the beginning of the project.” He admits the stretch of road near Atkins Street, Snow Ridge and Shadow Court will be a problem until winter ends.

“We don’t want to pave something that’s not fully compressed,” Russo says.

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