Irwin Park road paving continues to press forward

Written by Carrie Schmelkin, Reporter
Monday, 02 November 2009 05:15

After nearly eight months of an unusable south exit at Irwin Park due to drainage issues and collapsing pavement, the Department of Public Works is moving forward with two proposals to improve the roads, as originally stipulated when the town bought the park in 2005.

In addition to widening the main park entrance by 50 percent to allow for two-way traffic, the department will also repair the south side with grass pavers, which will allow that driveway to be used for special occasion parking or as an exit in the event of increased traffic.

“I think it’s going to beautify the park and keep with the green initiative that was set forward,” Tiger Mann, assistant director of Public Works, told the Advertiser Tuesday.

“It’s in keeping with the original master plan which was to have the northern entrance be the main in and out and the southern entrance be more for special parking,” he added. “This would allow the great lawn to be used more without fear of traffic.”

FGB contractors of Norwalk will complete both phases of the project, starting with the south road repairs. The entire project will take until mid-December to finish, according to Mann.

While the cost for expanding the road has yet to be determined, Mann said the town will pay about $40,000 to pave the south side.

He first approached the Park & Recreation Commission about the problems with the driveways in May, after poor drainage and damaged asphalt led to the closing of the driveway back in February. With the south exit blocked off, cars were forced to come and go through the north side, resulting in two-way traffic on an already narrow entranceway.

“The infrastructure at Irwin was old,” said Recreation Director Steve Benko. “(The property) wasn’t really designed to be a park with a lot of traffic going through it.”

The commission and Mann explored several options to fix the problems, including installing a turn-around at the top of the driveway to facilitate traffic.

That proposal was rejected at the commission’s August meeting, however, as members did not want to “encroach on the great lawn,” said Benko.

Instead, they decided to move forward with widening the north side and putting grass pavers on the south road.

The grass pavers are made of a pervious “geo-cell” material — used in the recently built Waveny Park trails leading to the high school — that will absorb the excess rain collecting at the south end of the park, Mann told the commission last Wednesday.

“Installing green pavers was another way to keep the park in a green state,” Mann told the commission, “and because it is pervious to water, the water could go back into the ground.”

The pavers, while permeable, will be as durable as asphalt, allowing for cars to drive over them in case the south exit needs to be opened up to accommodate an event or increase the flow of traffic.

Aside from special events, the north driveway will be used as the main entrance and exit from the park. Construction will begin in a couple of weeks to widen the road.

“If we can widen the driveway so two cars can get by safely, then let’s do it,” said Benko. “From a safety standpoint, I think it will work out very well.”

Yet, some residents, particularly Jon and Barbara Achenbaum of Weed Street, expressed concern at last week’s meeting over the reconstruction.

“When you get cars going in both directions it’s quite dangerous,” said Jon, adding that it may become more dangerous for pedestrians to walk the pathways close to the entrance.

He added that when the south exit was blocked, which “closed off anybody’s ability to get out on the original path,” the problem with the narrow main entrance was exacerbated.

Mann said that by concentrating on just one entrance, as opposed to two, he can work to make it safer.

“Once people get used to it, I think they will slow down,” he said.

Of the disagreement expressed at last week’s meeting Mann said, “At that time, if the commission really wanted to reverse the decision they could have.”

“But they were of the mind before it and after it of ‘Let’s go forward with what was proposed.’”