City eyes 2023 capital projects

The City of Shelton’s proposed capital improvement plan for 2023 calls for upgrading well No. 1, replacing downtown trees that are cracking sidewalks and removing two railroad crossings.

Jay Harris, the city’s Public Works director, gave a presentation on the proposed projects Tuesday at the Shelton City Council meeting.

The proposed plan includes $1 million to replace a 16- to 24-inch steel pipe from the city’s well No. 1 to the high school tank, replacing the pump, and improving the chlorine disinfection system and backup power generation. The design and specifications for the project are 90% complete, and will be released for bidding this fall, the city reports.

Proposed road safety projects totaling $1,160,000 include improvements on Olympic Highway North and I Street; relocation of the pedestrian crossing on Olympic Highway South (state Route 3) from Arcadia Avenue to Bellevue Avenue; and evaluating traffic signals on West Railroad Avenue between First and Eighth streets.

The city expects to be notified in early 2023 whether it will receive a federal grant it requested through the state Department of Transportation to remove the railroad crossings and signs at state Route 3 and Park Street, next to Kneeland Park, and at Seventh Street near Park Street. Those sites would then be repaved and restriped.

The preliminary plan calls for $80,000 for Miles Resources to pave the Western Gateway stretch of West Railroad Avenue in spring 2023, after a new water main and sidewalks are installed.

The plan calls for spending $80,000 to replace trees on West Railroad Avenue whose roots are lifting sections of sidewalks and parking areas. Last year, an arborist recommended the city remove about 30 trees and replace them with “a variety that can withstand the urban environment.”

The city also plans to review and possibly upgrade some of its city-owned “signalized intersection cabinets and controllers to allow for dedicated left-turn/let-turn permissive where needed for capacity.” The first priority for replacement is the intersection of Wallace Kneeland Boulevard and Shelton Springs Road “as an interim solution until additional funding for the roundabout is secured,” the report states. “This will ease the increased capacity congestion caused by the Parsley-Sage Development and the addition of the YMCA.”

The proposed plan also calls for $280,000 for an asphalt patch truck and $257,000 for a camera van that would allow the sewer and storm departments to complete inspections of the city’s sewer and storm lines to investigate blockages, detect possible illegal discharges, and identify inflow and infiltration ground and surface water into the sewer system.

The city reports the current camera van was purchased in 1992 and requires frequent maintenance and repairs on the truck chassis, camera and recording equipment.

The plan includes street repairs on Cedar Street at Second and Fourth streets, and on Front Street between Kneeland and Cota streets.