DOT To Present Plans For Route 139 Construction

On Feb. 15, the Connecticut Department of Transportation will present plans to widen Route 139 in the vicinity of its intersection with Valley Road and School Ground Road in Branford. The meeting will start with a question and answer session at 6:30 p.m., followed by the state’s presentation at 7 p.m.

According to an announcement posted on North Branford’s website, the project is anticipated to begin in spring 2013 and cost approximately $2.5 million, paid via 90 percent federal funding and 10 percent state funding.

The DOT already presented the project to Branford residents at a Jan. 19 meeting.

Bernadette Libero works at an employment agency located on the corner of School Ground Road and Route 139. Half of her building is in North Branford, and half is in Branford, she said. In her 20 years on the corner, Libero said there is at least one car accident a month in the proposed construction area.

Libero said she went to the Jan. 19 presentation because she was worried about her building, but the DOT assured her the project would not harm the infrastructure.

“They said they are taking apart the road on the other side,” Libero said.

However, going north on Route 139 into North Branford, the proposed plan calls for the Y-intersection at Valley Road to be reconstructed to a T-type intersection, which would mean sayonara to the sign for Val Wilgen’s Garden Center that stands in the middle of the island.

“Our sign has been at the end of Valley Road since 1938,” Ryan Van Wilgen said. The fourth-generation gardener said the sign and its location on the island are crucial to bringing in business.

Van Wilgen also said timing was a big issue.

“If they plan to start in April, it’d be an inconvenience to our customers,” he said. Van Wilgen said 75 percent of the garden center’s yearly revenue is made between the start of April and July.

Van Wilgen said he has been in talks with Branford’s first selectman and town engineer, and plans to attend the DOT’s presentation to North Branford residents next week.

“I need to work with them, so they can work with us,” he said.

The meeting will be held in Town Hall.