At the Bethel Inland Wetland Commission public hearing February 25, 2013 , Town Engineer Andrew Morosky presented the plan to replace the Walnut Hill-Plumtrees Road bridge.
The replacement calls for the intersection of Whittlesy Drive and Plumtress Road to be eliminated. Instead, Whittlesy Drive at Plumtrees will be relocated fifty feet to the northeast to create a new four (4) way intersection with Walnut Hill Road.
According to Mr. Morosky, the rebuilt intersection will imrove traffic flow along Plumtrees Road and the exit from the educational park via Whittlesy Road. Both roads will be widened and sight lines improved. Mr. Morosky is in charge of the project and expects bids going out this fall (2013) and work expected to commence June 2014.
While the old bridge is being replaced it is not expected the Wolfpit's Brook will need to be relocated. A new crosswalk at the traffic light will be installed. In addition the sidewalk which currently ends at the police station will be extended to the new intersection and connect with the new crosswalk. This will enable persons to walk from the educational park to downtown Bethel safely.
The work is expected to be completed to be done in four phases and finished in 2015. The phases are required because Plumtrees Road cannot be closed to traffic. It must be changed to single lane during certain times of the construction. The upgrade of the bridge has been planned since 2009 and discussed many years prior to that because of the traffic congestion along Plumtrees Road.
