The Bradley Road improvement project, the genesis of which dates back to at least 2017, started construction last week as the town seeks increased pedestrian access routes from the train station and around downtown Madison.

Funded by a state grant through the Transit-Oriented Development program, Town Engineer John Ianacco told The Source via email that the project is under budget and has a January 2021 deadline for completion, though he said he expects it will be done sooner.

Among other things, the project will extend sidewalks across driveways on Bradley Road, creating a continuous pedestrian path from the Tuxis Pond walkway east to Wall Street, Ianacco told the Board of Selectmen (BOS) in September 2019 when the initial design of the project was approved.

Some sidewalks would also be widened to be compatible with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Iennaco said at the meeting. The project would add four crosswalks: one at Wall Street leading to Bradley Road, two on Bradley at the Old Route 79 intersection, and one crossing Bradley to reach the train station. The Old Route 79 intersection would become a three-way stop, according to the plan, and the train station would involve a “push-button beacon” to alert motorists, according to Iennaco.

Originally intended to start in the spring, Assistant Town Engineer Rob Russo earlier told The Source that the town saw the project as a “phase two” of the Tuxis Walkway rehabilitation project.

Bad weather and other delays pushed the completion of that project back from an intended early December 2019 opening all the way until February.

The Bradley Road project is designed to create as many specific improvements as possible within the budget constraints, Russo said. A couple areas with “specific needs” were highlighted as the designs were formed, according to Russo, including the Bradley Road and Old Route 79 intersection, where some residents with disabilities had less than ideal access to surrounding areas.

Concerns had been raised about residents going to or from Vista Life Innovations, which is located on Bradley Road and offers day programs and other support for people with disabilities, according to Ianacco and Russo.

People had sometimes been forced to take their wheelchairs into the street due to a lack of continuous sidewalk, Ianacco told the BOS last fall.

The improvements will seek to fully connect the Tuxis Pond walkway—another project that was finished earlier this year—with people walking from as far as Wall Street. Russo told The Source in September the original design included aesthetic improvements at the north entrance of the walkway with an informational plaque and potentially more amenities like benches and an informational plaque.

Ianacco said that aspect of the plan is still going forward as of right now.

Delays are possible on Bradley Road for motorists as work goes forward, Ianacco said, but the road will remain open with one-lane alternating traffic.

While town officials have expressed the strong desire to keep the project within the limits of the $200,000 state grant, Ianacco said that potential “additional costs incurred due to unforeseen conditions or modifications...will be covered by existing public works roadway accounts.”

The Tuxis Walkway project required a $147,000 special appropriation after bids for the project exceeded its state grant money.