At Long Last: Belleview Reopens, But Not Without Challenges

For most of the roads set for repair this summer, the work was done easy, quick and with little difficulty. Those in the Belleview Avenue area and surrounding neighborhoods, however, have had to absorb life surrounded by construction and exude patience as ongoing challenges have delayed completion of the project.


There is hope in sight, officials said, as pavement has finally been laid and main issues encountered deemed resolved. The town is now pushing to complete the project by the end of September, Southington Town Manager Garry Brumback said.

“It has taken longer than we had expected and due to complications on the job, other road improvement requirements and a very wet summer the neighbors have been inconvenienced longer than anyone had hoped,” Brumback said.

“The project is winding down and when it is completed we are confident that the neighbors will be pleased and the project will be done right.”

Brumback said the challenges on Belleview Avenue forced a redesign in the middle of the project, partially due to numerous utilities – both live and abandoned – being previously unrecorded and road grade issues that caused excessive deterioration at the curve near Lewis Farms.

The road had been closed to through traffic since May before reopening for good this week.

The town has since located all the underground utilities, documenting them for any future needs, and redesigned the road to make the work more feasible. In addition, Brumback said the road grade forced an increase in the need for catch basins, an effort designed to enhance drainage and prevent unnecessary degradation of the road in the future.

“In order to correct this situation and build a road that would last for 25 or 30 years, it was imperative that we do (these) two things,” Brumback said. “The redesign coupled with the requirement of custom making both manholes and catch basins in order to do the drainage project caused us delays we had not previously expected.”

During the middle of the project when the redesign took place, and while the manholes were being constructed, the town pulled crews off of Belleview Avenue and reassigned them to other areas, officials said.

The final coat of asphalt is going down this week and all remaining work, including lining and curbing, should be completed before the end of September, officials said.

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