Council approves utility contract with amended language after neighborhood dispute over Wallingford‑Harding redesign

The City Council on March 3 approved CA5, a construction contract with Bailey Excavating Inc. for the 2025 miscellaneous utility projects that includes new water main, sanitary sewer work and roadway resurfacing at several city locations. The council amended the packet language for the Wallingford‑Harding intersection so the item now refers to "safety improvements" rather than an explicit "narrowing" and directed the city administrator to continue collaborative engagement with residents on final plans.

At a staff introduction, Nick Hutchinson (city engineer representative) told council the project combines multiple small locations for efficiency and that Harding Road work will require removing pavement where the Wallingford‑Harding intersection will be reconstructed. Hutchinson said design decisions were not finalized and staff were evaluating additional concepts — including neighborhood‑style roundabouts and speed humps — and that traffic calming program funds were not being used on this project.

Public comment and neighborhood response

Residents near the Wallingford‑Harding intersection spoke at length in opposition to a narrowing design and criticized the public engagement process. Speakers including Gina Katz, Maruri Guttupalli and Victoria Langland described petitions (171 residents and 111 households reported by Katz) and said they were not engaged collaboratively. They cited a neighborhood‑run traffic count finding average daily traffic of about 274 cars with 5th‑percentile speeds near 15 mph and asked the city to remove narrowing language from the bid and instead work collaboratively on a design.

Council amendment and vote

Council Member Adena moved an amendment to replace the phrase "narrowing of Wallingford Harding Intersection" with "Wallingford Harding intersection safety improvements" and to add a directive that the city administrator continue to engage and collaborate with the public before selecting final plans. The amendment passed on roll call (majority yes; Council Member Cornell voted no). The amended CA5 then passed as part of the consent/contract vote; council recorded the main motion as approved after the amendment.

Why it matters: the project will replace utility infrastructure and provides an opportunity to redesign the public right‑of‑way for safety and ADA compliance. Neighborhoods emphasized that process and meaningful collaboration matter and requested alternative calming measures be fully considered before final plans.

Supporting details and context

- Hutchinson (staff) said the intersection was evaluated for ADA compliance, long pedestrian crossing distances, and large turn radii that encourage higher vehicle speeds; proximity to Tappan Middle School and Burns Park Elementary were cited as factors supporting safety work. - Staff said the intersection was chosen because utility work required pavement removal there, not because the site was prioritized over other streets. - The formal traffic calming petition program has its own budget and is not being tapped for this project; staff said other petitioned projects would not be delayed by CA5.

Ending

Council approved the contract as amended and directed staff to continue a public, iterative design process before finalizing improvements at Harding and Wallingford.