Ansonia's Wakelee Avenue to get major facelift

City receives $3.5M state grant 
Ansonia Mayor David S. Cassetti announces 'Wake Up Wakelee!' initiative Tuesday morning outside Lear Pharmacy on Wakelee Avenue.

ANSONIA - Wakelee Avenue, a major thoroughfare on the city’s West Side, will soon receive a $3.5 million upgrade.

Mayor David S. Cassetti Tuesday announced the city’s Wake Up Wakelee! initiative, which will mean a complete reconstruct of a mile of Wakelee Avenue. 

The project will stretch from Division Street to Franklin Street.

The city received a $3.54 million grant from the state Department of Transportation for the reconstruction. The work will include new concrete curbing, curb ramps, sidewalks, crosswalks, driveway aprons, pavement markings, drainage structures/pipes and utility pole relocation.

Cassetti held a press conference in front of Lear Pharmacy at 198 Wakelee Ave. to make the announcement. Republican Fifth Ward Alderman Joan Radin owns Lear Pharmacy.

Cassetti said, “Wakelee Avenue is a major artery for the City of Ansonia that has been neglected for too long. The pavement is in poor condition, the sidewalks are intermittent and in disrepair and there is a lack of adequate drainage. I am pleased that ConnDOT has granted us the funding for this project.

“With this initiative to ‘Wake Up Wakelee!’ we will breathe new life in both the street and its surrounding neighborhoods. This is one more major victory for the City of Ansonia,” he said.

The construction phase will be paid for by DOT funds, while the city will be responsible for paying design fees, Economic Development Director Sheila O’Malley said. The city hopes to start construction in the fall, she said.

“The ‘Wake Up Wakelee!’ initiative is part of an overall plan to help improve the look and feel of Ansonia. It’s a significant step forward for our residents and the myriad businesses that line Wakelee Avenue,” O’Malley said.

“Infrastructure means everything to economic development,” she said. “The infrastructure has been sorely neglected.”

There are about 50 businesses located along Wakelee Avenue.

Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce President Bill Purcell hailed the plan. He called Wakelee Avenue “a beautiful street and a vital corridor.”

Radin said the reconstruction project “means a lot for this area. We get more traffic than Main Street.”