Representatives from the construction management team and the Town of West Hartford recently met with stakeholders to discuss the infrastructure construction work getting underway on Farmington Avenue.

By Ronni Newton

More than 20 owners and managers of buildings and businesses along Farmington Avenue in West Hartford Center received an overview of the 2026 construction schedule for infrastructure work, and had the opportunity to ask questions and share concerns with town officials and the construction manager at a meeting of stakeholders at Town Hall on Jan. 28, 2026.

Many expressed a desire for better communication while the work is ongoing, and another hot topic was the phasing schedule.

This is the second year of implementation of the West Hartford Center Infrastructure Master Plan, a nearly $10 million project, being paid for through American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, that has been in discussion since 2021. The bulk of the work on LaSalle Road wrapped up by the middle of November 2025, and after a brief winter hiatus, Gerber Construction trucks were visible on Farmington Avenue beginning the first full week of January, trying to get a head start on this year’s Farmington Avenue reconstruction on the block between Walden and Dale streets, with work continuing until the recent snowfall on sidewalk demolition as well as the installation of storm drains and soil cells for new street trees.

“We want to hear some ideas. We don’t want to preach,” Town Manager Rick Ledwith said at the stakeholder meeting. “We learned a lot and you’re going to see some changes,” he said, noting that feedback from last year’s experience on LaSalle Road is being incorporated into plans for Farmington Avenue.

Lynn DiGiovanni, municipal services lead with M&J Engineers – the construction manager for the project – provided an overview of the schedule for Farmington Avenue, noted that it is “an evolving process,” and urged stakeholders to subscribe to their newsletter for regular email updates. DiGiovanni, along with Kyle O’Connor, who is responsible for field operations and was at the work site on LaSalle Avenue last year and will be on Farmington Avenue through this construction season, also responded to the myriad questions and concerns of those in the audience.

The construction will be phased, and completed in 300- to 400-foot sections. Access to all businesses will be maintained during business hours, the M&J team assured the stakeholders. Traffic flaggers as well as police officers will be on site. They said their efforts with the dedicated web page, newsletter, and business tool kit will further the goal of “trying to keep the business environment robust during this time.” Details about the project can be found on the Engineering Division’s webpage on the town’s website.

Noting that parking will be a problem, additional signage will be in place, DiGiovanni said, also encouraging people to use the West Hartford Parking Finder app. Signage will identify pedestrian detours, she said, but “unfortunately, sometimes people are about just getting the closest avenue across the street.”

When the project is complete, DiGiovanni said, it will provide wider sidewalks with more programmable space and areas for outdoor dining as well as sidewalk sales and places for people to congregate. There will be new decorative lighting throughout the center, and healthy new landscaping. “There’s a principle called ‘placemaking,'” she said, for people to come, and visit, and stay, and enjoy pushing strollers around.

Business owners and property managers who attended the stakeholder meeting did not hold back in voicing their fears and concerns about another season of construction beginning in West Hartford Center.

Annie Kovath, the manager at Lux Bond and Green on LaSalle Road, said she attended the meeting to support neighboring businesses on West Hartford Center’s Farmington Avenue, and did not mince words in expressing apprehension about a second year of construction. “The first thing I want to mention today is someone who’s not here today because their business is gone. Jimmy from Cookshop Plus, his business is now dissolved,” she said.

Jimmy Hines, the owner of Cookshop Plus, said on the record about the store closing in January that “it was the end of a 10-year lease, and it was time.” Kovath said, however, “had we not had the construction he would likely still be here.” She said she hopes that there will be learning from mistakes, including logistics about delivery of merchandise.

The construction manager needs to be more visible, she said, regularly interacting with the businesses and responding to issues quickly. “I think what you should do is be proactive rather than reactive,” she said.

Kovath also mentioned the closing of the Memorial Road connector to through traffic, but Ledwith said that has nothing to do with the infrastructure project and is close to resolution and reopening.

Kovath also said that sometimes the sidewalk detour signage was not in the correct place, and she went out and physically moved it herself. “The yellow signs. The yellow signs. It looks like we are landing an airplane on the street.” She said that there are so many signs that people don’t know what to do, and many still don’t stop for pedestrians.

John Green, owner of Lux Bond and Green, asked if there was going to be coordination with Eversource. Their work on LaSalle added to the construction woes. O’Connor said there are some areas that Eversource has identified on Farmington Avenue, and that work will be addressed ahead of time, as part of the planning process.

“I think the benefit for the people on Farmington, unfortunately for the people on LaSalle, is that because we were on LaSalle first there’s things that we understood … growing pains of doing any kind of project,” said O’Connor.

Mike Mahoney, owner of RLM Co., manager of many of the properties in the Center, said his tenants on LaSalle struggled during the construction last year. “There were huge drops in sales … and it imperiled businesses,” he said. “Basically, in my mind, we had come out of COVID and we were self-imposing another COVID by doing this project,” he said. And while it’s partially complete and the rest is happening, Mahoney said rather than sending out emails, which not everyone responds to, the construction manager should “stop at every business and endeavor to set up a meeting with them.”

Mahoney also said entire sidewalks areas should not be closed off just because there are no doorways there – citing as an example the corner of Farmington and LaSalle by the Music and Arts building which was totally closed last year – because that forces people to walk in the street. He said that can’t happen at the corner of Farmington and Dale where there are no entrances to businesses, but people need to walk to the rear parking lot.

Paving plans, Mahoney said, should be announced well in advance and not in the middle of an active sidewalk reconstruction. “Those are lessons if we didn’t learn, we should have,” Mahoney said.

Jared Cohen, owner of Le Mazet, said the plans for the tree cutouts need to take placement into consideration, so they don’t cut into the outdoor dining patios. “It’s not a matter of making extra money on the patio. This is about survival, you know … We need that to make our businesses work.”

Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Chris Conway brought up the issue of contractors parking their personal in customer spots for extended period of time, something M&J said they would address. He also urged the team to attend and give updates at the Chamber’s monthly Economic Development meetings, which they said they would.

Conway also suggested that signage on the sidewalks during construction be more specific, clearly notifying people which businesses are accessible in that direction so they aren’t met with a dead end. “I think hopefully that will work,” said O’Connor.

Other issues raised included ensuring that firetrucks and 18-wheelers making deliveries will be able to get through Farmington Avenue, remaining work on the Eversource vault on LaSalle Road, keeping sidewalks level and the use of pea gravel as temporary sidewalk material, which Emma Muchin – owner of Lil Hope on LaSalle Road and Hope & Stetson on Farmington Avenue – said is difficult to navigate particularly for older people and those pushing strollers.

Shane Mulready, CEO of property manager RM Bradley, asked when the entrances and exits for the Farmington Avenue public lot are going to be switched. “We’re not,” said O’Connor. That change would have also impacted South Main Street.

Scott Miller is the COO of DORO Restaurant Group, which had Àvert on LaSalle Road impacted last year by the construction and will this year have impact at Treva and Zohara at Farmington Avenue, and is also vice-chairman of the Connecticut Restaurant Association. “Speaking on behalf of our businesses and restaurants in general we are facing tons of challenges right now,” he said, including minimum wage increases.

“Who wrote this schedule for Farmington Avenue?” Miller asked. Since Treva opened about 15 years ago, “May and June, especially around Mother’s Day and into high school and college graduation season, it’s been either our first or second busiest month of the year,” he said, and the schedule (see PDF below for full schedule) has the work in front of Treva on the schedule for between May 1 and June 19. West Hartford has a reputation for its outdoor dining, he said, and Zohara has a large patio with seating for 80-90, and a strong emphasis on supporting local farmers. The work in front of Zohara is scheduled for prime harvesting time, Aug. 14-Sept. 4. “And now we’re being asked to close during those times?” He said he would have hoped the businesses would have had a voice when it came to scheduling.

O’Connor said the contractor, Gerber Construction, put together the schedule for logistical reasons and to get the work done “as efficiently as possible.”

“I know there’s no perfect answer, but to lose some of these patios during the best time of the year is heartbreaking to a lot of us,” Miller said. Mulready agreed, and suggested starting in the center of Farmington Avenue where there are more restaurants and then working toward the east and west, so the restaurants won’t be impacted as much during their prime outdoor dining time.

O’Connor said they will give as much notice as possible, and only require the patio areas to be closed when the construction is actively underway in that location. He said the concerns about outdoor dining are “valid points.”

Business owners also urged the town to implement a public relations campaign once the work is done, highlighting the upgrades. DiGiovanni said that M&J in their updates and Facebook posts will continue to highlight that businesses are open.

“The buck does stop with the town,” Ledwith said. He said they appreciate the job M&J is doing under difficult circumstances, and “we are only as good as our contractor and our construction manager.”

Ledwith said everyone heard a lot at the stakeholder meeting, and will incorporate the concerns going forward, particularly regarding clear communication.

Regarding the construction schedule, Ledwith said, “looking at the makeup of our businesses and that phasing, I think we have an opportunity to just step back, take another quick look at it, and if there’s an opportunity to make an adjustment there, certainly we will do that.”

Ledwith also said the town will find a way to do some public relations, not just at the end but as the summer approaches, “letting people know the Center is open for business every single day, and every single night, and keeping that message out there. … and then hitting it with a home run at the end.”

Miller suggested a “grand reopening” in 2027.

Ledwith urged the stakeholders to keep the ideas coming. “It’s critical to us. We need to get it right, and we will,” he said.

As for the street trees, which were not raised as a major issue by the stakeholders but have been a topic of conversation on social media, it has been confirmed that they will be removed soon.

A public hearing on the removal of the 37 street trees on Farmington Avenue that have posted yellow notices was held on Jan. 21, 2026 at Town Hall. John Phillips, the director of Public Works, who is also West Hartford’s tree warden, issued a decision on Jan. 26, stating that “after thorough consideration of all public comments and a review of the documents submitted by residents, I have decided on the proposed removal of thirty-seven (37) trees along Farmington Ave as part of the West Hartford Center Infrastructure Improvement Project. After careful evaluation and consideration, I have determined that removal of these tress is necessary to support the overall scope of the improvement project, which aims to enhance the infrastructure, accessibility, and environmental sustainability of the West Hartford Center.”

The reasons he cited were essentially the same as the decision to remove the LaSalle Road trees last year, made following a public hearing. Tree removal is necessary to achieve the modifications to sidewalks and other infrastructure, replanted native trees will establish a diverse and superior tree canopy, and the decision to remove the 37 trees “aligns with best practices for urban forestry management and the public’s safety.”

There is a 10-day timeframe from Jan. 26 to appeal the decision, after which the trees will be removed when the weather permits. The work will be done during non-business hours to minimize disruption. When the sidewalk reconstruction is completed, 46 new trees will be planted.

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