New Road Sparks Redevelopment in Orange

It's a project that town officials in Orange say has been decades in the making: Thanks to hundreds of thousands of dollars in state and federal funding, Edison Road is now connected to Marsh Hill Road through the brand new Pez Boulevard.

The road, built with the help of $237,000 in federal funding and $500,000 from the state, was officially unveiled Thursday.

"This opens up 65 more undeveloped acres up here for commercial industrial development right at Exit 41 Marsh Hill Road, right off of 95. You can't get a more key location," said explained Orange First Selectman James Zeoli.

Zeoli hopes the development will draw businesses to the area.

"That means jobs, that means an economy, a more vibrant community, and at this particular time, these are the kind of efforts that are necessary to put people to work and get our economy back again," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro.

Pez Candy, Inc. has been at the location for years and created a new visitors' center in anticipation of the road extension. Company officials said they have already seen the benefits.

"Now we have over 80,000 visitors a year, and we will anticipate that for the next years to come, so this road will get a lot of use," said Pez CEO Joseph Vittoria.

The new road will also provide a redesigned traffic flow.

"It will help relieve some of the traffic around from residential neighborhoods, because they don't have to cut through to go all the way around," said State Sen. Gayle Slossberg, who represents the town of Orange.

Instead, there will now be a straight access route for businesses to go from one major road to the next.

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