Main Street Closure Exercise and Temporary Detour on Saturday, May 30th

The Town will conduct the bi-annual Stop Log Exercise for the levee gate located on Main Street south of Pitkin Street, on Saturday, May 30, 2026.

The purpose of this exercise is to provide real life and hands-on experience to public works personnel in handling and installing of the new aluminum stop-log panels. This will also provide experience to different town agencies, including Public Works, the Fire Department, and the Police Department in responding to a flood emergency in East Hartford. The exercise will involve building the complete stop log structure to its maximum height.

The Stop Log Exercise will allow us to evaluate our operational readiness to respond to a flood emergency, as well as update all plans and procedures pertaining to our flood protection system.

The exercise is scheduled to take approximately 8 hours and will start at 6:00 AM. Main Street (Route 5) will be closed to all traffic and pedestrians by 6:00 AM on Saturday, May 30, 2026 and will be expected to remain closed for the duration of the exercise.

The effected section will be from Pitkin Street to Silver Lane Extension. There will be a posted detour route utilizing Pitkin and Jayce Streets, as well as Silver Lane Extension. All businesses within the area will remain open throughout the exercise and patrons will be allowed to access them either via Pitkin Street or from the intersection of Main Street and Silver Lane Extension. Police officers will be posted at various locations along the detour route to assist motorists. This area of Main Street will also be closed to pedestrians.