A newly installed fire hydrant will soon be in service on Denny Road near Route 8 in Middlesex Township. Six hydrants are being installed along a one-mile stretch.

MIDDLESEX TWP — The fire hydrants being installed along Route 8 will benefit the entire township, according to the fire chief.

Dave Metz, chief of the Middlesex Township Volunteer Fire Company, said the new hydrants could be used to fill tanker trucks to fight a fire elsewhere.

“The fire hydrants are a big benefit and a plus for us,” Metz said. “I’m excited that there are hydrants that will provide water to us, finally.”

He said home and business owners near the hydrants should receive a discount on their fire insurance as well.

Matthew Cranmer, manager at the Municipal Water Authority of Adams Township, explained that an authority water line is being extended from the Blackberry Estates housing plan on Denny Road to the former Leslie farm at the intersection of routes 8 and 228.

The project is being done by developer NWPA Properties, which plans to build Middlesex Crossings, a proposed commercial and residential development, on the 93-acre former farm.

Cranmer said six hydrants are being placed in the right of way along about a one-mile stretch of Route 8 between Denny Road and the proposed development.

Hydrants are planned for the intersection of Denny Road and Route 8, Dwellington Road and Route 8, and then at intervals on the east side of the highway north to the proposed new development.

The project started in December, and the water line should be in service by spring, Cranmer said.

Homes and businesses on Denny Road and Route 8 in the area of the project can connect to the line if they want, Cranmer said. The tap fee is $2,650.

Although the Middlesex Crossings plan has not yet gone before the township supervisors for approval, Cranmer said the water system for the development is 80 percent designed.

Township manager Eric Kaunert said while most of the area getting the water line is already developed, the project could attract commercial interests.

“Anytime there are utilities in an area where there hadn’t previously been utilities, it tends to spur development,” Kaunert said.

He added that he already has had a few calls from developers who have seen the water line project along Route 8.

Metz said he will line up training sessions for firefighters to use the hydrants.

“(The hydrants) benefit the township all around,” he said.