Main Street project ahead of schedule

July 25, 2020  |  By Indigo Glaza

An old underground fuel tank was discovered and unearthed on Stowe Street near The Blue Stone earlier this month. State environmental officials were called in to oversee its removal and cleanup of some contaminated soil before utility conduit installation could resume. Photos by Gordon Miller.

A silver lining to this year’s economic shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic is that work on Waterbury’s Main Street reconstruction is running ahead of schedule, according to project officials. 

J.A. McDonald, the general contractor on the project, is now looking to finish things up early. They are contracted to work on the project until June 30, 2021 rather than working into fall of next year as originally planned. 

That’s according to Barb Farr, Waterbury’s transportation liaison, who explained how diminished traffic in town is making it easier for crews to work on the $21 million project that involves the busiest mile of the village’s main artery. 

“The project is going great this year, and I hate to say it but a lot of that is due to coronavirus,” Farr said. “People aren’t working as much as they were last year. We typically have about 1,400 state office workers that come into Waterbury every day. This year we don’t have that. It allows the contractors to get in and get the work done without a lot of traffic and frustration.” 

Fewer people are coming into Waterbury to work and others who live in town working from home, meaning less traffic overall. That’s also allowed contractors to make up valuable time lost due to their late start in the spring. Work was supposed to begin in late March but due to the statewide Stay Home order from Gov. Phil Scott, restrictions weren’t lifted for construction activity to start until early May.

Waterbury is fortunate as other state transportation projects haven’t fared as well given the disruption from COVID-19. 

Jeremy Reed, a construction engineer with the Vermont Agency of Transportation described how some projects stalled and are behind. “We had a fairly warm spring which allowed us to accelerate some projects, but with COVID we had to shut those down. Unquestionably some projects are behind where we would have hoped for them to be,” he said.

One of the biggest developments on Main Street is recent progress on water and sewer lines, undoubtedly some of the most rigorous work for the entire project. “As of the end of this week, all their sewer lines will be done which is huge,” Farr said. 

New water lines have been installed in three of the project’s four segments with hookups still in progress on the northern end between Stowe Street and Dac Rowe Park.

The much-anticipated replacement of overhead utility wires is something that residents will have to wait for. “There are about six different utility companies that have to remove their lines one-by-one before the overhead lines can come down. We know it is going to be after the construction project is done. We are trying to get them down as soon as possible,” Farr said.

One sign of the finishing line approaching is tree-planting underway along South Main Street where sidewalks and curbing have been completed. Between 38-48 trees were cut down for the project, mostly oak, maple and cedar. Around 58 trees are being planted to replace those removed. 

“The trees that are going in have been planned out by a landscape architect, so they fit within the historic district of the downtown,” Farr said. 

Some of the trees are the same variety as what they are replacing while others are different species in order to plant disease-resistant types.

Among the trees cut down was a huge red oak on South Main Street that was dubbed the “Centennial Oak” because it was estimated to have been planted around 1876, the U.S. centennial year. 

New trees line parts of South Main Street where sidewalks and curbing are completed. Plans call for planting 58 trees, which is 10-20 more than what was removed for the project. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti.

“We actually saved the lumber from that tree and had it milled. We have a special project coming up for that,” Farr said. “Some of it has been used to make wooden earrings and small trinkets already. They are being sold at the Stowe Street Emporium, and the money from that sale goes into a special bank account for doing a beautify Waterbury project.”

Despite the progress to date, there have been several hiccups along the way. An old fuel tank was found underground on Stowe Street earlier this month. J.A. McDonald reported it to the Vermont  Department of Environmental Conservation.

“There was about a foot or so of oil still in there. Some kind of fuel. They got in there and drained it, then lifted the tank. There was a little bit of soil under it that needed to be removed, but it has been stored off site and will be taken care of,” Farr said.

A leak in a water line also caused flooding in a basement of a business on Main Street recently. It was discovered on a weekend and the water department couldn’t figure out the source. Contractors stumbled upon the problem later on in the week.

“There was a water leak on Main Street.  A pipe broke while they were digging. It turned out that that pipe had been leaking, and when they broke it by accident it was probably a good thing and they fixed it and that solved the problem at the business,” she said.

In the coming weeks, each new activity will mark more progress. This week, new granite curbing will be installed on either side of the road from Park Street working toward Foundry Street. “This is kind of a sign that things are getting finished up in that area. Once we get to the curbs all of the big stuff is done,” Farr said.

Cathy Cummings has had a front-row view of construction activities this summer as work has rumbled right at the doorstep of her South Main Street thrift shop, Bargain Boutique. “It has obviously slowed down business. People waiting in line getting through town have less time to shop,” Cummings said. “Still they keep telling us it will all be worth it, and I believe them.”  

Community News Service is a collaboration with the University of Vermont’s Reporting and Documentary Storytelling program.