Main Street project finish hangs by a wire

May 27, 2023  |  By Lisa Scagliotti 

Like that maddening game of telephone where the message morphs as it travels from person to person, the backstory to taking down the obsolete utility poles on Waterbury’s Main Street has vexed local and state officials and residents alike for the past couple of years.

A single utility line serving a Main Street office remains overhead attached to wooden poles that were to be removed as part of the Main Street reconstruction project that otherwise ended in 2021. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti

Now it appears as if there’s some clarity among those involved and some progress should be apparent soon. 

It was the last week of April when a J.A. McDonald crew got working on Main Street, digging out the sidewalk sections around the wooden poles that are to be taken out now that utility wires between the Stowe Street intersection and the State Office Complex are underground.

All but one wire, actually. 

When the Main Street reconstruction project wrapped up in late summer 2021, there still were utility lines overhead that needed to be removed. Cable, telephone and electric companies needed to take them down in a specific sequence and scheduling and staffing challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic made that extra challenging. 

It would get finished in 2022, project officials assured the town staff and the public. 

In 2022, crews from multiple companies visited Main Street and removed their wires. By mid-summer, however, one line remained. State project managers eventually said time had run out to get the rest of the work completed because it would require scheduling the pole removal by Green Mountain Power, followed by sidewalk patching that needed fair weather to cure properly. 

It would get finished in 2023, they promised. 

This April, Waterbury’s Main Street project returned as a listing on the Agency of Transportation’s weekly road construction bulletin, a sure sign that something would be happening soon. 

Project officials confirmed that J.A. McDonald, the contractor that ran the entire three-year $21 million reconstruction project would be back to complete the pole removal with the help of Green Mountain Power (the company that owns the poles), patch the sidewalks, and finally call it a day. 

Sidewalk sections beside wooden poles have been excavated to prep for pole removal. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti

“McDonald has indicated they expect to complete work by mid-May and no later than June 1,” project manager Ken Upmal said in a reply to Waterbury Roundabout on April 24. 

Within a few days, the sidewalk sections were excavated and marked in most spots with orange safety cones all along the north side of Main Street. 

Still, the lone wire stretching along the section remained.

With the June 1 completion date nearing, Waterbury Roundabout checked back with Upmal at VTrans this week. He confirmed that the wire is serving just one building on Main Street, the Mansfield Orthopedic offices next door to The Reservoir. And yes, the $150,000 final project appeared to be on hold until the wire was removed. 

Whose wire is it? And were they ever coming to take it down? 

The line belongs to VTel, Vermont Telephone Company based in Springfield, Vermont. VTel is a small, family-owned telecommunications company that provides fiber-optic internet, telephone and television service as well as cellular phone service. Founded in 1890, the company is proud to say it was the phone company that served Plymouth Notch, Vt., when on Aug. 3, 1923, then-Vice President Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as president by his father, a notary public. Coolidge was visiting Vermont when he received word that President Warren G. Harding had suffered a fatal heart attack. 

A hundred years later, VTel is still in operation. But for reasons that aren’t entirely clear, the project in Waterbury has not gotten priority attention at the Springfield company’s offices until just recently. 

Reached on Thursday, company President Michel Guite, said he was unaware of the wire that’s holding up the pole and sidewalk work here. He responded quickly to a message from a reporter and promised to check with his staff for an update. 

A little over an hour later, he replied that “this has been an urgent topic over the last about 10 days,” with his staff. “A solution is underway,” he assured.

As it turns out, VTel engineers had been to Waterbury multiple times in the past two weeks, Guite said. They next needed to test an alternate setup to switch their customer to in order to remove the overhead line. If all goes as planned, the service shift to the underground system should get completed in a day or two next week, he explained.

Chagrined at learning of the delay, Guite said he regretted hearing about the holdup. “Why this took two years I can’t possibly comprehend,” he said. “It looks like somebody made an error.” 

Guite said he did not know what made the matter rise to a priority level recently. He said he wasn’t aware of any communications from the state about possible contract penalty fees. 

Upmal said it’s possible that there could be a penalty given that McDonald had “mobilized” to begin work but has since “demobilized” because they couldn’t wait indefinitely. That still needs to be sorted out, he explained. When such a delay occurs, a typical re-mobilization penalty is charged to the responsible party at a rate of 10% of the contract which would be about $15,000 in this case, he explained. 

The lone wire stretches down along a section of South Main Street. The opposite side of the street is wire- and pole-free. Photo by Gordon Miller

For now, state and town officials are pleased to learn that VTel soon should be taking care of its part of the project. 

Waterbury Public Works Director Bill Woodruff was cautiously optimistic upon hearing the news. “That all makes sense,” he said. “That does sound encouraging. It sounds like something is moving.”

Upmal confirmed on Friday that VTrans staff had gotten word that VTel would be addressing the line in the next few days. “Perhaps we can get back on track next week,” he said, adding that he would share an updated schedule once contractors are lined up for the subsequent steps. 

Guite called the situation “really regrettable” and acknowledged the inconvenience to everyone from project managers to contractors to pedestrians navigating cones and torn-up sidewalks. “We need to extend an apology to the town for it,” he said. “It’s such a pity that it took so long.”