Summer road work ramps up

June 15, 2022 | By Lisa Scagliotti 

A worker with Consolidated Communications continues the process of removing overhead utility lines along Main Street in Waterbury. Photo by Gordon Miller

Summer is often known by its other name – road work season – and local projects are ramping up in multiple places, affecting travels in and around Waterbury. 

Now that school is out for the summer, the Waterbury Public Works Department this week has begun preparations for paving on Stowe Street between Lincoln Street and Brookside Primary School. 

Public Works Director Bill Woodruff announced that Stowe Street was to be closed to through traffic from Wednesday through Friday this week between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. 

The closure will be in the stretch just below Lincoln Street and above the intersection with High Street. Residents in the neighborhoods along Stowe Street and the side streets including North and East streets will have access. All other traffic should seek alternate routes, Woodruff said.

Crews removing overhead cables have been working on Main Street this spring with the aim to put lines through underground conduit installed during the road reconstruction project. Photo by Gordon Miller

Main Street utility lines

For the past several months, crews from multiple utility companies have been working on Main Street to remove overhead lines as the final phase of the Main Street reconstruction project. Work to rebuild Main Street, install new water and sewer lines beneath it, build new sidewalks and add conduit for underground utilities was done between 2019 and 2021. 

Crews are working with a July 1 deadline for overhead wires to be down, Woodruff said. Afterward, wooden utility poles will still need to be removed and sidewalks patched where the poles have been in place. Woodruff said it’s unclear if that will get completed this summer, based on availability of contractors. 

The utility lines will be buried along the stretch of Main Street between Warren Court near the State Office Complex and the Waterbury Congregational Church. Also, the lower block of Stowe Street near Main Street will have overhead lines removed. 

Blush Hill Road 

Last summer, Blush Hill Road was improved and repaved with final pieces of that project scheduled for this year. A key part of that project is replacement of a culvert near Misty Hollow Road. Woodruff said that project is on track to be done this summer. It will involve one-way traffic while construction is happening. 

When that is completed, the section will be paved and the final layer of asphalt will be added to the road from the culvert north to where the gravel road begins. That layer was not done last year. The lines were just painted on the lower portion of the road this week. The last section will be striped after the final pavement is done, he said. 

Reservoir Road 

A late-season project is on the schedule for this year to shore up Reservoir Road which serves several homes and is the entry to the busy Waterbury Center Day Use State Park. 

Erosion and use are causing deterioration. Work is targeted for after Labor Day when traffic subsidies at the park, town officials said.

Interstate 89 

Regular travelers of Interstate 89 between Waterbury and Richmond are familiar with the recent narrowing to one lane in both directions as crews work away from traffic on the southbound lanes. 

The Vermont Agency of Transportation launched an emergency repair project to deal with a sinkhole that opened up along the southbound side of the highway last month. A temporary cross-over was constructed for both northbound and southbound traffic to share the northbound lanes. 

State engineers say they hope to have the estimated $10 million project completed by the end of October. During busy travel times, U.S. Route 2 between Waterbury and Richmond is an alternate route. 

U.S. Route 2, Williston-Bolton 

Starting June 20, the Vermont Agency of Transportation with Kubricky Construction will begin a major reconstruction project along U.S. Route 2 between Williston and Bolton. 

The work will extend approximately 8.25 miles from the Richmond-Williston town line to a spot about halfway between the Notch Road and Bolton Valley Access Road intersections along U.S. 2 in Bolton. 

State transportation planners say the project will take until July 2024 to be completed. 

Work will completely rehab the roadway to its subbase and will involve new drainage, guardrails, ditching, centerline rumble strips, and shoulders modified to accommodate cyclists where possible. A new traffic signal also will be installed at the Bridge Street intersection in downtown Richmond. 

State highway officials say travel will remain open with alternating one-way configurations needed during construction periods. Motorists at times will be traveling on a gravel surface, they said.