Summer Rain Has Delayed Highway Dept. Projects

By Steve Bigham

This summer’s excessive rain has done more than just ruin your beach plans. It may have also kept your road from being re-paved.

According to Public Works Director Fred Hurley, the summer’s especially wet weather has thrown the town’s road improvement schedule completely out the window.

“We’re six weeks behind on paving because of drainage work and road preparations are also behind,” Mr Hurley said Tuesday.

The highway department has gotten sidetracked with side jobs like fighting off the West Nile Virus and fixing up Town Hall South. However, it has been the weather that has really made an impact.

“This is one of the worst summers I can remember as far as the weather goes,” Mr Hurley said. “It has absolutely destroyed any attempts to stay on schedule. It means it will be the usual frantic rush in October and November before the snow flies. Every town around here is in the same boat.”

Mr Hurley is hoping the rain will let up long enough for his crews to begin work on the new bathrooms at Dickinson Park. Workers are slated to begin work on the new facility on Monday, but anyone looking to use those bathrooms had better not hold their breath. Materials for the project was delivered to the park in the early spring of 1999. Since then, they have been sitting untouched at the park. The project had been delayed on numerous occasions as private contractors backed out in favor of larger jobs. Finally, town officials concluded they would use their own manpower to finish the job. Getting it done has been another story, though.

“I’m very frustrated about the length of time it has taken, but I believe Public Works is moving along to the point where they’re ready to put the thing up,” admitted First Selectman Herb Rosenthal back in May.

Also in May, Mr Hurley said he had the building permit in hand and planned to have his men working on the site by the following week. That was three months ago.

The construction project is expected to take at least six weeks: two weeks for the installation of fittings and utility piping, two weeks for physical construction of the bathrooms, and two weeks for the finishing off of the “mechanicals,” Mr Hurley said.

Mr Hurley may have to eat his words from this past spring if the project isn’t done soon. He said at that time, “I’d love to get it ready for the Fourth of July, but I’d hate to stake my life to that. It won’t be the end of summer. It’ll be before that.”