(PHOTO BY JESSE DAVIS / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
INTERSECTION CLOSURE … Crews work on a sewer separation project in Swanton at the intersection of South Main Street and Airport Highway.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
An ongoing project on Airport Highway and unexpected road work on Chestnut Street and at the South Main Street railroad crossing have forced drivers to divert throughout Swanton.
Work on the sewer separation project which has temporarily closed the intersection of South Main Street and Airport Highway has run into a series of snags and delays, although the project remains largely on schedule.
During last week’s meeting of the Swanton Village Council, Superintendent of Public Service Operations Neil Tedrow reported on the challenges they have faced.
“It’s been one thing after another,” Tedrow said. “They’ve dug down for the very first manhole, 20 feet deep, hit concrete. It’s like a 10 by 10 pad of concrete 20 feet underground. Nobody saw it coming, nobody expected it, but they’ve got to get it out because it’s in their way.”
After dealing with that problem, unexpected rain left 10 feet of water in the whole. Later work on a crossing sewer line was slowed when they found that line was encased in concrete, which had to be broken off before they could complete their work.
A clay tile break near Marco’s Pizza revealed another three feet of concrete that had to be removed. Despite the challenges, Tedrow said the project was “still pretty close to on time,” assuming the weather holds.
According to Village Administrator Shannon Shulters, paving is expected to begin as early as this week. She said truck traffic will still be diverted, but local traffic will again be allowed through albeit with lane restrictions.
In addition to that expected closure, a failure of crews from Norfolk Southern and a crack sealing crew caused unannounced road closures.
On the morning of July 16, a work crew closed the train crossing on South Main Street. Shulters discovered that closure when she had to find a different route while driving to work that morning.
“Unfortunately, Norfolk Southern does not communicate with municipalities effectively when they decided to come through and do closures for repairs/reconstruction,” she said. That work was completed in two days and the crossing has been reopened.
A crack sealing project also temporarily blocked traffic last Wednesday on Chestnut Street. “This was agreed upon to do back in March, also was not communicated with me as to when they were showing up,” Shulters said.