Our apologies for the frustration you are living with during the course of this project. We know that it is difficult. Although it may not always seem like it, the contractor is trying to keep traffic flowing as much as possible.
Much of the work going on right now is on underground sewers and utilities. Depending on the time that you travel through the work zone, progress here might not be obvious since the installation will be re-covered when it is installed and tested. It is not safe or permissible to leave open trenches. The contractor had asked to work four ten-hour days, Monday through Thursday while they finish the sewer construction. Our contract documents allow for these work hours. We did not object because as inconvenient as it is for commuters now, it will shorten the duration of the work. Since the trench depth is roughly 20 feet deep between Boulevard Road and Rich Road, working an additional two hours per day allows for more time spent laying pipe, and less time securing the trench by backfilling and re-digging at the beginning and end of each day. When the contractor is finished laying the sewer line, the schedule will change back to Mon-Fri, 8 hrs a day.
Many of the delays that the project has experienced are due to the unusually wet weather that we have been having. Even in the best of times, trenching is a dangerous game. There are risks of side failures, slides, cave-ins. With the amount of rainwater we have received, the ground becomes saturated and water runs into the work area and it becomes nearly impossible to hold the walls of a trench safely. We cannot have workers in the trenches in these conditions. Also, there have been periods of snow, which the contractor cannot work in. The contract gives the contractor 360 working days and when the weather does not co-operate, the end date is extended due to the non-workable days. Currently, there have been 22 non-working days, effectively extending the contract one month, to the end of December 2011. This can still change depending upon many considerations.
Another issue is the sheer number of underground utilities encountered. These can be telecommunication, power, water, fiber optic, etc. It is difficult to dig around these and not damage them. Some are abandoned, some are live, but the contractor must treat them all as if they were live until it is definitively determined the utility encountered is abandoned. This slows progress, and it is especially time consuming when a utility is encountered that was not located.
When a contractor (or anyone) digs in a right of way, state law requires them to call a one-call locate number and the utilities that have facilities within the work area are required to locate them by painting on the ground where there facilities are. Sometimes (more often than we like) utilities are not located. When one of these is exposed it must be identified, and until this is accomplished, the contractor cannot continue work because there is no way of knowing the status of the utility. Some of these utilities have been in the ground for decades and have long since been abandoned or deactivated, but some of them may also be the service to your home. Once the utility and its status have been identified, the contractor and the utility work as quickly as possible to re-establish service if it was interrupted. These sorts of incidents have really impacted progress at times.
In spite of these issues, the project is still running relatively close to schedule and we should be out of your way by the end of the year. Once underground infrastructure is in place, the above ground work will proceed quickly. The project coordinator, the contractor, and all of the involved staff appreciate your continued patience and understanding. We will endeavor to provide you with timely information and updates via our blog and Twitter feeds, and welcome your comments. The webmaster passes on all letters (and Tweets) to the appropriate staff for response.
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| Main Commuter Impacts, May 2nd - May 12th. Click for Larger image |
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