Day 51

Here is an update for each of the crews working in the Village. I think for the balance of the week they will be working on same issues. I tell you that because I have volunteered to chaperone a 6th grade field trip which will last from Wed-Fri. So, this will be the last update you will get until next week.

General Information:

• A resident was unable to get their car out of their driveway today. As I have suggested in the past, you need to respond to knocks on the door early in the morning, especially when you are in an active work zone. In this case, one occupant was asked/told that they would be cut off from leaving unless they moved soon. That message did not get to another occupant, or, the warning was simply ignored.
• The Contractor is intending to not work on Friday. I think progress may dictate that but dont be surprised if they pull out for a long holiday weekend.
• Wed forecast is calling for periodic showers which could alter construction production.

Woodland Circle:

• One crew was still working on sanitary lines at the souther corner as the rain started to fall late this afternoon. They were close to completing that work. Another crew was on the norther corner of Woodland also working on sanitary lines.
• Once the sanitary main lines are completed, they will begin with residential sanitary laterals and residential water laterals. This means that the water test has been approved.
• This road is STILL extremely rough, especially with the rain late in the date. I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE RESIDENTS TO PARK OFF THIS STREET IN A LOCATION WHERE YOU CAN MAKE EASY EXIT.

Fisk/Lakewood (Near Beach)

• The sanitary reconfiguration was completed today and the crew began working on the storm system tie in through the intersection and working it toward the Beach outfall. This was not going particularly fast as the crew and the trench inwhich they were working was filled with storm water. It was a continuous struggle against the water so not alot of progress was made.
• As an aside, the traffic pattern change seems to be quite the complicated maneuver for many making the trek north on Lakewood. Barricades, a sign that say "Lane Closed", a no right turn arrow, and, a detour sign pointed traffic in the direction they are supposed to go are STILL not enough to get people to comply. 1 out of every 3 cars drives down the closed road anyway, then being forced to turn around and/or back up the road. We have to leave enough room for dump trucks access, so we can not block the road completely. Instead, we have caused a surpentine to get people not to drive down the road that is completely and unequivocally blocked.
• This traffic change will be affecting the southbound lane as soon as the crew reaches that point of their work. So, be prepared to have that pattern altered.

Road Reconstruction on Cambridge

• Good progress made today. The rain early and then late in the afternoon caused substantial delays, but they worked regardless. If they make the same progress on Wednesday, they could finish; but again, potential weather conflicts may cause a few problems.

Kensington Aprons/Sidewalks

• The early rain chased off the concrete contractor so very little was accomplished today. There were a few driveways that were framed. They are still in the upper 200 block yet on Kensington--north of Oxford.
• As a policy reminder, the Village will replace driveways with either concrete or asphalt, based on what was removed. Specialized surfaces, colored or stamped concrete, will be the responsibility of the home owner to coordinate and to pay for additional charges for those features.

UPPER BLUFF

• Pulverizing continued today. As a reminder, we are anticipating that the internal streets will all be pulverized, but Farwell will not.
• We have our archeological permit for the upper bluff.
• Depending on weather this week will determine pipe construction for next week. At the construction meeting on Thursday, we may have a better idea of when it can be anticipated to have pipe crews beginning work in the Upper Bluff. As I hear and as I can post, I will relay the info to you.

For Monday 5/24 Day 50

Yesterday, the Lakewood traffic was changed to 2 lanes in the NB lane as a large Sanitary project was started in the Lakewood/Fisk intersection. That traffic plan will be like that again today (Tuesday) and will switch later in the week when the other lane needs to be closed down. This crew will be starting a bit earlier (6a) to be able to accomplish this extensive project yet this week.

A couple observations from the traffic flow change: Follow the signs, which means you cant be talking on the phone and having your attention elsewhere--which we saw. Slow down. Avoid the area if possible.

Besides the Lakewood/Fisk work, crews were also still on Woodland Circle finishing some storm connections. They also moved to some sanitary repairs that were needed. The Water Mains are installed and now we await testing results so that residential services can be started.

Another crew was working on Cambridge yesterday rebuilding the road. That crew kept running into a conflict with a storm pipe, but they made some progress. They will continue that work today.

Concrete was also being poured as they finished driveway aprons in the 300 block and then moved to pouring sidewalk and some driveways in the 200 block. That work will continue southbound today.

In the upper bluff, the pulverizer arrived in the Village in the early afternoon. The New Castle and Charing Cross area were the extent of the work they accomplished yesterday. Today will be a full day of pulverizing.

Day 49; Traffic Change On Lakewood Blvd

This is a friendly reminder of the traffic changes at the Beach (Lakewood/Fisk) this week. Traffic will be funneled into one lane for a short segment. To avoid this area, you may want to leave the Village using the northern route past the Village Marina. Good Luck. T

Day 47; Another Washout...

Good afternoon.

Well, a week that showed good promise, ended with a wash out due to the rain last night. There is nobody feeling it any worse than our friends on Woodland Circle. What a soft and gooey mess.

Road Crews worked all morning to get enough secure material down to provide a driving surface. It was really not good down there today with at lease one resident getting stuck in some mud. It is still not that good on Woodland....if you can park off that street for the day/night, please do so. If you need to get directly to your home, I wish you well in your attempt. It will continue to improve as the soils dry out.

NEW FEATURE: I have been having a multitude of "Rumors" pointed out to me that I want to address. So this is a new feature call RTR---RESOLVE THE RUMOR!!!

1. "The Lower Bluff projects are behind". No, not even close. We are actually probably ahead as indicated by the move to the Upper Bluff next week with removal of pavement and pipe work beginning up there the first week of June.
2. "The street projects already have cost over runs and they may be as much as a $1 Million in over runs". Again, No, not even close. We have made 1 payment which was considerable less $ than expected. A greater indicator however is those unanticipated expenses of which we have had very very few.
3. "We thought all the sanitary mains were getting replaced". No, we are doing spot repairs to both sanitary and storm lines. There was a major storm system enhancement in the Lower Bluff. We televised all of the sanitary and storm lines when we planned these projects so we know where problems may exist and we are making repairs where needed.
4. "The DNR is still holding back the Village Permits so we may have to wait until next year to do these projects in the Upper Bluff". This is partially true in that we dont have the permits yet, but we are awfully close. I was expecting our Chapter 30 permit from the DNR for the Beach outfall this week as I was told by the DNR that it would be mailed midweek....it must be with the check cuz it did not get here yet. Also, the Historical Society has promised me that I would get our clearance letter from them on Monday or Tuesday of next week and then we just need to deliver that to the DNR who will be ready with our permit. Close, we are very close and we are moving ahead as though permits are in hand.

....As a reminder, you can ask me questions as a part of this blog--it is interactive. You ask a question and I can then reply. If you dont want to have everybody know that YOU asked the question, that part can stay anonymous. If you have questions, please ask and I will clarify. Quite honestly, it is discouraging to have such inaccurate rumors floating about the Village and I want people to be fully informed.

Thats it for now. Have a good weekend. T

Day 46; Thur 5/20

See Village Email for updates.....

Day 45; Aprons & Curbs (Upper Bluff Info)

As anticipated, we found ourselves with a concrete contractor in Village today. We were told they would be bringing in a "football team" worth of employees and they sure did. Alot of sidewalk and many driveway aprons were poured today.

Let me briefly talk about sidewalks. The original bid called for specific squares of sidewalks to be replaced. This however caused a somewhat chaotic approach for the concrete contractor to remove 2-3 squares, leave a couple, pull out another handful, leave some, pull some, etc etc etc. So, with some assistance from the Village Operational Budget, we are looking to relace much more if not all of the sidewalk squares in construction areas.

We also continue to work with residents on driveways. The Village repairs what we remove. Some residents are working to have the balance of the driveway replaced---that is at their cost. Be sure to be in contact with us if we have not already contacted you.

The water main crew on Woodland Circle had a rough 24 hours having to pull and re-lay many feet of pipe as the angle of the main was not hitting its exact mark and then there was an elevation problem as well. Re-work is very destructive to momentum. But, they move on.

The services on Kensington nearing Roxbury are nearing completion if not already done by end of day today.

OK, for my friends in the upper bluff, get ready. There is some great potential that the contractor could be starting in the removal of the pavement next week--as early as Monday. Now, when we say the removal of pavement, they pulverize and then would roll the remaining material in place, which can often get quite firm again. BUT, I want to start preparing you that your construction will be starting soon.

Also, on Monday, anticipate traffic limitations at the south end of the beach which the construction crew is working on some sanitary system manholes on Lakewood Blvd. This work will last the entire week and it will include the completion of the new storm line to the outfall of the beach.

We have a construction meeting on Thursday morning and after that meeting, I anticipate sending additional information and details about project schedules. I will most likely also send an email in addition to the blog to make sure that others who do not read this blog but check that email, can get caught up.

Day 44; Tuesday Concrete Already???

I knew that Monday was a good weather day, but what a bunch of progress. The water main crew on Woodland Circle on Monday put in 330' of water main. That is phenomenal work.

Similar progress was made today. We added another crew onto Cambridge to work on residential services. This means that the water tested clean on Cambridge so they are now attached to the new main. Residential Services also continued southbound on Kensington.

Road reconstruction also continued; there were actually two road reconstruction crews in the Village today to begin preparation for the concrete contractor to arrive yet this week.

The concrete contractor is expected on WEDNESDAY to begin work. We anticipate driveway aprons, curbs, etc to be getting poured yet this week. This will take place in those areas where there is no pipe work or other road work left. Kensington in the 300 and 400 blocks, Fisk, etc.

Keep you attention as conditions are changing fairly quickly.

I will have new details soon on the move to the upper bluff; that too is coming quickly so stand by up there.......

Day 43; Beautiful week ahead

Crews were back at it today working on those areas that we anticipated in my post from last Thursday. Tomorrow, another crew will be in Village working on a few last connections to the water main at Cambridge and Lakewood. Services will then be completed and the balance of the road will be rebuilt. You may notice that Lake Anderson is now gone, replaced with the start of a rebuilt road!!!

Our friends on Woodland Circle are receiving water main installation this week. They will also then move to storm system enhancements. As a reminder, there is no parking on any street directly under construction. All we ask is that you work with the contractor to get your car moved to a reasonable location.

I should have some new details on the upper bluff construction starting date soon. Stand by and watch for that information.....

Day 39; Take a long weekend...

The contractor did a little road maintenance this morning to make sure streets were passable, but with the rain overnight, there is way too much moisture for them to work today. With more anticipated yet today or tonight, the contractor has sent crews home for the weekend.

I heard an interesting story today which is normally told to me the other way around. I hear from many residents how happy they are with the contractors and the care/concern that they are showing. Today however, I heard from one of the contractors how impressed they are working here in the Village of Maple Bluff. This particular employee said how tolerant residents are of such horrific conditions. And, in fact he talked about the friendliness; people waving at them, the kind words and gestures. His point was that they NEVER see this kind of behavior........how does that help????

Well, this is how it all fits together.......this same contractor told me how THEY react to these positive reactions and behaviors and in essence they, (the contractor) become even MORE willing to move, help, get out of the way, etc. They get treated nicely and they do even more to make the hassle more tolerable.

I was told of one resident in the Kensington Drive area who has provided NUMEROUS cases of adult beverages for the crew members---for after work!!!. This same resident has even found himself up and in some of the apparatus while working. That is neat. I would suggest to you that such hospitality really pays dividends with the crew members. If you have opportunity, make the crews feel welcome. It does not have to be an adult beverage; but, cookies or other baked goods would also be warmly received. Remember, these guys are away from home for the entire week so any outreach would be warmly received.

On Monday, anticipate the following work:

• Road construction will continue between mid block of Kensington North of Oxford to the point where they left off near Cambridge. [Our apologies for Lake Anderson on the corner of Kensington/Cambridge].
• Water main will continue on Woodland Circle. The south entrance of Woodland at Kensington will remain blocked off. All entrances into Woodland Circle will need to come from the North.
• Also on Monday Services on Kensington South of Oxford will continue.
• They are treating the newly installed water main on Cambridge and letting it "cook". They hope to get the first test sample taken and submitted today. On Monday, they hope to have that result so that on Tuesday, they can begin Water Services on Cambridge Road.

See ya on Day 43!!!

Days 34-38; Back to Work!!

Ok, lets see where we left off. On Monday of this week (Day 36), we had a couple crews in Village and they were finishing some clean up from a messy weekend. Some road work was completed and the storm line was started on the south side of Woodland Circle.

Yesterday, (Day 37), we got completely rained out. What does a construction crew from out of town do on a rain day?? Well, there were rumors of a bowling day, but I dont think that happened. Lets just assume that they stayed in and read all day!!

Today however, crews are back to work. We are fortunate to catch a break from the rain; though the construction areas are quite sloppy. There are several crews working on the following jobs:

• One crew has started residential services on Kensington South of Oxford.
• The road crew is rebuilding the Kensington/Oxford Intersection and they will continue working north to where they left off near the intersection of Kensington and Cambridge.
• There is another crew that has started working on Water Main on the south side of Woodland Circle. They will be working from south to north.

If you live on Woodland Circle, you should anticipate being directly affected today and the next days that they work. With the recent rain, keep in mind that the roads, even when backfilled, may be very soft. As they near the end of the work day, they will make them as passable as they can.

As another reminder, the plan for next week was to continue StormWater work on the Lakewood/Fisk intersection. This work may impact traffic through this area. Be aware of changing traffic patterns.

We have a construction meeting tomorrow morning so I will have more schedule information after that meeting.

Day 32 & Day 33....

Day 33, Today--Friday 5/7 is quite easy....rain, and no, or very minimal work.

Day 32, Thursday, showed progress in the water main installation on Cambridge Road. They have completed a bit more than half of Cambridge. I can tell you however in that construction, that we are finding some horribly soft base under the roads. This makes road rebuilding more difficult and temporary roads even more difficult to make passable for traffic. If you go by Cambridge Road, you will notice that it is mostly closed down.
This crew will begin water main installation on Woodland Circle after Cambridge Water Main is completed. Work will begin at the south intersection with Kensington and will proceed north.
Other work on Thursday included road reconstruction southbound on Kensington that has reached Oxford. Residential services south of Oxford are now ready to be completed as the new main has passed the water tests. One service was already completed as crews fixed a break in the old water main. Others will continue next week.

Tentative plans to complete work in the Lakewood at Fisk Place intersection is scheduled for the week of May 17th. Please recognize that traffic on Lakewood will be affected. We anticipate one lane through this area and possibly having the need for a flagman. Consider this if you pass this area frequently, as you may want to consider leaving the Village through the outer drive of Farwell. More information will be posted as we get closer.

Day 31;

Wow, 3 pipe crews really can make a mess of Village Streets!! Work continued today in the same areas as earlier this week.

• Storm sewer main continued southboundon Kensington and they were sure to be past the Woodland intersection.
• Sanitary sewer should have been completed today on Cambridge. That same crew was going to go back near the intersection with Kensington and begin the water main installation on Cambridge.
• Additional water services were completed in the zone near Kensington and Oxford that had a clear water test. There was also some miscellaneous sewer work completed near that same intersection.
• Finally, road crews kept rebuilding Kensington southbound in the mid 300 block. They are right on the heels of the storm sewer crew.

A few more days left in the week so stand by for more work coming to you.

Day 30; Lakewood at Beach Info

I think considerable progress was made again today. The weather, when it cooperates, can help make construction go smoothly. Though, too dry of conditions also makes construction dusty. That said, if your home is in the vicinity of the construction areas, you may want to keep windows closed to minimize the dust getting into your home.

Here is a summary of the progress today.

• Storm sewer continued down Kensington in the 300 block and they are nearing the intersection with Cambridge.
• Sanitary sewer work began on the 100 block of Cambridge, starting in the Kensington intersection. There was a new sanitary man hole/structure put in place in the middle of that intersection. Then, about 75' of sanitary line was put in place heading back into Cambridge Rd.
• At the end of the day, that sanitary sewer crew had to replace/repair a water main shut of valve that was leaking in that same intersection. Many homes received phone calls in the Kensington/Woodland Circle area regarding the water shut off. This was unplanned but we did what we could to notice residents. That was good; what was bad was that when the calls were made around 4:15pm, we anticipated that the contractor was ready to have the water shut off. Residents were prepped that water should be turned back on by 5:30pm; unfortunately, the contractor was not ready to have the water shut off until after 6pm.......DRAT!! That frustrates US, so I am sure it is disheartening for homeowners as well. Sorry for that inconvenience.
• Down the street further on Kensington, residential water service connections continued. As of right now, we only have water tested and cleared a bit south of the Oxford intersection with Kensington. Until we get the lab reports back on the water tests for the water main further south, we can not continue service connections. But, we hope to get those back soon.....samples have already been submitted to the lab for testing.

Finally, discussions with the contractor are leading us to believe that next week and the week after, crews may be in the vicinity of Lakewood Blvd/Fisk Place near the Beach making the connections of the Storm Sewer to the outfall at the beach. They also must complete a fairly substantial Sanitary Sewer Re-work in that intersection. I dont know how this will affect traffic just yet; but it may be substantial. Stay tuned for more information.

Day 29

I will be to the point to catch you up on progress since last Thursday.

Crews did the best they could to prep the roads before the weekend. I was in Village on Saturday for the Walk for Courage and found standing water on Kensington, but very passable. Please remember that with no road pavement, storm water does not have any place to run. Thus, rain is not always our friend in dealing with construction zones.

UPDATES:

• Residential service installations are in the 250 or so block of Kensington; this is several houses south of Cambridge and just 2-3 houses north of Oxford.
• Last Friday, water main reached Roxbury on Kensington so they went as far as they could. Those mains were filled with water on Friday and now they are working to get the water tested/passed. This allows the residential service crew to continue making progress all the way to Roxbury.
• Roxbury will have to be the last street to have water main installed, otherwise we would isolate Woodland Circle with no water.
• On TUESDAY (tomorrow), please note that Sanitary Sewer work will begin on CAMBRIDGE. This work will last all of this week. Those of you living on CAMBRIDGE will find "No Parking" signs. Plan on this street as NOT being available for traffic during the construction day.
• Storm sewer is continuing southbound on Kensington. That crew is approaching the intersection with Cambridge and Woodland Circle. As they make more progress southbound, the road crew will again begin to rebuild the roads. If you recall, right now Fisk, the 400 block of Kensington, and 5-6 houses south on Kensington in the 300 block have road rebuilt with rock.

Please stay in touch.