Sorry I wasn't on the job this morning - I had an appointment early this morning in Berlin for my eyes and had a shot in each eye - again, same as last month. There was a bit of a flare-up in October, thus the simultaneous shots, which normally doesn't happen. I usually get either one or the other done. Anyway, today's two were  a preventative measure and I won't need to have any in December - "Merry Christmas from Dr. Kim!" 
     So here I am, back at my computer. It was COLD this morning. We had a low of 4 degrees during the night, and I don't think it got out of the low teens here all day. All three ponds looked pretty tightly frozen when we went out this morning. That always makes everything seem very quiet. It's like the "white noise" is gone. We expect to see open water again before "real winter" sets in, but maybe not! This has happened before, although not quite this early. The pond has frozen over completely just freezing one time, usually in December, and then stays frozen for the duration, but not often. Old timers have said that Joe's Pond normally freezes and thaws twice as the weather cools and warms, then the third freeze stays for the winter. We'll see.
     The workers were out on Route 2 in East and South Cabot this morning, putting finishing touches on the two bridge projects there. Here is Natalie Boyle's weekly report:

Proposed Work Schedule, Week of 11/19/18, Cabot-Danville US 2 Reconstruction [Cabot-Danville FEGC F 028-3(36) C/2] 

Project Location:  The 1.4 mile project extends along US 2 from Last Road to Danville Hill Road in Cabot. This is a multi-year project with most of the work occurring in 2017/2018. Completion is scheduled for 2019.

THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY: Crews will be off of the road by noon on Wednesday in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. Work will resume on Monday, 11/26 at 7:00 AM.

Miscellaneous clean-up, ditch work, topsoiling and seeding will continue project-wide. 

 

Crews will begin to remove the extra width from the westbound lane and side slope. After this has been completed, permanent guardrail will be installed in this location.

The schedule for paving operations has yet to be determined. Paving operations are weather dependent and the schedule may vary due to weather and/or surface conditions. 

TRAVEL ALERT:  A speed reduction zone of 40 mph is in place for this project. There are increased fines for speed violations within the construction zone. 

TRAFFIC INFORMATION: Construction vehicles will be entering and exiting the work zone throughout construction hours, and as a result, alternating one-way traffic patterns with flaggers will be in place. Delays can be expected.

Please focus on safety when driving through the construction work zone and remember, it is against the law to use a hand held cell phone while driving in Vermont.

Contact Natalie Boyle, Project Outreach Coordinator, EIV Technical Services, with any questions or concerns in regard to this project at 802-855-3893 or nboyle@eivtech.com

--

Natalie Boyle

Director of Communications

EIV Technical Services

www.eivtech.com

The City Lights Building

106 East Allen St., Unit 506

Winooski, VT 05404

cell:  802.855.3893

office: 802.497.3653 ext.1037

____________________

     It seems to me they will have to remove a fair amount of snow to do much work of any kind, although there could be a warm spell  so we might see bare ground again. Right now there are about ten inches of snow on the ground - more or less. The roads are clear, but we're getting another storm tonight with six inches or more expected in this area, so Thanksgiving will definitely look more like Christmas. Several ski areas plan to be open for Thanksgiving weekend and I think there should be plenty of snow, even without snow making, which would be no problem in these temperatures. However, if the pattern remains of being cold with lots of wind, only the hardiest, most enthusiastic skiers and boarders will be out on the slopes. I looked at the ten-day forecast and temperatures aren't expected to get more than a degree or two above freezing, and mostly below freezing with "snow showers" nearly every day. I think winter is here!