Updates and Happy Autumn!

 Route 2 Construction Report for the Coming Week: 

When: Sep 23, 7 PM to 6 PM, Sep 27, 2024

Construction Update
Marshfield-Danville NH PS19(1)
[U.S. Route 2 Resurfacing Project]
TRAFFIC IMPACT AND DURATION: Monday, September 23, through Friday, September 27, between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., motorists can expect lane closures with alternating one-way traffic patterns and minor delays throughout the entire 16-mile project limits on U.S. Route 2 (U.S. 2) from the Plainfield/Marshfield town line to the VT Route 15 (VT 15) and U.S. 2 intersection in West Danville. Flaggers and Uniform Traffic Officers will be present to assist motorists through the work zone.

CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES: Crews will begin curbing and island work at the park and ride near the VT 15 and U.S. 2 intersection in West Danville. Crews will also be cleaning out culverts and drainage structures from the Plainfield/Marshfield town line to the intersection of Vermont Route 232 (VT 232).

 Motorists are encouraged to use caution while traveling through the work zone and plan for minor delays.

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A reminder that you have choices this coming weekend for delicious dinners. North Danville Baptist Church is serving their delicious Chicken Pie Supper on the 28th (Saturday); and that is also the same night that Cabot's Fall Festival and Cheese & Culture activities are wrapping up with a wonderful turkey dinner. Both events cost $15 per ticket, and for the North Danville chicken pie supper you need to make your reservation for either sit-down or take-out meals by this coming Wednesday. See attached poster for details. 

Cabot's turkey dinner is first-come-first-served, from 5:00-6:30 p.m. That is take-out only, and there is seating for outdoor dining on the Common in front of the church. This dinner benefits the United Church of Cabot.

Both of these suppers are truly wonderful, and some of us don't want to miss out on either of them, so we'll be getting both and putting dinners in the fridge for later - or maybe in the freezer (we don't want to begin growing feathers from eating too much poultry). We do look forward to these dinners every fall, though and both are traditions we are not willing to give up on, even if it might seem like overload.

By the way, welcome to the first official day of Autumn! I'm sure everyone is noticing we have fewer and fewer daylight hours. I came home from having dinner with friends on Friday and it was already dark and not yet eight o'clock. I had to park my car in my neighbor's driveway because my driveway got newly paved last week and I couldn't drive on it. Diane and Sherry were reluctant to let me stumble about in the dark by myself to get up to my house, and very kindly followed me home and helped light the way with flashlights and laughter - three old dames panting up the hill together. I really didn't think I needed any assistance - I had my flashlight and a walking stick - but they insisted, and I was very glad they were there. The night was much darker than I expected, and it would have been really scary getting up that hill all by myself. Of course, once they had delivered me safely to my door, I worried whether they would make it safely to the car at the foot of the driveway - but they were fine. 

This morning I brought my car "home" and it is once again safely in my garage. I feel much more secure knowing it's handy - it was a tad worrisome knowing I had to tramp down my driveway and a little way up Jamie's to get to my car last week. I did a little shopping at Marty's on Friday morning and didn't even think about how I would get everything into the house from the car, I'm so used to just driving into the garage and can make as many easy trips as needed to unload groceries, only steps away from my kitchen. I bought several items I really could have done without and then when I got home realized I had a very heavy bag of groceries and my pretty heavy carryall bag with water, a book and other "essentials" I never leave home without. The two heavy loads kind of balanced me out, although it was difficult managing my walking stick when my carryall kept slipping off my shoulder. I finally tucked the darned walking stick under my arm and although I did have to stop a couple of time to rest, I made it ok. Between my morning struggle and then doing it again that night, I got my exercise in for the day, for sure. 

I want to mention that Gretchen Farnsworth let me know that the state did another inspection for milfoil, I think Thursday or Friday, and found nothing in the area near the Farnsworth's, at least. That is a relief, of course - and it's very encouraging that apparently there are plenty of eyes on the situation. We have only a short window of opportunity until the pond freezes over and it would be great if we don't find another patch of the darned stuff - maybe there's hope we can at least control it, if not eradicate it.

I just noticed that there may be one or two people who are no longer receiving notification when I post. This may be because a reader has moved, changed email addresses and hasn't let me know, or it could be that Google Mail has for some reason dropped names off my list. That has happened in the past, but just let me know of any changes or if you'd like to get an email when I post. I'll get your name on the list. Send your contact info to :  janebrowncabot@gmail.com

Just came in: Here's a road update from Sid Griggs, Road Foreman in Cabot: 

 Good evening everyone. I have some updates for all to keep an eye out for in the weeks to come.
We finished the two Danville Hill segment sections this [Saturday] morning, meaning we will be moving onto our final segment on Coits Pond Road next [this] week. We are going to get Bothfeld Hill Road graded first thing Monday morning as it's been in real rough shape for some time now and we finally have a small window to heal it up. I know most roads need grading and after we finish the next and last segment grant project this coming week. We will start grading every road in town in preparation for winter, as well as continuing with mowing roadsides.

So Monday we will begin work on Coits Pond but will not close it until Tuesday morning. The road will be closed only between the hours of 7am-4pm Tuesday through Thursday and Friday if need be so we can work. The road is too narrow to allow through traffic to come through while our machinery is trying to work. This will help us focus on what we are doing and speed up our process so we can open the road sooner! Folks who live in this section will be able to get in and out, but again through traffic will not. The section to be worked on is from the West Hill Pond dam up to the top of the first hill on Coits Pond Road.

Today I spoke with Goodhue Construction, which is the company doing the two permanent mitigation projects from the flood. One project is the upper Jug Brook culvert, and the other is the bottom of Blodgett Road. I've asked them if they would start on Jug Brook first as we are nearing winter and I don't want to be getting into snow removal with the road closed. I have spoken with the town of Woodbury and they are willing to plow and sand if needed (doubtful) if the project is still going. They said their concrete guy wants to pour the footers and walls the second week of October, so they will begin their work to prep the site mid to late week prior. This means Jug Brook Road will be closed beginning the week of October 7th. I am not 100% sure of the exact date yet, but will update all of you as we get closer to that time. The road will be closed for at least 4 weeks to complete the project.

The way Goodhue plans on working the two projects simultaneously is they will prep jug Brook for concrete. While the concrete work is being completed they will move to Blodgett to start work on that site in prep for concrete. Once concrete is done on Jug Brook, they will shift back up to set the aluminum pipe cover and backfill to the road surface. Blodgett Road will have a temporary road built below the site of the new culvert structure so the road can stay open during the construction. Jug Brook does not have this option because of the narrow area to work in.

Again I will post updates on the Coits Pond Road closure and Jug Brook as time passes.

Thank you all for being patient while we work hard to get as much done as possible.

Have a great weekend,
Road foreman, Sid Griggs

Happy Autumn, to everyone!