Summer’s End The kids are back in school, the class of 2022 arrives on campus in a few days, and here we are at Labor Day Weekend. Wow, summer went fast. We’re also now six months into construction. Let’s catch up on the latest news. Merchants Row Plan Finalized At its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday evening, the Selectboard approved the final plan for Merchants Row to continue as a one-way street once construction on the rail and bridge project is completed in 2021. Th

Lights! Camera! Action! Have you noticed how many people are in town? The fourth annual Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival, one of the premier events of the year in Middlebury, kicked off on Wednesday and will continue through Sunday. You can check out the entire program of films, panels, and parties here. Come out and support this very special event in our own backyard. Downtown Survey Update I was reminded that many folks are out of town this week and so will hold off

TBM Arrives; A Decision on Merchants Row; Kids Just Want To Have Fun As planned, the Tunnel Boring Machine, looking a little like a mini NASA space shuttle and heralding the next phase in construction of the new downtown drainage system, arrived earlier this week. First, though, let’s catch up on recent events. Main Street Bridge Repaved As planned, Kubricky closed both lanes of Main Street Bridge early Saturday morning in order to repave the bridge deck. (The combination of

Tunnel Boring To Begin Next Week; Merchants Row To Remain One Way? Before we get into the weekly review of construction activity, I wanted to let you know about some upcoming activities and events. Main Street Bridge To Close for Repaving on Saturday Morning As I reported earlier in the week, this Saturday, August 11, Kubricky will close both lanes of Main Street Bridge starting at around 6 AM in order to repave the bridge deck. (As planned, Kubricky stripped the deck on Thu

Main Street Bridge Temporary Shutdown; Carol’s To Close If you regularly drive down Main Street, you’ve probably noticed that the pavement on the temporary bridge is deteriorating. It’s particularly noticeable if you’re heading “downhill” from North Pleasant Street or Seymour Street. The combination of hot summer weather and heavy truck traffic has pushed the pavement up off of the bridge deck in places in the westbound lane. So the time has come, one year after its install

August Arrives; Public Space Downtown Late Wednesday afternoon a busload of teenage musicians arrived downtown from the Point Counterpoint chamber music summer camp on Lake Dunmore. They were in town to attend a concert by Point CounterPoint faculty musicians, including special guest artist Diana Fanning, at Town Hall Theater. What struck me as I watched them animatedly swarm down Main Street, even spilling into the roadway, was how little public space we have in the center o