Almost There The Governor’s announcement last Friday that outdoor construction crews could expand from two to five people put us on a path to restarting Middlebury’s downtown construction project. The critical issue now from the Scott Administration’s point of view is continuing to protect the public health of the community—Addison County has had no new Covid-19 cases in nearly two weeks—when Kubricky’s construction crew is largely based across the Lake Champlain Bridge in Es

Awaiting Friday’s Press Conference, Walking Into History It’s tempting to see Thursday’s marvelously clear blue skies as a harbinger of better days to come. And why not? As I mentioned in Tuesday’s update, we remain in a holding pattern on the downtown construction project. The resumption of outdoor work in Vermont by two-person crews, which began this week, does not allow for restarting the fairly complex operations that need to take place prior to the shutdown of Main Str

As the Spigot Turns: Downtown Construction Update It looks as if we need to wait for another “turn of the spigot” before Middlebury’s downtown construction project can start up again. By now you may be familiar with the Governor’s analogy for incrementally restarting Vermont’s economy: giving the spigot a quarter turn at a time. While last Friday’s quarter turn did allow for some outdoor work to resume, the restrictions still in place do not allow for restarting a construc

The Latest on the Construction Shutdown Let’s start our weekly construction update with a small but important piece of good news. Fort Miller—the Schuylerville NY-based precast concrete plant—continues to operate during Vermont’s construction shutdown. As of this past Friday, April 10, the Fort Miller plant had fabricated some 323 of the 422 precast pieces needed to construct our new downtown tunnel and adjoining rail abutments. While delivery to the Fifield Farm south marsha

Awaiting Developments I hope the weekly update finds you well and adjusting to the new normal of our daily lives. Wearing a mask and glove to the P.O. to mail Easter packages out to the family earlier this week felt awkward and strange. But if that’s what it takes, that’s what it takes. On the project front, the Secretary of Transportation’s temporary suspension of construction projects in Vermont remains in effect until April 15. As I mentioned last week, following the cons

Behind the Scenes of a Quiet Construction Zone This week an unaccustomed stillness descended on the downtown construction zone, the site of so much activity during the past three years. As you’ll recall, last week Vermont’s Secretary of Transportation, in accordance with Governor Scott’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” executive order, ordered the temporary shutdown of virtually all construction projects in Vermont until April 15. But while downtown went quiet, extensive discussions w