2019 Update #15
Clean It Up, Ham It Up
Working through Thursday’s misting dreariness, the Kubricky paving crew completed one of the last clean-up tasks in Printer’s Alley, repaving the roadway leading from Marble Works into the National Bank’s parking lot. As you can imagine, that stretch has seen a lot of wear and tear during the past 12 months.
Kubricky contracts with local suppliers and vendors whenever possible. In this case, the asphalt was trucked in by Bristol’s Heffernan Brothers from the Pike Industries plant in New Haven.
Repaving of the pathway that leads down to the pedestrian bridge across Otter Creek is on hold while the State considers how best to repair the maintenance access road that leads from the pathway over to the drainage system outfall behind the National Bank in Riverfront Park. Last week’s high water washed out the top layer of the road.
During the week Green Mountain Power continued making the connections necessary to run their electrical lines underground at the entrance to the Marble Works. That work will continue next week. I don’t yet have a timeline for when the poles and aerial lines will be removed from the Printer’s Alley area.
Post-Construction Printer's Alley
This week a reader asked me about the future safety of pedestrians in Printer’s Alley so this seems like a good time to remind you what this gateway between Main Street and Marble Works will look like come Spring 2021.
A new 12-foot-wide roadway will still run one way from Main Street into the Marble Works. Rather than pedestrians having to share that space with motorists, however, a new 5-foot-wide cement sidewalk will be constructed next to the National Bank. The sidewalk itself will be set off from the National Bank’s exterior wall by a second 5-foot-wide section of stamped concrete that will likely feature planters with all-season shrubs.
Between the roadway and the rail line will sit the new Lazarus Park, which will feature, among other things, an ADA-accessible pathway leading from Main Street into the Marble Works and, at the bottom of the pathway, a labyrinth composed of stone pavers. You can see what the labyrinth will look like here.
We’ll get a full look at the plans for Lazarus Park as well as Triangle Park and other downtown improvements when VTrans, VHB, and Kubricky present the construction plans that will take us from this Summer through to the end of the project. We’re working on a date and venue that will allow the most people to attend. I should have that info in hand next week.
MFD’s Annual Ham Supper
One of the benefits of being your Community Liaison is getting to know the people of our town who are there for us in an emergency. Chief Dave Shaw, Assistant Chiefs Myron Selleck and Pat Shaw, and the captains, lieutenants, and firefighters who make up our volunteer fire department are a special group indeed.
Next Tuesday, May 7, from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the Waybury Inn in East Middlebury, the Middlebury Fire Department will host its 65th annual Ham Supper. It’s nearly dinner time as I write this so perhaps I’m particularly susceptible, but I have to say that the prospect of baked ham, roast potatoes, baked beans, and “scrumptious desserts” (I guess they’re keeping those under wraps until the event) is pretty enticing.
Come out and support your fire department and get a great meal in the process. Tickets are available at the door or at several places around town. Details here.
And don’t forget Green Up day on Saturday and the Maple Run on Sunday. The heck with the rain, we’ve waited six months for Spring.
That’s all for today. See you downtown.
Please keep your comments and questions coming. Send me an email at jgish@townofmiddlebury.org and I’ll try to cover it in my next update.