VTrans, Pike Inds. to hold Rt. 103 status meeting
Press release | Mar 25, 2019 | Comments 1
State Rep. Logan Nicoll
The Route 103 paving project was left incomplete last year creating a number of driving problems. The key issues resulting from this, according to Nicoll, are: “Large sections that lack proper lane markings, new pavement becoming dislodged and peeling up in areas where the paving was completed with temperatures below recommended road construction levels, large sections of the project that were left scarified through the winter, and poorly designed line painting at intersections that lead to traffic inadvertently driving in the wrong lane, most notably at the intersection of Route 103 and Route 131.”
Based on current projections, the Route 103 paving project will have to be completed during the coming paving season.
According to Nicoll, VTrans will be represented by Wayne Symonds, director and chief engineer of the Highway Department, and Jerry Reed, construction engineer. Others from VTrans may also participate. Nicoll was advised by VTrans that Pike will send senior management who have oversight of paving in Vermont, although no one specific was named.
Nicoll, who represents Ludlow, Mt. Holly and Shrewsbury in the Vermont House, stated that this will be “an opportunity for VTrans and Pike Industries to explain the paving project this past summer/fall and what their current plans are for this summer. There will be an explanation of the current situation to answer the most common questions I have heard from around our district with sometime after for public questions.”
The meeting is open to all interested persons. There will be a question period following the VTrans presentation. For information, call 802-228-7239.
Filed Under: Latest News
Route 103 – Questions that Need Answers
1. What was the rationale behind the initial planning to pave a stretch of highway and then “leap-frog” a short distance and renew paving? This method created multiple traffic stops where continuous, uninterrupted paving did not.
2. Why was Mt Holly, the roads high point and usually the first to get snow left until near the end of the paving sequence?
3. Why were sections of the unpaved highway “scarified” when there was a high chance they would not be repaved during the paving season?
4. What was the rationale for “double paving”, i.e., laying two layers of thinner pavement strips on the same highway section at two different time intervals? The initial pavement layers were often painted for lane markings while the second layers were not.
5. Why were the lane marking paintings delayed or never done.
6. Did the engineer’s really believe that placing what appeared to be a one inch pavement layer over previously scarified road sections would survive winter plowing, road traffic, and winter weather?
7. How was the faulty lane painting at the intersection of 103 and 131 allowed to pass inspection?
8. What penalties will be imposed on Pike for not completing the project in 2018?
9. Will there be any additional costs to VTrans – therefore the taxpayer, for the completion of the project in 2019?
10. Do you believe Pike supplied adequate resources to the 103 project in 2018?