2020 Update #14
Governor Scott’s Executive Order Temporarily Shuts Down Middlebury Project
On Wednesday afternoon, in accordance with Governor Scott’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” executive order, the Secretary of the Vermont Agency of Transportation ordered the temporary shutdown of virtually all construction projects in Vermont.
The temporary shutdown of construction projects began Wednesday at 5 PM and will extend until April 15, the same timeline as the broader executive order.
That’s a lot for us to take in.
I’ve heard from many in our community during the past two weeks urging that our downtown construction project be completed while Middlebury is shut down and the project team, as I’ve reported in recent updates, has been working diligently to accelerate this year’s construction in every possible way.
But this story is now bigger than any single construction project or any single town and clearly the health and well-being of our fellow citizens has to be Vermont’s priority right now.
Again, this is a temporary shutdown. I’ll be in touch with updates as soon as I have more information.
The Full Text of the VTrans Statement
“Pursuant to the “STAY HOME, STAY SAFE” order from Governor Scott on 3/24/2020, effective Wednesday, March 25, 2020 at 5 p.m. the Secretary of Agency of Transportation is ordering the safe and orderly shutdown of all construction projects that are not deemed critical to the public health, safety, or national security. This will apply to nearly all projects currently under construction or planned to commence with the start of the construction season. The shutdown will be in effect until at least April 15th and may be extended by a future addendum to this order by Governor Scott. After 5:00 PM today, the only work on non-essential projects will be that necessary to leave projects in a safe and stable condition until work can resume. If you have any contract specific questions about a project currently under construction, please direct them to the appropriate project field staff. If you have any questions about a project on the bid advertisement schedule please direct them to Contract Administration.
AOT will also be halting construction with maintenance staff and limiting our force in the field to winter snow and ice control, safety patrols and responding to necessary repairs that affect the safety of the traveling public or to critical mobility issues related to public health or security.
We appreciate the understanding of the contracting community at this time as the COVID 19 response evolves and escalates in Vermont and across the country. We will be communicating often in the coming days with more information about the status of our projects and the construction season.”
That’s all for today. See you soon.
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.