2021 Update #32

Working through the Punch List

The Highlights

• Triangle Park fountain now on

• Final Inspection next week

• Rail platform construction completed

Once our downtown construction project passed its Substantial Completion milestone on Friday, September 17, it was time for a break. And what better place than coastal Maine, where not even the high price of lobster rolls ($36.95 and worth every penny) can dampen the spirits.

Your Weekly Construction Update

Back home in Middlebury, the past two weeks have seen a steady progression through the “punch list” of minor repairs that will bring our downtown construction project to an end.

Let’s start with the biggest news downtown. The Triangle Park fountain, shown below in our first photo of the week, is (finally) now fully operational. Waters put a final coat of white paint on the pedestal and then turned the fountain on last Thursday.

If you’ve walked or driven through town the past few days you’ve probably noticed Kubricky pressure-washing the new downtown sidewalks, as shown below in our next photo.

The cobblestone bump-outs on Main Street and Merchants Row, which were stained with asphalt when the two roadways were paved in early September, are presenting a particularly difficult challenge. The stain remover Goof Off coupled with vigorous pressure-washing seems to be making some headway.

Elsewhere in central downtown, the grassy area of Triangle Park is getting a round of weeding and seeding while topsoil and seed are being placed as needed elsewhere in the project area.

Waters was in town last week to repair some minor cracks in the new downtown sidewalks while Kubricky cleaned and caulked with Sikaflex the saw cuts that separate the sidewalk panels.

Down in the rail corridor, Kubricky is completing minor repair work on the U-walls— drilling out and refilling with mortar small chips where two U-wall sections meet, for example—and then power-washing the repaired areas before sealing the concrete against water penetration with silane.

Next week, State and Town officials will conduct a Final Inspection of both the downtown construction project and the rail platform project. Project Acceptance—the Town’s formal acceptance of the completed Middlebury Bridge & Rail Project—will take place once all punch list items are completed. Since that punch list includes the full establishment of grass in all seeded areas, this will likely not take place until next Spring.

Finally, as September comes to a close so has construction of the Amtrak rail platform. As shown in our final two photos of the week, Lafayette has finished installing the steel railing fence, Greenwood has completed the gable-end entrance, and the platform has been power-washed and safety lines laid out. Two trash cans and four metal benches will round out the platform picture.

Next up, as we have discussed, the Town has contracted with Munson Earth Moving Corp. out of Williston to construct and landscape the parking area in front of the station on Middle Seymour Street, as designed by Otter Creek Engineering, as well as to rebuild stormwater drainage on Willard Street and Middle Seymour.

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.