The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) has revised the schedule to complete its project to improve safety at the intersections of Route 7/2, 2A and 127.
After construction ceases in early December for the winter, roadway construction will not resume until mid-June 2018. VTrans has shifted the schedule to accommodate a request by the Town of Colchester and local businesses to postpone any substantial work that will cause impacts to traffic to mid-June when the local schools will be out of session and local businesses will be less impacted.
This year the pace of construction was slowed by incorrect mapping of underground utilities and more extensive soil contamination and blue clay soils that required deeper excavation. These conditions added weeks of delay to the project.
Also, VTrans expanded the original scope of work to include additional roadwork. Initial project plans limited Route 2/A and Route 127 paving to the immediate intersection areas where the roads connect with Route 7/2 and over the section of Route 2A where new drainage was put in, not the whole roadway. The project will now pave both roads to the junction of Routes 2A and 127, further east. A longer section of Route 7/2 north of Creek Farm Road will also be milled and repaved.
In the last weeks of this year’s construction, the contractor will:
- Pave all driveway entrances and roadway disturbed or excavated by construction
- Install a traffic signal at Bay Road
- Complete the final paving of Route 7/2 between Champlain Farms and the Irving Gas Station
The projected weather forecast for early next week is promising for the contractor to finish paving.
For more information on the project contact Jill Barrett at 802.272.1248.