Work to start on Murtland
Those orange cones that have been sitting along Murtland and Ridge avenues near the state police barracks will be rolled onto the road next week as reconstruction work begins.
Zottola Construction was given the go-ahead to begin work in that area as part of the next phase of the Route 19 improvement project in Washington. The work will include milling off the old surface and then resurfacing the road, as well as sidewalk and drainage work. Handicapped-accessible ramps also will be installed as part of the sidewalks.
Traffic will be maintained for the most part in both directions as work is done, said Steve Zottola. When necessary to reduce the road to a single lane, flaggers will control traffic. Parking will be prohibited for the duration of the construction. The first phase of the work will be on Murtland between Poplar and the Ridge Avenue intersection.
The work affecting traffic will be done from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Thursday with Friday as a make-up day, said Scott Faieta, assistant construction engineer for the state Department of Transportation.
“(These are) the baby steps of the project,” Faieta added.
Faieta said asbestos sampling has been done on three buildings slated to be demolished as part of the project. The samples are at a laboratory waiting for analysis before Zottola is given authorization to tear down the buildings, including the former Highland Bar and Grill.
Locust Avenue will be closed and a detour set up as part of the project between Sumner and Gibson avenues, but that will not happen for several months.
Faieta said the work on this phase of the project will not impact the phase now under way on College Street. That portion of the project began last year on Lincoln and is expected to be done later this year.
The $2.6 million project is to be completed in October 2014.