Introduction to our project

At the March 2011 Town Meeting voters approved $1,861,000 in funding to reconstruct Jericho Road from Route 2 (Main Street) up to School Street. The project includes ledge removal to widen the road, larger, improved concrete sidewalks and road shoulders. Water and Sewer lines will also be replaced for this length, connecting to new water lines on School Street. Separately, the schools are reconstructing their parking lot this Summer. When complete these two projects will provide a nice new entrance to the schools.

This is quite a large project! J. Hutchins, Inc., a Richmond-based construction company, has been hired to do the work. Green Mountain Engineering of Williston is the project engineer. We are also requesting that Vermont Gas install a gas line concurrently with the other work. When all is said and done, we will have a new, safer, better roadway with utilities infrastructure.

Next Phase

Once the roadway is stripped of the old asphalt and the ledge removed the sidewalks will be removed and the old water and sewer lines replaced. This represents a significant effort and will last through the end of September. Replacement of the sidewalks will then occur, and will also take much time. Paving the new road surface will be among the final activities before project shut-down for the Winter. We expect the base paving to be completed by Thanksgiving, and the top course of paving and striping to be completed in Spring of 2012.

March 30, 2012 Update

Next week the Jericho Road project will start up again! Over the next two months, the remaining work will be completed. This includes curbing and sidewalk, ditching and edge of road work and the final paving. Alternating traffic patterns will be common, and some delays are expected from time to time. Most of the complex work is done and the traffic shouldn’t be as bad as it has been. We urge patience while the work is finished and if possible consider an alternate route.

November 9, 2011 Update

Today the new waterline will be connected to the water tank and will be 95% complete. On November 10th the following intersections will be completed: Burnett Court, Browns Court and East and West Main Street. This will finalize the new waterline and the most difficult part of the project will be complete!

On November 14 & 15, the road will be fine-graded in preparation for base blacktop on November 16-18. This will include School Street. The remaining work will be the final sidewalks and top paving, expected to occur in April of next year.

Thank you for your patience, we are fast getting to the point when life will be much easier for all those who live on Jericho Road.

October 25, 2011 Update

The installation of the water line is about 85% complete. The new lines have been installed up to the water tank, and down School Street. The new lines must still be connected at these locations, and existing services switched from the old lines and the temporary water line to the new lines. When this happens, water will be shut off for Jericho Road, School Street, Burnett Court and Browns Court customers for several hours. Advance notification of water service interruption will occur prior to these switchovers.

Vermont Gas will also be installing a gas line up Jericho Road and School Street this fall. Service will not be active for at least a year from now, and you should be hearing from a Vermont Gas sales representative soon.

The next significant phase of the project will be the preparation of the road bed for the new road base and paving. This, along with some stormwater work on the upper section, will occur over the next three weeks. The road bed will be excavated and a new gravel base will be installed. Paving of the base will begin the week of November 14th.

Finally, the sidewalks will begin to be installed. Our contractor does not expect to complete the full sidewalk project this year, but will do so in the Spring. The Town is also planning to complete the sidewalk on School Street, which was not originally part of the project – so it will be good to have extra time to complete the sidewalk projects.

In the Spring, the base paving will be installed, striping of the roadway will be done, and the grass will grow in the “green strip” next to the sidewalks. The project will be complete with a smooth road, wide sidewalks and new waterlines, storm sewers and sanitary sewers. Gas will be ready to go, and we will soon forget about the annoyances of construction!

August 19, 2011 Update

Work has begun on the lower portion of the project. Many traffic delays are expected while the intersection work is being completed and ledge removal is conducted. Once the blasting is complete and work moves further up the road, traffic will be manageable. After the start of school, work will not begin until 8:15 am to accommodate the morning school drop-offs.

We expect the painting of the Bridge Street Bridge to happen concurrently with this project. This will add to traffic delays in the area, especially in the morning. The good news is that traffic will continue to circulate in Richmond village, with no full-closures of either roads or bridges. Please continue to utilize the village shops and restaurants as all will remain open for business throughout the busy construction season.