12/11/17 - Last week DPW opened North Mast back up to two way traffic. We finished prepping sidewalks and driveways and Continental came and based paved them in. Temporary transitions were made until top coat can be installed next year. We started installing signs and did some general site cleanup just in time for snow. A few small few small sections of curbing were also installed, along with some brick work next to Town Hall and the Blue Moose. Today Pawjer Earth Products installed a stone sculpture next to Town Hall as well.
As time and weather allows, DPW will continue with installation of signs and pedestrian level street lighting, which we are still awaiting delivery of. DPW will return next season to complete the final touches on Main Street and start North Mast Road construction. The patience of all residents and businesses during the 2017 construction season was greatly appreciated. We look forward to completing this project next year and adding all the final touches such as streetscape and landscape which will help enhance the great character Goffstown’s Village already has.
12/1/17 - Last week DPW prepped all driveways and had Continental pave them at week’s end. We also worked with the curbing subcontractor to have them install curbing for all sidewalks and some of the curb extensions as well on Main St. Parking spaces were striped and Eversource was also back on-site working on wire transfers. Pawjer Earth Products installed the granite foundation/frame (with pieces of curbing that were removed from the project) between Town Hall and The Blue Moose. The rock sculpture that will be installed in this location has been made from a boulder that was unearthed during excavation right in the same area.
DPW will be prepping sidewalks with crushed gravel this week as Continental is scheduled toward the end of the week. We also plan to install some of the signage within the project zone. The road has been reopened to full two way traffic with the removal of the detour sign at the far end of Church St near the cemetery. The construction on Main and North Mast (besides utility pole/electrical) is dwindling down and we hope to be working on cleanup and punchlist items next week after all sidewalks are installed and paved. It’s possible some of our crew will continue with smaller type off-street items like brick and streetscape installation as weather allows.
11/27/17 - With a short week last week, and many people on vacation, our crew focused on prepping driveways and raising structures in the newly paved section. This week, DPW will finish with all driveway prep so that Continental can come in (tentatively Wed or Friday) to pave in those driveways. The curbing contractor is also scheduled for Wed or Thurs this week. Once curbing is completed DPW can start prepping the gravel subbase for sidewalks. We will also start installing the new street signage for Phases 1 and 2.
11/20/17 - Last week Continental Paving worked with DPW to reclaim, grade and base pave the last section of Main Street and a portion of North Mast Street (to Summer St). Curbing and sidewalks continued to be removed as well. Temporary driveway transitions were made, some of which will be prepped out and base paved in this week. Any driveways that are not done this week should be completed next week. This week DPW will be raising catch basin structures to grade, removing any remaining sidewalks and will install new signage toward the end of the week.
This week crews plan to finish up all drainage installation in Phase 2 and then begin removing sidewalk and curbing. Next week Continental is tentatively scheduled to reclaim and pave this section of road as well. Several driveways on Main Street will be prepped, and paved this week, possibly starting today. Due to the recent storm, all utility companies are behind schedule and I am awaiting an update from them. I will be sending a separate email out shortly about window washing which will require a response from all interested parties.
Several ADA panels were prepped by DPW and then formed and poured by our concrete subcontractor. More are expected to be installed this week. Hydroseeding was supposed to happen last week, but subcontractor ran into some issues, so that is scheduled for today.
This week DPW will work on punchlist items, paint lines (stop bars and parking spaces), prep remaining driveways for paving and ADA panels for concrete work. Drainage structures have arrived for Elm Street and North Mast (between High and Summer). Trenches will most likely be temp paved in for this section in case weather turns. Also expect utility companies to continue with pole sets and wire transfers.
10/15/17 - Hope everyone had a great Pumpkin Regatta weekend! It was another all hands on deck kind of week. DPW was busy trying to get all the sidewalks back together and the Village cleaned up for the big regatta weekend! Crews prepped sidewalks, relayed the brick walkway in rotary park, loamed bump out areas, installed sod in the park, swept, painted crosswalks (and the SAU parking lot), removed most barrels and cones and other general cleanup. Continental Paving was on site to pave all sidewalks with base course and some received top coat as well. The striping contractor was also in town to stripe the Pleasant/Main intersection and also the center line down Main Street. If you were downtown, then you may have seen a few of the temporary transitions in place until work is finalized, such as stone or pavement being used in low or transition areas.
It's nice to see it all coming together! Huge thank you to our DPW crew for getting Main Street cleaned up and open for pumpkin weekend! In the coming weeks DPW will be working on streetscape items such as installing precast light bases for future ped lights, brick seating areas, signage and benches. Parking spaces also need to be striped. We will also start drainage install in the last part of Phase 2 from Elm to Summer Street as soon as they are ready. Hoping to see the utility companies this week making more progress on wire transfers.
10/2/17 - Last week crews continued removing sidewalks and pulling granite curbing. This included saw cutting in front of the Smith Building by the bridge and removing brick from Town Hall, Town Common and Depot St areas. Temporary walkways were constructed as needed. An additional drainage structure and pipe was installed at School Street and conduit under sidewalks. Crosswalks were painted in CMAQ section plus areas around school zones. Lastly sewer manholes covers in Carr Court and in front of the Trestle were raised and ADA panels were poured.
This week curbing installation on Main Street will begin. In response to the concerns raised at a recent Goffstown Select Board meeting, we have decided to pull back the curb line one more foot on each side of the road at the curb extension (bump out) locations, creating 13 foot lanes. Also the curb reveal will be reduced to 4 inches at all curb extensions as well. Other work planned for this week is the small run of conduit near 4 Main St to the existing control box location, and prep of sidewalks behind curb installation, including light pole bases. Also hoping to see the paving contractor back in Town soon to pave remaining sidewalks in Phase 1 (no firm date yet from them).
9/24/17 - Phase 1 is coming together nicely with the upper islands prepped for cobbles, sidewalk and ADA ramps. They were also loamed and hydroseeded. Fairpoint made it out to move all their wires off the poles and FINALLY pulled out the old poles which we have all been anxiously awaiting! Once the last area of truck apron is completed with cobbles (tentatively scheduled for this week), all trucks will be able to use the full truck apron areas.
In Phase 2 all catch basins were raised to grade for drainage and some of the brick areas were picked up and stacked on pallets for reuse in some of the proposed brick seating areas. The old granite curbing was also removed and put aside for reuse on the stone and fountain focal points for Main St. Much of this granite curbing had a bermaco conduit directly behind it which required very careful and tedious removal in order not to break the conduit. Bermaco is an old “paper like” pipe of wood fiber and bitumen/tar. It’s very brittle and therefore can break easily. Lastly, Fairpoint and Eversource were both on site in Phase 2 last week starting to set poles and transfer wires. Hopefully we will see them back this week as they continue to make progress.
This week crews will be focusing on removal of sidewalks in preparation for curbing installation next week.
9/17/17 - We reached a huge milestone last week by getting Main Street reclaimed, graded and base paved. At the beginning of the week crews installed the last two drainage structures just off Main Street and lowered sewer manholes in preparation for reclamation of the road on Tuesday. Offset staking of all new centerline and curb extensions was done during grading to help with pave layout. After paving, DPW raised a few drainage structures so that runoff had a place to go temporarily until all structures are raised to grade. Temporary transitions were made at ADA ramps and curb extensions as well.
Our curbing subcontractor was also in town completing granite curb at the Phase 1 Pleasant/Main/Mountain intersection. DPW backed up the curbing with concrete both days and will now be able to finish prepping sidewalks in this section for paving. We were also able to pave the front of the center truck apron. Crews will be starting to remove existing sidewalks next week on Main Street and installing the remaining conduit for future pedestrian level street lighting. Fairpoint will be on site as well next week installing the new utility poles on the west side of Main Street.
The plan will be to leave the detour in place with the one way northbound lane open. We will try to reopen two way traffic to Church St off Main Street to help with flow and access to 4 Main, the Church and laundromat. Please remember that the pavement is 12-18" short on each side of the road to allow for proper curbing installation. After curbing is installed, there will be two 12 foot lanes along with parallel parking.
9/11/17- As some of you are aware, last week DPW delayed our start time from 7am until after 8:30 in coordination with the Goffstown Police Department and the Superintendent of Schools for SAU 19. This was done on Tuesday to help with the first day of school and on Wednesday crews were not on site due to the heavy rains. On Thursday DPW was on the road at 7am with the same Church Street detour in effect, which will be the case this entire week as well.
By utilizing the southbound detour last week, crews were able to get 820 feet of conduit in for the future pedestrian level lighting. The conduit under the sidewalks has not been completed as we are trying to keep the sidewalks together as long as possible to help reduce disruption to businesses and pedestrians. Utility companies were on-site at the Pleasant/Main intersection relocating some of the wires and are expected back again this week to continue with that work.
Today DPW will be installing two small side drainage connections (between 20 and 24 Main St and at the 4 Main St parking lot). Limited access to 4 Main parking lot will be available if needed. If possible, please use the municipal parking lot across the street so that DPW can complete the drainage installation and fully reopen the parking lot as soon as possible. We will also be working on layout and getting ready for pavement reclamation scheduled for tomorrow, which is when the road will be ground up to make the new subbase. After the road is reclaimed, DPW will be staking out the new grades and rough grading the road. Our paving contractor will then come in and fine grade the road and pave by the end of the week. Please remember that when we pave initially it will be 12-18 inches short on each side of the road to accommodate proper curb installation.
If the paving schedule changes, I will send out another update midweek. Thank you and please feel free to contact us with any questions.
9/4/17 - Last week the crews were able to finish all the drainage on Main Street between the bridge and Elm Street with the exception of three small side tie in connections. Crews installed just under 200 LF of 12” pipe. Several of these crossings were snaked between a large existing concrete conduit bank and the water main very carefully. Six (6) new catch basins were installed, three (3) old structures were removed and another 100 LF of clay pipe was also removed. Any existing drainage that was not removed was capped and trenches were swept and prepped with calcium and water for the weekend to help with dust control. The cobble truck apron was installed last week as well and looks great.
As everyone knows, school starts tomorrow morning in Goffstown. After further discussions with the Police Department, DPW has agreed to delay construction work until after 8:30am when school traffic has subsided on Tuesday and Wednesday only. The Church Street detour will start after this time and be in effect for the remainder of the day while DPW crews are on Main St. On Thursday commuters and school drop-off vehicles should allow additional time as crews will be starting at approximately 7am with the Church Street Detour in use. DPW will be finishing the three small drainage connections, at Sawyers, the alleyway between 20 & 24 Main St and one at the 4 Main St Parking lot. Either Jeff or Mike will be in touch with businesses impacted by this work. Crews will also be installing conduit pedestrian level street lighting, miscellaneous drainage items (three side connections) as well as any trench maintenance prior to reclamation and paving currently scheduled for the week of Sept 11th.
Some updates from other subcontractor/utility work at the Pleasant Street intersection: Fiber has completed their transfers off the utility poles and Comcast is scheduled for wire transfers on Tuesday. Curbing subcontractors will be back the week of Sept 11th to finish curbing in this area as well and then DPW can prep those sidewalks for paving and finish loaming and seeding.
8/27/17 - Last week our drainage crew was able to finish the main line of drainage and started on the crossings, which are the pipe and structures that cross over to the west side of Main Street to collect stormwater runoff. A total of 244 linear feet of pipe and 4 structures were installed. We did encounter several very large boulders last week which all needed to be removed from the trench for proper installation.
Our other crew was at the Pleasant St intersection prepping for new sidewalks where curbing has been installed. Some of the utility companies did not show up for moving of wires so we are hoping to see them this week. Wire transfers is a very slow process unfortunately, but we are maintaining communication with each company and have expressed the importance of getting these wires transferred and poles moved at the intersection due to the new design and truck apron that needs to be constructed.
We are hoping to see the cobble subcontractor who will start on the truck apron installation. We do not expect to see the curbing contractor back until next week most likely. Our drainage crew will continue with drainage crossings as well. Lastly, if you have newly hydroseeded loamed areas, any watering that you are able to do will greatly help the establishment of grass roots. We will be working with the Goffstown PD to determine a traffic pattern as school begins as we understand the alternating one way traffic will not work once traffic volumes increase.
8/20/17 - Last week our drainage crew made some good progress on Main Street with 228 feet of drain pipe and 5 new drainage structures in Phase 2. We did uncover some VERY large boulders during our digging which we were anticipating after hearing and seeing them during the water department’s construction. Those definitely slow progress down but luckily we were able to get them out of our way and back on track.
Our Phase 1 crew was dispatched to College Road to get the punch list items done while Continental Paving was on-site paving sidewalks, driveways and other miscellaneous areas. Areas of Phase 1 that were ready and the top of Phase 2 from the bridge to East/West Union were loamed and hydro-seeded. A truck detour sign package was also installed in anticipation of the center island curbing installation.
Curbing company returned to install the center island, which will become a mountable cobble truck apron, curbing on the Pleasant Street leg and part of Carr Court. Our crew once again returned to College Road to give them room. While waiting for curb mix to arrive, the crew cleared trees at staging yard as part of our agreement with owners. The day after curb installation, DPW continued with sidewalk prep, loaming and seeding, and clean up of the inner circle.
Additional wire transfers on the utility poles are scheduled for next week. Drainage installation will continue on the main line and then the crew will start the drainage crossings on Main Street. Cleanup of the Pleasant Street intersection will continue as well with sidewalk prep and loam/seed. We will also await the return of our curbing contractor who will finish the median islands and Carr Court along with the concrete contractor who will be installing cobbles on the center truck apron (dates TBD). Thank you for your continued patience during construction.
8/13/17 - Last week on Phase 1 crews were prepping and paving sidewalks, and loaming and seeding behind sidewalks. Curbing subcontractors are scheduled for Tuesday this week and will work on the Pleasant Street islands and the center truck apron, so that cobble installation can begin. We may need to issue a formal truck detour this week while the truck apron is constructed.
Eversource has completed wire transfers on the poles in Phase 1 and now the fire alarm is up for transfer. Unfortunately this is a very slow process and the lower utility wires cannot be transferred until the utility above them is 100% transferred. We have also been trying to get poles set by Fairpoint in Phase 2 for weeks but they are extremely busy. Hoping to meet with their construction manager next week.
Phase 2 is well under way now with another 180 feet of 18 inch pipe installed and 5 new drainage structures. We have also been removing the old drain line and structures as we go along and tying in the existing system every night in case of rain. We maintained two way traffic flow on Main Street when feasible by temporarily restricting parking only in the work zone. There are large blue public parking lot signs to help customers find additional parking during construction.
8/7/17 - Last week DPW removed the temporary sidewalk at Howe’s Pharmacy and finished prepping the sidewalks from the bridge to East/West Union. All precast concrete bases for future pedestrian level street lighting were installed and connected to the previously installed conduit in this stretch. DPW then saw cut, removed asphalt and prepped portions of parking lots that were disturbed due to the construction and utility installation.
Continental, our paving subcontractor, arrived on Thursday to grade and pave these areas. The face of the curb on the hill was cleaned out and then based paved in as well. Other misc items last week was a utility pull box in front of State Farm had to be hand built and a metal cover mudded on. Existing signage was reinstalled on East Union and the Pleasant St island for now until new signs are ordered and installed. DPW also began prepping sidewalks in the upper Pleasant/Main intersection.
7/30/17 - Last week DPW started to prep for sidewalks and install the precast bases for the street lighting. This work will continue next week as we hope to be ready for pavement on sidewalks south of the bridge by the end of the week. Our subcontractor arrived to complete several concrete ADA ramps on Friday and will be back to continue with those next week as well.
The other crew was at College Road loaming the back of sidewalks and then mobilized on Mill Street to start drainage. An 18 inch outfall was replaced with a new headwall, large rock and class B stone at the outlet. Erosion control was added at the outfall as well. Drainage work will continue on Mill Street toward Main Street next week.
We intend to open up the other “Alternate Commuter Route” next week once our drainage crew is on Main Street north of the bridge. This route will be signed on Parker Road to Rt 13 in New Boston to help with thru commuter traffic in the AM/PM. I will send out an updated traffic map with the two alternate routes highlighted for those interested in utilizing them. As we proceed down Main Street we intend to leave one lane of traffic open with one lane of parking and to detour to opposite off-peak lane down side streets as feasible. This is subject to change once we see how it is working.
On Thursday curbing contractors arrived and installed curbing from the bridge to East Union St. DPW was there to back up the curbing with concrete once installed and also created a temporary walkway in front of Howe's Pharmacy. The work zone was swept on Thursday and then all of Main St was done by the street sweeper early Friday morning after the Goffstown Village Water Precinct completed their temporary paving and before the event this Sunday in town.
While we were in a holding pattern awaiting the curbing contractor, we dispatched crews to other locations in town - loaming behind the freshly paved sidewalk and driveway prep on College Road, replaced a catch basin on Knollcrest with a paved swale, started crosswalk painting in Pinardville, and had the mill and fill crew also take care of pot holes in several locations.
Next week DPW will start sidewalk construction in the curbed areas. If lamp bases are delivered, installation of those may also begin to include connecting conduit.
7/17/17 - I’m sure the paving this week brought mixed feelings. Most people happy (I hope), and some not so much. First of all, please understand that the pavement limits are narrower than the final pavement limits will be. All travel lanes were paved 2 feet short on EACH side to accommodate curbing installation which will occur next week. DPW will be raising frames and grates and prepping for curbing install which is scheduled for Thursday currently. Also once proposed striping, signage and crosswalks are installed at a future date, this will help identify travel lanes and pedestrian ways clearly for all users.
7/10/17 - Crews were on site Sunday morning tuning up Main Street after the rain events on Saturday. Last week was a short week due to the holiday. We continued to box out Main Street to prep for new intersection grades. Today we will finish that up, fine grade Tuesday and pave Wednesday. Curbing contractor is scheduled for Friday to start laying granite curb so that we can work on building sidewalks.
6/30/17 - This week our crews were able to box out both a portion of East Union Street and the inbound lane of Main Street (to the Village). This includes peeling off the newly reclaimed layer, trucking it to the pit, screening it, grubbing out the bank run gravel to reach subgrade and then reinstalling a minimum of 12 inch of reclaim on top of subgrade to achieve proposed grades. This lane was rough graded and the outbound lane of Main St was also rough graded for now. Test pits may be needed next week on the outbound lane to determine if that side needs to be peeled off as well or if the proposed cuts are minimal enough that we can simply regrade and still have proper reclaim thickness.
I’ve been told by Eversource that they are scheduled for next week as well to start moving wires on the Phase 1 poles. By the end of next week we hope to have the area rough graded at which time the paving subcontractor will be scheduled to fine grade and pave the intersection early the following week. The curbing subcontractor is tentatively scheduled for the week of July 10th as well to start setting straight runs of curbing which will allow us to rebuild sidewalks.
Lastly, the Goffstown Village Water Precinct (GVWP) was able to complete the next portion of their water main and services from the bridge to Town Hall. They paved a portion of Main St to help with traffic flow and reduction of potholes. GVWP will not be working next week but they will be back the week of July 10th to continue down Main St from Town Hall to Elm St. Any questions related to their work should be directed to 497-3621.
6/24/17 - This week our crews removed the remaining old drain pipe and rough graded the section from East/West Union to the bridge. Our paving contractor came in to reclaim the Pleasant St intersection, pave the SAU lot, fine grade the hill on Main St and then pave from the bridge to East/West Union. DPW crews had prepped both East/West Union in hopes to get them paved as well, but on East Union there were very large chunks of old asphalt underneath the newly created reclaim which had to be boxed out for proper road construction as we do not want to install pavement on top of large rocks or chunks of reclaim. Why you might ask? Well in the winter these pieces can move when the ground freezes and thaws and over time you will see large bumps in the pavement. So to avoid that we paved to just before East/West Union this week so that we could properly box out the road and install new gravels.
Crews also raised a few of the drainage structures on Thursday so that the area could collect water through the weekend. We also found a deteriorated section of sewer manhole that needed to be replaced right near the bridge, so we took care of that as well. Lastly the standard calcium, watering and rolling to help keep dust down and tighten up the reclaim areas.
6/15/17 - DPW continued with two crews this week. We started the week with reclaiming the SAU lot and then moved the reclaimer over to Main St late morning. Unfortunately Continental’s reclaimer broke on Monday and they were not able to finish Main St before rush hour so, it was moved back to the SAU lot to at least get that completed. On Tuesday Continental came back out and finished reclaiming Main St.
Also if you hadn’t heard, a wire cause fire between #23 and #25 Main Street and fell off one of those buildings leaving a live wire on Main Street on Monday. Both Fire Department and PD were called in and Main Street was shut down until Eversource was able to get the wire secured and then the road was able to be reopened. (Just wanted to make sure everyone knew it wasn’t DPW that shut down Main St.
DPW completed drainage installation at the top of the hill. There was a conflict between a large existing conduit bank and proposed drainage elevation, so more field changes were done to achieve the necessary drainage on Carr Court.
The second DPW crew ran into an interesting problem. As we started to grade the lower area near the bridge we found that the new proposed grades put us too close to the old road (an oiled gravel layer with small and large cobbles). This meant that we did not have enough good/select materials over this old road, which was buried under the current road by 12-18 inches. It caused us to do a quick redesign and move a drainage structure (that was already installed) so that we could regrade the road differently without getting too close to this layer. We felt as though boxing out the road in this area would have been an unnecessary delay and very disruptive in this section.
DPW started to install conduit today for the future pedestrian level aesthetic lighting, but will need to finish Monday. While we had hoped to possibly pave on Friday, I think that was a bit aggressive so I apologize for getting everyone excited. We will be able to finish the conduit and rough grade the area in preparation for paving next week.
Our contractor, Continental is scheduled for Monday to reclaim the upper intersection and also the water main trench from the bridge (north side) to Town Hall for the Goffstown Village Water Precinct. They will also final grade and pave Main Street from East/West Union to the bridge (if they can fit us in their schedule).
The Goffstown Village Water Precinct will be starting night work again next week. Notices will be given in advance of any water shutdowns. For more info please call Lee Minnich at 497-3621. They expect 3 weeks of work (6/19-6-30), no week of July 4th and then 7/10-7/14). Expected hours are 8pm – 5am.
Lastly all DPW trenches were tuned up, compacted, calcium was spread and watered. Two way traffic was maintained as much as possible (minus the unplanned shutdown of Main Street by PD and periodically down to one lane for reclaimer).
6/12/17 - This week we were able to mobilize a second crew to the area. Monday was a rough start due to the rain and extensive trench repair that was needed to get things back in order. The crew at Phase 1 Pleasant intersection completed 105 feet of 15" drain pipe, installed two (2) drainage structures, removed about 50 feet of abandoned water line that was left behind, two (2) old drainage structures and 175 feet of old drain line. A mystery brick structure was also found near the island which had to be partially removed to accommodate a new drain crossing.
The other crew was on the hill this week tackling the drainage crossings, which while not long in length, require three set ups each to maintain two lanes of traffic. For example, when working on the west side of Main St (by Putnams) and installing the first stick of pipe, 2 traffic lanes were maintained on east side, then when the crew moved to the middle of the road, there was a travel lane on each side of them, and lastly when they were on the east side (near Howes), 2 traffic lanes were flopped over to the west side of Main St. Just one example of how a short 20-25 foot crossing can take so long. This crew also removed old drainage structures and lines between E. Union and Factory St, the old drainage crossing in front of Howe's, and the old diagonal line crossing between Factory Street and the Burns Agency.
Besides that, DPW kept up with the typical trench maintenance, daily sweeping and setup/breakdown of changing traffic patterns throughout the day to accommodate construction and heavy traffic volumes. On Friday some layout was done in advance of our subcontractor arriving to reclaim this coming MONDAY from the Bridge to East/West Union. FYI - A reclaim machine grinds up the remaining pavement and gravel together to create a new gravel base for the pavement (fun for the kids to see if you hear it out there). Due to the size of the reclaim machine, it is possible traffic will be down to one lane at times.
This new reclaim layer will need to be graded out and in some cases dug out (as we prep the subbase) to achieve the proposed final grades. One crew will work on grading and removing the final section of old drain on the hill and the other crew will hopefully get proposed drainage wrapped up at the intersection. What does this all mean to you - PAVEMENT IS COMING SOON...possibly even next week between the bridge and East/West Union and then not long after for the intersection as well! Please note that when we pave, we will not pave the full width as we stay off the new curb locations so there is room to install them properly.
REMINDER - MEETING DATE has been set for PHASE 2 of the Village Rebuild Project. This will be very similar to the Phase 1 meeting we had where we discussed work to be completed and had plans for people to view. Date is WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14th at 6PM in Room 106 of TOWN HALL.
6/4/17- Last week was a short week with the holiday Monday. DPW installed four (4) drainage structures and 122 LF of 15" drain pipe with one section requiring Fairpoint to hold a pole. Our crew also chased a couple of mystery pipes and removed old catch basins.
We also repaired a previous sewer service conflict on the hill which required extensive hand digging. To repair the sewer service DPW had to locate the sewer line, remove the temporary drain pipe, re-core the drainage structure, brick up portion of the old opening, install a permanent drain line, tie in the foundation drain, and extend and lower the sewer service to outside of ROW (under the duct bank). Standard trench maintenance was performed all week, swept jobsite, and added calcium to the newly disturbed areas.
Met with pavers to come up with a *tentative* schedule for reclaiming and paving. Plan is week of the 12th which means this week DPW will try to finish the crossings at Factory Street and by Howe's. Plus remove an old crossing and abandoned lines. Traffic may be interrupted more than it has been due to the narrowness of the area though we are going to try to continue to maintain 2 way traffic at all times.
Also plan to mobilize second crew to the project. They will likely begin the drainage crossings in the Rte 13 intersection area. Traffic patterns will continue to change daily.
MEETING DATE has been set for PHASE 2 of the Village Rebuild Project. This will be very similar to the Phase 1 meeting we had where we discussed work to be completed and had plans for people to view. Date is WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14th at 6PM in Room 106 of TOWN HALL.
5/30/17 - Our crew was not on-site Monday last week due to a design conflict in the CMAQ design plans that needed to be resolved and a new structure ordered. Instead, we sent an operator down to the SAU lot to work on the parking lot and the rest of the crew completed some much needed milling and filling around Town of potholes before the long weekend.
The other issue we had last week was a water main conflict at E. Union St which took half a day to lower. This water main pipe was 1 foot higher than we expected and the drain could not be lowered enough to get by it. Unfortunately that took 4.5 hours to move the water main and assemble all the new angles. With that being said, DPW installed 181.5 LF of 15” pipe, two new drainage structures and removed a section of old drain line last week. As usual we completed daily AM and PM trench maintenance, dust control with calcium, daily sweeping and traffic control setup/breakdown. We had our operator and a supervisor come in on their day off (Friday) after the heavy rains Thursday night to touch up the trenches again before the long weekend.
Sewer work and water work is completed in Phase 1. This week DPW will continue work on drainage at the intersection and between E.Union and the bridge. I also received an email this afternoon from Fairpoint that they will be onsite tomorrow AM to start setting new poles in Phase 1.
5/20/17 - This week our DPW crew continued to work on Main Street between the bridge and East/West Union St. They installed 229 feet of pipe, 3 drainage structures including one entire road crossing where two-way traffic was maintained the entire time and of course the daily trench maintenance, dust control and sweeping. The trenches along Main Street need significant extra attention (versus a typical project) due to the heavy traffic volumes…17,000 cars a day if you were wondering! Time is spent each morning and afternoon tuning up the work zone, which while time consuming, is also very necessary to reduce the roughness and keep the dust down.
This project as expected has not been without it’s challenges (besides traffic). All three construction crews (Water Precinct, DPW and Sewer Commission’s contractor) have exposed completely unknown pipes and also existing known utilities but, in unexpected locations both vertically and horizontally, which impacts the design plans and calls for immediate field changes to be made in order to keep progress moving forward. These issues slow all the crews down, but it’s the nature of working in a downtown area with old utilities in the ground. I assure you that none of these crews want to be in the street any longer than necessary!
The Sewer Commission’s contractor was able to start their work and will continue starting tomorrow night for 3 nights total (Sun – Tues) as additional work regarding repair of sewer services was added to their scope. As mentioned above, sewer service elevations are not always known. If disturbed during installation of other utility lines, these services are temporarily connected until such time that they can be properly repaired from the sewer main to the property line.
The Goffstown Village Water Precinct has completed their water main installation in Phase 1 and will wait to start the Phase 2 water main work later in June.
After speaking with Fairpoint this week, they said their construction crew was behind schedule but should be on site this coming week to set poles in Phase 1.
Goffstown DPW will be back on-site Monday to continue drainage work between the bridge and East/West Union and then into the Pleasant St intersection as well. DPW will plan to hold another public informational meeting for Phase 2 in early June.
5/14/17 - During our first week on Main Street, DPW started working from the bridge to East/West Union. Originally this was part of Phase 2, but since the Goffstown Village Water Precinct (GVWP) had just finished working here, it made sense to continue with drainage installation since it was already partially dig up.
We started the week out by fixing potholes in the water main trench that occurred over the weekend, sweeping the work zone and then removing the sidewalk on the east side of the road to accommodate two way traffic. We also cleaned up the old Cumby’s parking lot at the corner of Factory Street so it can be used (with property owner permission) by the businesses close to the bridge whose parking was temporarily being used for two-way traffic flow.
A test pit was completed to locate the new water main near our existing catch basin on Monday to confirm elevation for needed redesign. DPW then installed 171.5 feet of pipe and two new structures on the west side of the street. Unfortunately, drainage installation in downtown areas with water and sewer is much slower than on other roads due to all the crossings with utility lines and services that need to be carefully exposed. DPW also laid out the new centerline in this section, performed trench maintenance, calcium for dust control and daily sweeping of the work zone.
DPW will be back tomorrow to continue with drainage installation. I believe the GVWP will also be working up at the Pleasant intersection and Carr Court this week. If your questions are about the water work being completed by the GVWP, you can reach them at 497-3621. All other questions or concerns regarding the project can be directed to DPW. Thank you for your patience as we begin Phase 1 of the Village Rebuild Project.
5/5/17 - The Laundry Mat/Village Common parking lot was curbed and striped this week. Some grubbing work at the SAU parking lot occurred this week. We will be shifting off this lot temporarily until another crew is available since we need to get started with drainage work on the Village project now that the water construction is ahead of us.
After speaking with Lee Minnich of the Goffstown Village Water Precinct (GVWP), they have one more day of night work which will be Monday 5/8. Then they will be shifting to day work at the Pleasant/Mountain intersection. As you all noticed GVWP paved some of their cross trenches and along the edge of the road yesterday to help with the dust and water problems. This is only a temporary thin patch as DPW will be mobilizing next week to start preparations for drainage work.
A DPW crew will start at the bridge and work up toward West/East Union first since that is already partially dug up. This work will be done during the day. We will be removing the sidewalk on the church side of the street to make more room for cars due to drainage installation. We also plan to utilize the old Cumbys parking lot (with property owner permission) for customers of 35 and 39 Main St. since traffic will most likely be shifted in that location eliminating the parking temporarily.
Once the drainage work is completed in a few weeks, DPW plans to pave that section of the road and continue work on curbing and sidewalk installation. Please note some of these items (paving and curbing) are subject to subcontractor schedules. We will do everything we can to coordinate with them ahead of time in to keep the project moving along. The drainage crew will shift up to the Pleasant/Mountain intersection at that time as well, while the sidewalk/cleanup crew finishes the bridge to E. Union.
Lastly we have heard from the utility company that they hope to mobilize on or around May 10th to start setting poles at the Pleasant/Mountain intersection. It will be busy for sure, but a lot of work will be getting done as well. We will utilize our traffic control and sign package to keep cars moving as best we can. As always please contact us with any questions as this project progresses.
4/14/17 - Please check out this GTV video on the upcoming Goffstown Village Water Precinct (GVWP) work within Phase 1 of the Village Rebuild Project.
Click Here to see GTV with GVWP
DPW will continue prepping the Laundry Mat/Village Common parking lot for paving and will also mobilize over to the SAU lot off School Street to start work next week.
4/13/17 - DPW would like to share a quick update from the Goffstown Village Water Precinct (GVWP). They have started to prep the area by removing the sidewalks and milling the trench for the new water line between Pleasant St. and the bridge. The GVWP will be mobilizing equipment to the site and starting some work on Monday 4/17. They will then be moving to the approved night work schedule also starting on the 17th and is expected to last until Friday the 21st. The GVWP has also scheduled to temporarily water shut off in some areas of the Village between 9 pm and 5 am so temporary water lines can be connected and a new valve installed. Affected residents of this shutoff will be notified later this week. Any questions please contact the GVWP at 497-3621.
4/7/17- It’s been a wet week but next week is looking exceptionally warm so that will be a nice change and help dry things out. This week the DPW continued work on the Laundry Mat/Village Common parking area, where there will be a net gain of 17 parking spots when we are finished! We hope to have this paved in the next two weeks if weather permits. DPW will then mobilize over to the SAU parking lot off School Street to prep for repaving and construction of five (5) additional spaces here as well. These parking lots are being completed in advance of the Phase 2 (Main Street) construction this summer to create additional parking which can be utilized both during and after construction.
Lee Minnich of the Goffstown Village Water Precinct (GVWP) met with DPW this week to discuss some of the details regarding their proposed water main work with Phase 1 of the Village Rebuild Project. There is approximately 900 LF of water main to be replaced in Phase 1 (from the Pleasant/Rt. 13 intersection to the bridge). This work is scheduled to start on Monday, April 10th. Lee explained that this is a 125 year old water main and that after construction, residents and businesses on Main Street should expect to see an improvement in their water quality. Temporary water lines will be installed so that water can be maintained during construction. Any specifics we receive from Lee on date/time of water shutdowns needed for construction will be shared on this page and DPW Facebook page. The GVWP work will also include digging up the sidewalk on either side of the bridge to directional drill the water main and install it into the bridge hangers which were recently installed. Please call Lee Minnich of the Goffstown Village Water Precinct at 497-3621 with any specific questions or concerns related to water main work, water quality or water shutoffs.
On Monday night both Lee Minnich and Meghan Theriault will be at the Select Board meeting to discuss the possibility of night work in the narrow section of Main Street between East Union Street and the bridge. A pre-construction meeting was held last night at Town Hall for residents and businesses within Phase 1 of the Village Rebuild Project. The discussion focused on the GVWP water main work that is scheduled to begin next week and also the construction sequence for DPW’s drainage and road work scheduled to begin at the end of April/early May.
As always, please contact us with any questions or concerns as this project progresses.
4/3/17 - Public Information Meeting to be held at Town Hall on Thursday 4/6/17 at 6:00 pm to discuss Phase 1 of the project, which is from Pleasant St/Mountain Rd intersection to Main Street Bridge.
3/17/17 - DPW has received word from the Goffstown Village Water Precinct that their contractor (E.D. Swett) will be in town starting next Tuesday (3/21) to work on the water main under the Main Street Bridge. The size of the equipment dictates that there will be one-way traffic with flaggers on the bridge itself. They plan to limit work to the 8am-3pm window, and expect to be there for 3 days. If you have any questions, please contact the GVWP directly (http://www.goffstown.com/goffstown-water.html)
Things are moving along well, we’re proceeding with the design based on the curb line locations presented to the BOS this week. Thanks again for all your feedback so far on the project.
3/10/17 - DPW has been working hard the last couple weeks to update our construction plans based on feedback we received at the last meeting and during site visits with some of you. Thank you all who have offered input, I know it will result in a smoother process for all, and a better end result in our village.
Looking ahead: I have an agenda item with the Select Board on Monday night to discuss the feedback and subsequent plan edits we’ve made. I’m hoping to receive a final sign-off from the Select Board for our curbing locations, which will allow the rest of the design elements (such as drainage and streetscape) to start to fall into place. With this in mind, we’ve got a couple new things to share with you; please check them out and pass them along to friends and family.
The first is our interactive “story map” (click here), which includes several project plan sheets to explore and an interactive business directory. Please let me know if we missed anyone or if your business information needs to be updated.
The second is a streetscape and design element survey for items such as benches, signs, planters, and focal points. We’ll be gathering survey responses online and at our table at SpringFest for recommendations to the Board of Select Board in April or May. It only takes a minute to complete, but will help us make good choices and prioritize if budget becomes tight.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Goffstownstreetscape
Don’t forget to “like” us on Facebook, where we’ll continue to post updates and eventually pictures: https://www.facebook.com/GoffstownDPW/
I’d like to also put in a plug for our local utilities. If you believe you might have issues with your water or sewer service lines (low pressure, back ups, etc), now is the time to notify the Goffstown Village Water Precinct or the Goffstown Sewer Commission. They can investigate and help you determine responsibility for repair or upgrade. Our road moratorium rules make it very costly and difficult to excavate in new pavement, so it’s a good idea to take care of that type of thing now.
Goffstown Village Water Precinct: http://www.goffstown.com/goffstown-water.html
Goffstown Sewer Commission: http://www.goffstown.com/sewer-comm.html
Similarly, if you are a property owner along Main Street and have been contemplating any work (façade improvements, painting, new siding, new stairs, patio, etc), now is the time to do it! Let us know what you have in mind, and we can do our best to ensure our work schedule doesn’t impact yours. As a reminder, the village area is an approved Economic Revitalization District, so improvements may qualify for tax incentives. Contact Jon O’Rourke in the Planning Department for more information on that program.
I’ve got a few updates for your calendars as well. It appears we will begin improvements to the SAU parking lot (and Laundry/Common if the easement is approved on Monday night) in the next week or two. The Goffstown Village Water Precinct has informed us that they lined up a contractor to swap out their water main under the bridge sometime near the end of March. Water service will be maintained, but there will be some traffic impact for a couple days. We’ll all be ready to start excavation work at the Pleasant Street intersection by mid April. Stay tuned for an invite to the neighborhood kickoff meeting in the near future.
Lastly, I had the pleasure of meeting with Peggy and Robin at the Goffstown Main Street Program this week to discuss their 2017 event schedule, and share some ideas for collaboration. We all agree this is a great time to be involved in the GMSP, and we’ve got some ideas taking shape. If you’d like to get involved check out their page: http://www.goffstownmainstreet.org/support.html
Thank you again for your support and participation so far. We’re excited to start construction soon!
2/24/17 - DPW will not be bringing plans to the BOS on Monday 2/27 for Main Street. We are still working closely with several businesses to address questions and concerns regarding the layout and hope to at the first or second March BOS meeting to present the final plan for approval.
2/8/17 – On Monday the Select Board held a public meeting for Main Street businesses and residents to discuss the revised conceptual plan on Main Street which includes parallel parking similar to existing conditions. The attached power point presentation, given by Director of Public Works, Adam Jacobs, details out the history of work done by Town committees on conceptual design and review of plans in previous years. He also discussed project goals, challenges, a revised conceptual layout (after incorporating initial feedback from the Economic Development Committee (EDC) and The Goffstown Select Board, the approach to construction and other aesthetic design elements. The meeting was then opened to the public for discussion and feedback on the latest conceptual design. Please see handouts here from that meeting as well.
Conceptual Plan for N. Mast / Conceptual Plan for Main St. / Handout for Main St / Parking Calcs for Main St. / Existing Parking Spaces (which may be removed)
Based on the feedback received at the meeting, additional changes will be made to the plans and a revised conceptual plan will be brought to the Feb 27th BOS Meeting for approval. After that point, the Engineering Department will work on final design plans with utility and grading information. All plans will be posted to this webpage as they are completed. In the next few weeks, the DPW will be seeking feedback on the aesthetic design elements such as street lighting, trees, plantings, benches and signage for businesses and parking. Please stay tuned for voting procedures on these elements as the project progresses.
Construction of Phase 1 – The Mountain/Pleasant intersection is expected to begin early spring once the weather allows. DPW will also be in the Village this spring working on the construction of a new municipal parking lot behind 7 Main Street which can be utilized this summer during construction (subject to BOS approval after required public hearings). Click here to see existing public and private parking lots that serve local businesses.
January 2017 – First round conceptual plans were discussed with the The Goffstown Select Board and Economic Development Committee (EDC) to obtain some initial feedback and guidance.