When it comes to public disgruntlement over the water main replacement project in downtown Rosendale, the dust has settled in more ways than one. Major excavations in the surface of Main Street are now patched closed. Only individual building water-service hookups need to be drilled out this season, according to town officials.
“The main has been replaced, and the long laterals down Hardenburgh Lane and Snyder Avenue – those are done,” councilwoman Jen Metzger reported at last week’s Rosendale’s town board meeting.
Metzger said that the dust problem that a number of downtown residents and businessowners had complained about at the September meetings had been “very short-lived.” But she also admitted that for a time the dust had been “absolutely awful .…The gravel was filled with dust.” Though the work crews had hosed down the gravel used to fill the pipe trenches at the end of each workday, it had quickly dried out in this summer’s hot weather, allowing dust to be blown up by gusts of wind. Once the pipes had been laid, connected and tested, however, “They paved it right away.”
As of October 5, reconnection of downtown buildings to the new water-supply lines had progressed as far east as the Bywater Bistro at 419 Main Street, according to Rosendale Economic Development Commission chair Amber Kelly, who added, “The businesses are all open.” Kelly explained that the road surface did not need to be entirely dug back up to make the connections. A tool called a “mole” was being used to drill holes between the water-main valves and the building connector valves under the sidewalks.
“A mole is a very sophisticated piece of equipment,” explained councilman John Hughes, who works as a building contractor. “Not every construction company has one.”
While the torn-up pavement has been patched over with blacktop, complete repaving will not take place until spring, Kelly indicated, because “there could be some settling” of the excavated areas. “When all the laterals are done, that’s when they’ll pour the sidewalks.”
The sidewalk-replacement part of the project will also include enhanced curb cuts to make the street crossings more compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
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