Lebanon
Developer David Clem and his company, Lyme Properties, applied for an excavation permit on Friday, Aug. 5, City Engineer Christina Hall said on Wednesday. The city is in the process of choosing a third-party consultant to inspect future work, though, and also requires additional information before signing off on the application, she said.
All together, those two hurdles could be cleared in the next week or two, Hall said, and construction could begin shortly after.
Plans for River Park have been in the works for years. The project is intended to create a mixed-use development off of Route 10 that will include retail, office and life science space on a 38-acre parcel north of West Lebanon. On Crafts Avenue, plans call for the creation of a cul-de-sac with nine new homes.
Work on the street extension began last month, with crews creating a “haul road” from Route 10 and stockpiling pipes and other materials needed for future construction, according to the project’s website. Employees with the Thetford-based Northwoods Excavating also set out marking the street for future cuts.
“All the pre-construction work is nearing completion,” Clem said on Wednesday. “It’s very close, if not 100 percent (complete).”
He said all necessary documents have been sent to the Hall, and Lyme Properties is waiting to hear from the city’s attorney before beginning work. Clem said he hopes the project is closer to being green-lit than Hall’s estimate.
The Swan family was enjoying the warm weather on Wednesday as crews completed additional surveying along Crafts Avenue.
“This is sort of the most action we’ve seen,” joked Morgan Swan. “They’ve come through and obviously painted the lines, but this is the first time we’ve actually seen them come by with tools.”
Swan said his wife spoke with the excavation company last week, and was told cutting would begin soon. The project is expected to take 10 to 12 weeks, according to its website.
Crews have set aside additional parking spots for residents who can’t access their driveways during the cutting, Swan said, and he’s been told crews intend to open up the street nightly.
The excavation project isn’t the only thing on neighbors’ minds. A group of area residents also are hoping to see the traffic slow.
In May, Crafts Avenue residents went before City Council to request speed tables for the road.
At the time, Lebanon Police Chief Richard Mello agreed to perform a traffic study to better determine the street’s needs.
Mello said on Wednesday his study mimicked a 2014 study performed by former Chief Gary Smith that received similar results. The initial study found an average of 162 vehicles travel the road daily, and a little more than 4 percent went faster than the 30 mph posted speed limit.
The city’s guidelines recommend that traffic be greater than 500 cars a day at higher speeds before installing speed bumps, however.
Mello said he intends to share the results of his study with the City Council in early September.
He also said he’s open to exploring other means of slowing traffic on the street.
In anticipation of that meeting, neighbors have drafted a letter to officials highlighting their frustrations.
“… A significant portion of daily neighborhood traffic comes from cars traveling between the Vermont side of Bridge Street and Route 10 in order to bypass the traffic light on North Main Street,” they wrote.
Instead of a speed table, the neighbors recommended a lower speed limit, designating the street as “local traffic only,” narrowing travel lanes or putting in a temporary rubber speed bump.
“Our goal is simply to reduce non-local traffic and slow traffic overall in the neighborhood, through whatever means will work best for everyone,” the letter said.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.
Correction
Lebanon City Engineer Christina Hall said Lyme Properties applied for an excavation permit for its River Park project on Aug. 5, though some required information was incomplete. An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect time frame for when the permit was sought.