Temporary paving and striping will occur on Hayden Rowe Street to establish safe conditions for winter until utility pole work is completed.

The Charleswood School project-related roadwork was affected by utility company delays that prevented the removal of existing poles that obstruct the final roadway and prohibit its completion, according to Chris Eberly, project manager at Vertex (the owner’s project manager).

Eberly spoke at the Sept. 15 Elementary School Building Committee meeting, noting, “The utility company has not proceeded at a pace we would like them to.”

Eberly said an application was submitted 1 1/2 years in advance of when Vertex wanted the work to start. Although Eversource transitioned old poles to new ones, he said, other utilities including Comcast, Verizon, Comtract and “legacy stuff” failed to begin.

The traffic signal installation is complete, he added, and the subcontractor is waiting for the utility company to connect power.

“We were up against a hard deadline with the start of school,” said Chris Kenney, Vertex project manager. “Once school started, it reduced the amount of time we could spend on Hayden Rowe Street with drop-offs and pickups.”

Despite developers’ best efforts over many months trying to get the utilities moving forward, Eberly noted, the inaction made it necessary to come up with a plan before winter weather hits.

In consultation with the Department of Public Works, Eberly said, temporary paving and striping was determined to be the best condition for the road given the timing uncertainty with utilities.

Eberly said he is aware the town experienced similar problems as part of the Main Street Corridor Project.

Lynch, the contractor for roadwork, is scheduled to temporarily repave the road on Sept. 21, a non-school day. The repaving will restore the existing plowable road surface and will be followed by re-striping the existing road lane configuration, according to Eberly.

The traffic light will be put in service in October using the old lane configuration and Marathon School turning lane.

The contractor has advanced as much work as practical to allow completion to be expedited once the poles are removed, Eberly said.

Lynch is expected to return in the spring or summer of 2027 to complete the roadwork project in time for when school opens in the fall.

“We are asking them to essentially pave twice because of all this,” Eberly said.

The cost is likely to be about $300,000, which Eberly called “not a great outcome.”

Although the situation is “disappointing,” Eberly said bids came in a lot lower than expected, so the costs could be covered.

A great deal of consideration was given to other scenarios, he added, but those ideas proved problematic.

One example was to lower or raise the catch basin, but then plowing would have to take place on a milled road.

Other scenarios came with concerns about hidden obstructions, erosion, grade differentials, freezing and more, explained Eberly.

At its October meeting, the Elementary School Building Committee will review the costs associated with these measures.