Wondering Why Work Seems to Have Stalled on Route 80?

Construction along Route 80 has been a steady sight for months now and noticing its absence, John Mayhew posted this on North Branford Patch's Facebook page: 

"Wondering if the Patch could do a story to explain why the road work at Route 80 and 139 has come to a screeching halt. I haven't seen a single worker out there for over 2 weeks. I have to commute thru that area every day and it's a complete mess. They paved 1 side of the road weeks ago and the workers haven't been seen since."

Town Engineer Kurt Weiss confirmed that the stall is the result of concerns raised by Fire Chief Bill Seward at the last Town Council meeting in June regarding construction in front of Company 1. 

Weiss said that the NBFD is planning the relocation of some of the fire apparatus from the Company 1 Firehouse to other locations, while the contractor works on the road and the access driveway to the firehouse.

"It is anticipated that the contractor will be working in the vicinity of the firehouse and the Route 80 access to Central Plaza for four to five weeks, which will involve a significant lowering of Route 80 in this area, generally from three to four feet," said Weiss. 

The contractor will be performing the work in front of the firehouse in two stages, such that only half of the bays in the firehouse will be accessible at a time. Due to this, various fire apparatus must be temporarily relocated. 
 
In moving the equipment to different locations, the fire department will also have to provide training for the relocated apparatus to firefighters who operate out of the firehouses to which the fire apparatus has been relocated.

Weiss reported that Connecticut DOT representatives anticipate that the contractor "may commence this work by the end of this month and work diligently through to the completion of the project."