Is This Infrastructure Project Worth Mentioning?

NG's State Street gas line
replacement project

Gauging by the number of National Grid (NG) vehicles and machinery I constantly see and hear driving and parked/idling around town, I feel like downtown Hudson is their playground and they can do whatever they want.  They certainly seem to have no shortage of work to do in the city.  It turns out that this year NG will have an even greater presence in Hudson, which means that our streets and sidewalks will be more colorful but less accessible.

While walking down Columbia Street past CMH yesterday, I noticed freshly painted yellow markings along the sidewalk.  Then I noticed blue and orange markings in the street, and lots of them.  Someone was preparing for some serious subterranean work in the vicinity of Columbia and 8th Streets, and the person who marked the ground happened to be sitting in a parked vehicle nearby.  The surveyor told me that his company was hired by NG to mark the ground where NG would be replacing their natural gas lines.  Those were the yellow lines along the sidewalk on both sides of Columbia, from 8th to beyond Frederick Street, and crossing Columbia Street near Frederick.  NG will soon be ripping up the sidewalk and the street to get to their gas lines below.  

The orange paint indicates Verizon's communication lines, and the blue paint indicate the City of Hudson's water lines.  Those lines are a warning to NG to dig safely and stay away.  A manhole cover has green arrows shooting out of it, though I have no idea what that indicates.  The amount and variety of spray paint along Columbia Street is at absurd levels.  Of course, it's spray paint, so it won't disappear quickly. 

NG's gas line is underneath the 
sidewalks along the 800 block of 
Columbia Street

NG began gas line replacement work on the 200 block of State Street 3 weeks ago, first digging a trench along the entire block to get at their old gas line which is not under the sidewalk.  They don't seem to be in any rush to get the work done there -- some weekdays no one is working, and Saturdays and Sundays it is quiet.  Today, there were 3 workers, and they appear to have completed less than half of the work they intend to do.  Should it really take NG close to two months or more to complete one block of gas line replacement on a residential street? How about 6 or 10 workers instead of just 3, finishing in one month instead of two or three?

200 block of State Street, 3 weeks and 
not even half finished

I asked the survey contractor if NG's work on Columbia Street was going to be the same as what they were doing on State Street.  He said that it was the same -- gas line replacement.  He then said, "But National Grid isn't doing the work here on Columbia.  They have hired a contractor to do that work for them.  And this is just one of several streets in the city they will be having gas line replacement work done."

These are the pipes that NG will be 
installing all around town, maybe on
your street, too.

At the Common Council meeting on Monday night, DPW Superintendent Robert Perry did not mention anything about NG's planned or current gas line replacement work or the disruption it might cause to residents and drivers.  Not one word from him this month or last.  A major infrastructure project from the utility that keeps this city humming, and Robert Perry doesn't even think it's worth mentioning to the council or the public.  There is nothing on the city's website about NG's work, either. 

Not worth mentioning, Mr. Perry?
Or did you not know about it?

Of course, maybe Mr. Perry isn't even aware of what NG's plans are for our streets and sidewalks this year and beyond.   Maybe he doesn't even care what NG is up to or how many streets and sidewalks they will be excavating and blocking this year.