"It Will Be A While" (Longer). Do You Think That Anyone At City Hall Cares How Much Longer?

National Grid's contractor, Mullen & Sons, busy on 
Warren Street this morning.  Still busy!

Yesterday morning, 6th Street between Warren and Prison Alley was closed to traffic due to excavation in the street by National Grid's contractor Mullen & Sons.  This morning at the intersection of 6th and Warren, with 6th street opened up again to traffic, I spoke with a worker for Mullen.  He and his crew were preparing to dig up the street again as National Grid's gas line replacement project continues into its 5th or 6th month on Warren Street.  I started by asking him if he knew how much longer they were planning on working on Warren Street.

"I'm not sure, but it will be a while," he responded.

"You've been here for a while.  Will it be months or years more?"

"I would say at least 4 more months on this street."

"What do you still need to do?"

"When we are finished here at 6th Street, we still need to do work on 2 blocks of Warren above 3rd."

"You mean you will be digging up all the holes that you already dug up and covered at least once over the past few months?" 

"No, we have to lay a gas main."

"Didn't you already do that 2 months ago?"

"Yes, we did.  But we are putting another line in the ground on the other side of the street.  We need to dig another trench."

I then asked the friendly fellow why National Grid needed two lines on one street when this was not done on Green, Columbia, State or 3rd Streets.  He explained with something about high pressure lines, low pressure lines and trunk lines.

"Will you be installing a second line on the 500 block of Warren?" I asked, pointing to the nearby block.

"No, that's not part of this project."

"Do you know what National Grid's plans are for the rest of Warren Street and the rest of the city?"

"No, but this part of the project ends at 6th Street."

With that, I thanked him and moved on.

This information will probably be news to all readers since there has been essentially no information about National Grid's project coming out of Hudson City Hall.  It will probably be news to the entire common council as well, possibly even the mayor.  The only time I have heard DPW Superintendent Robert Perry mention anything about National Grid's huge project at an informal meeting was several months ago -- well after the project had begun and after he finished his report -- when he was asked by a council member about the project.  He never once mentioned anything about the scope of the project, the timeline(s), the impacts, the road closures, or the reasons for the project during any of his monthly reports which are always chock full of pictures about all sorts of stuff he deems important.  Instead, we continue to get NOTHING about a huge infrastructure project that seems to be interminable.  There has also been nothing posted on the city's website about the project before or since it began in July or August.  Absolutely nothing.  Obviously, this project would be of no interest to the residents and businesses of Hudson, even if it lasts for a year or more and disrupts Warren Street more than any of the other streets that were part of the project and were finished long ago.  No interest at all!

Our DPW Superintendent makes $115,000 a year.  Our mayor brings home just $75,000.  If neither of them cares about informing residents and businesses about this huge infrastructure project by a utility on our streets and sidewalks -- most of it taking place in our downtown commercial district -- what else do you suppose they don't care about or have time to inform the tax paying public about?

Once Mullen is done with their work on Warren "in a while," a paving contractor will have to come in to repave the 3 blocks of Warren Street where Mullen has covered their trenches and holes with lumpy, temporary asphalt -- from 3rd to 6th Streets and some portions of side streets.  Parking will once again be restricted, portions of Warren and side streets will be closed, cones will be everywhere, machinery noise will be common, businesses will be affected.  This will also have to happen on the 200 block of State Street, the entire length of Green Street, Columbia from Park to 8th, and on 3rd from Allen to Prison Alley.  Am I missing anywhere?  Of course, the paving on these other streets could begin soon, before work on Warren is finished.  Who knows?  Who cares?

If you want to know about any further details or are curious as to what is going on with National Grid's project, the mayor's office is currently located at 77 N. 7th Street in the Central Fire Station.  Kamal Johnson might be available to talk to you, but don't expect to find DPW Superintendent Robert Perry anywhere in that building, part of which is the temporary City Hall where his DPW offices are located.  Good luck tracking him down!  Our DPW Superintendent appears to have no direct telephone line that is available to the public and he appears to work from an office at the water treatment plant tucked away in the back of the cemetery and surrounded by a barbed wire fence with a NO TRESPASSING sign at the entrance.  

Actually, you would probably be wasting your time trying to get any accurate or helpful information out of either one of those two so-called public servants.  You'd get better results speaking with a Mullen or National Grid worker on Warren Street.  They are easy to locate, some of them are approachable and knowledgeable of the project, they will be around "for a while" and they will probably offer you at least some helpful information, perhaps even the truth.

Robert Perry being shown around Warren 
Street by National Grid and Mullen workers
in mid-September.  What was he told?  Did 
he ask how long the project on Warren would last?

Perry, in his Crocs, being informed of National
Grid's plans on Green Street in July, before work 
began there.  What was he told?  Was he even
paying attention?