While On The Subject Of...

... subpar paving work, there is this.

As readers may recall from what now seems like ancient history, a paving company by the name of Bob Talham, Inc. was hired by National Grid last year to repave our streets and sidewalks (primarily on Warren, 4th, and 3rd) after another contractor hired by National Grid, Mullen & Sons, had ripped up the streets and sidewalks to replace Grid's gas pipes below.  At the intersection of Warren & City Hall Place, at the southeast corner, you can see evidence of Talham's shoddy repaving work long after rain has fallen and the rest of the street (indeed, the entire city) is as dry as a bone.  Rob Perry should have immediately noticed this flaw and made Talham come back to fix it by getting rid of the depression in the street they left us that is allowing a large amount of water to accumulate in a pond inches from a storm drain, damaging the street as it takes days to dry up.  Apparently, Perry is okay with paving contractors leaving us JUNK.  It's a good thing not everyone at City Hall feels the same way. 

The water you see in the pictures has nowhere to go but to slowly seep into the asphalt it sits on or into the air as vapor, sometimes, depending on the amount of rainfall, taking days to do so completely.  Rainwater and snowmelt can't reach the drain that the curb and the street are supposed to send its way.  All of it, not some of it!  The drain is there for good reason.  To capture runoff!

Want to annoy drivers, cyclists and others while allowing
our streets to quickly fall apart? Allow amateur pavers in town!
Notice how close the edge of the enormous 
puddle is from the storm drain that the water can't reach. 
This is inexcusable! 
  Talham and National Grid created this for us --
it was not an issue before National Grid began their
pipe replacement project in 2023!

Damaging the curb and the street well 
after every rain.  The longer asphalt is kept wet, 
the quicker it begins to soften, crack and fail.
This is a sign of a horrible paving job 
performed by amateurs, as well as a DPW Super-
intendent who has no interest in paying attention.