The recent construction on Davis Street and surrounding streets in Keene has raised concerns from students who live on these streets..
According to an email from public works assistant Duncan Watson, the city of Keene maintains 126.8 miles of roads and streets are in various stages of repair. The City currently budgets approximately $1.2M per year for road projects over the next five years.
Some students have been faced issues regarding parking. Keene State College senior Alex Massa said, “I haven’t been able to get out of my driveway.”
Other students caused damage to their cars because of the construction on the sidewalks.
“They didn’t give us a bridge to drive in or out of the our driveway. There was this huge ledge, maybe a couple inches big, where we would bottom-out because they didn’t give us any flat landing or anything. They just left it how it was. That was right when we moved in,” KSC senior Dezary Agosto said.
Agosto continued, “One time they banged on our door at 6:45 in the morning to say that they were taking the bridge down to cement and if anyone needs to get out of the driveway in the morning [do so now]. They didn’t even take down the bridge. They put a sign on our door saying that they were going to be done at a certain time and they were still working on it when they said they were going to be done. It didn’t match what they said. It said it was going to be done on the second of October and it’s now the fourteenth and they just finished.”
A bridge was later installed in her driveway so Agosto and her roommates could get in and out and so the construction workers could still cement the sidewalk.
The Keene City Public Works department is overseeing the construction. Director of the Public Works department Kürt Blomquist is currently out of the country and was unavailable for comment.
Residents were not given a clear time frame of when the construction would finish.
“They didn’t warn us, didn’t tell us how long it would take, so I asked them how long do you plan on blocking us in. They didn’t give us any information at all… The guys said ‘Tell you what, if I can get your car out of this driveway, would it be okay if you just left in on the side of the road?’ I said no because we get tickets if we park on the street and we don’t have a permit to park on the side of the road. He said not to worry about it and he would take care of it and we would be fine. I wanted to talk to my roommates because it isn’t the matter of one car, it’s a matter of four cars needing to eventually get out of the driveway. Our driveway is really small to begin with and it’s already difficult to get out of,” Agosto said.
“We were told the road work would be done last week. There was a note on our door but for the incorrect construction dates,” Massa said.
One student accidentally walked in the wet cement.
KSC senior Erin Hanrahan said, “They didn’t put up caution tape around the cemented sidewalk and I was walking from class and I thought the sidewalk was completely done, so I go and walk on it, and I thought it felt like walking in mud. I look back, and my footprints were in the cement… We heard one of the guys say, ‘Oh I guess I forgot to put up caution tape up over here.’ Then, they called my landlord saying that I picked up the caution tape and walked underneath it purposely!”
Agosto commented on the construction worker’s performance. “Sometimes they will be here and they’re not even working on it and then they will be gone and leave it the way it is.”
Agosto continued, “They neglected to give us any information.”
“They are really unorganized. One time they parked in front of our house and the garbage truck didn’t take out our garbage. There was a lot of garbage on the street because the trucks for the sidewalk construction were there, so the garbage truck couldn’t get to them,” Hanrahan said.
The lack of communication between construction workers and residents was an issue for some.
Agosto said, “It’s just been such a hassle. They just take it upon themselves to park anywhere they want, regardless if they are in the way. I think it would have been better if they had just communicated a little bit better with any of us, considering they are on our street and we are students that have other issues to be worrying about.”
Watson stated that there will be more construction in the near future.
“There will be work on Winchester Street (done by the state) installing a roundabout at the Winchester Street/Key Road intersection and replacing the Island Street Bridge. This is currently scheduled for 2018, but is dependent on State funding as it is a State project,” Watson said.
The construction on Davis Street and its surrounding streets have been recently completed.
Jacob can be contacted at jknehr@kscequinox.com
