Currituck Rd Expected

To Re-Open In July

By Steve Bigham

Currituck Road is expected to re-open in July, Public Works Director Fred Hurley announced this week.

The road has been closed since late December as bridge repair work (over Pond Brook) at the north end of the road has run into one problem after another. However, just this week, Dayton Construction of Watertown managed to install the first of two box culverts. The second and final box culvert will be installed within the next two weeks. After that, 10 additional days worth of cleanup will be needed before the road can finally be re-opened, Mr Hurley said.

The bridge had been scheduled for replacement last summer. However, the company that produces the new box culvert was unable to deliver the piece until late fall. By that time, the low water season was over, making it very difficult to “de-water” the area. The process of “de-watering” involves channeling water from one side of the bridge to the other.

Town officials agreed they would wait until this summer to complete the project. However, Hurricane Floyd, which hit the area in mid-September, served to further undermine the bridge, creating concern from the state’s Department of Transportation (DOT), which wanted to close the bridge – essentially closing the road.

Instead, town workers stabilized the bridge by putting sandbags under its footings. The effort satisfied the DOT enough to allow the bridge to remain open through the Christmas holidays. By late December, the road was closed and contractors from Warren Kimball & Sons of Newtown converged on the site to begin the “de-watering” process. However, as the months passed by, it became clear that the project would not be completed due to high water levels in Pond Brook.

The two-mile road serves as a major connector for commuters traveling north and south.