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Norwalk: Deering Road Paving Hazardous


by turfgrrl


November 2nd, 2007 · 16 Comments

Once again, Deering Construction finds itself the subject of ire by Norwalk residents as sloppy traffic safety on roads Deering is paving results in accidents. Apparently the Norwalk DPW is waiting till a lawyer gets seriously injured before enforcing basic traffic safety precautions. The excuses provided just go to show you why a change is needed in DPW oversight.

The contractor on the road project, Deering Construction, appears to be at fault in the accidents, police Sgt. Andre Velez said.

“I think the contractor and DPW have been advised about conditions that needed attention, such as traffic control and road closures,” he said.

Velez said that he did not believe that road obstructions such as manholes and pipes left exposed by Deering - which is milling the road before repaving - have been properly marked.

Each obstruction on Fort Point Street has been painted in reflective orange paint and had a safety cone placed alongside it to alert motorists, said Richard Linnartz, the city’s principal engineer of design.

The busy road could not be closed during the nearly finished road replacement project.

Deering was hired for more than $200,000 to repave Fort Point Street, between East Avenue and Van Zant Street, a section of road that has not been paved in 30 years, Linnartz said.

“I believe the contractor is doing a good job with traffic control,” Linnartz said.

Right, and I believe in Tinker Bell. Deering created havoc on East ave. when it did paving last year, so this is not a new problem for our DPW. They should have required that the road paving work included better traffic safety. Instead they are apologists for unsafe practices.

There’s a whole committee of common council members who should be outraged over this, as well as the mayor. It’s time that Norwalk holds subcontractors to higher standards of safety and performance.

source: Advocate, Bumpy ride on Fort Point Street, by John Nickerson, November 2 2007

Tags: In the News · Norwalk · Transportation

16 Responses so far ↓ “Norwalk: Deering Road Paving Hazardous”



  • 1 anon // Nov 2, 2007 at 1:43 pm

    Here’s another good reason why Moccia’s gotta go. We deserve better from our city workers.

  • 2 Anonymous // Nov 2, 2007 at 1:49 pm

    Wonder how many DPW workers were assigned to the subcontractor?

  • 3 Anonymous // Nov 2, 2007 at 2:01 pm

    How many other roads are bing handled this way?

  • 4 disgusted taxpayer // Nov 2, 2007 at 2:04 pm

    #1-What the hell does this have to do with the Mayor? Hal Alvord is responsible for road construction. Supposedly according to himself he is the best of the best, so why isn’t he being held responsible for Deering? The next thing we’ll hear is that the mayor is the sole source of global warming and famine. So far you’ve blamed him for every single mishap in this city. Perhaps he should don a hardhat and supervise each and every project in this city. Get real folks. For those of you who have some intelligence please take these postings as you would a fairy tale of fiction movie. They are being written by democrats who wish to have people believe that this administration has done absolutely nothing good in two years. Well lets look back and see the 4 yrs of no good by the last administration. Forget the BS about over development blah blah blah, most of the deterioration started under the Knopp administration and one sided government and now its taken 2 years to waddle thru the crap.

  • 5 Anonymous // Nov 2, 2007 at 2:12 pm

    Hey disgusted, Turffie said “There’s a whole committee of common council members who should be outraged over this, as well as the mayor. It’s time that Norwalk holds subcontractors to higher standards of safety and performance.”

    It happened yesterday, not 2 years ago. Will the mayor claim any responsibility for the inaction of Alvord? He hasn’t yet. Veto Moccia.

  • 6 Anonymous // Nov 2, 2007 at 2:14 pm

    The Mo has got to go.

  • 7 disgusted taxpayer // Nov 2, 2007 at 2:29 pm

    #5-you are correct and let me tell you that board is dominated by democrats so where have they been? Where is the Chairman on all of this? What are they doing about and why are they allowing Alvord to get away with this crap? Who hired Alvord in the first place? Big mistake there! So why again are we blaming Moccia?

  • 8 just an observation // Nov 3, 2007 at 2:09 am

    Dont know if Alvord deserves much of the blame. He has done well bringing moral back up in his dept. and working to the best of his ability to serve our coummunity and maitain and even upgrade equipment. However the left and the right hand delemia, the trademark of government surely will prevail: seems a sure bet Fort Point will be torn up next summer just like Ct Ave. New Cannan Ave. Westport Ave. and West Ave and soon East Ave in case anyone has missed the predig markings. One can only draw a conclusion of beauratic faliures of communications, incompetence or corruption. Pick one, two or all three. Why cant the DOT, the city, devleopers and contractors communicate in this age of instant messaging? Somebody must be getting kickbacks from auto repair and tire shops and laywers. If thier not they certainly ought to be because somebody is raking in the green and its not the taxpaing motoring public.

  • 9 soccermom // Nov 3, 2007 at 2:15 am

    Certainly could better signage and cone placement as well at least minimal local media updates. Why cant those steel plates be sprayed with reflective paint so they are visible to drivers at night.

  • 10 just asking // Nov 4, 2007 at 8:34 am

    Turfgirl - you need to check your facts better. Deering was not the Contractor who paved East Avenue last year.

    Could these supposedly “safety issues” be a result of the Contractor not hiring police officers at overtime rates but trained certified flagpersons to direct traffic?

  • 11 Mr Greenpeace // Nov 4, 2007 at 10:26 am

    http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=f31xymfmy55&thumb=4

  • 12 turfgrrl // Nov 4, 2007 at 10:34 am

    just asking: I was told it was Deering, but the same conditions of unmarked obstacles existed on East ave last year. DPW must enforce safety on any road paved by any contractor. The fact that it keeps happening, year after year points to a systemic neglect of basic oversight. Start with DPW and work your way up the food chain of management oversight.

  • 13 Mr Greenpeace // Nov 4, 2007 at 10:38 am

    here is a picture of Mr Greenpeace taking a picture.
    Wasn’t it Alvord and the mayor who were at the Tree alliance event on Ct ave touting projects . Seemed like a political event when we received the invitation.

    Too bad this tree wasn’t addressed in the public park in East Norwalk with the alliance, it needs replacing , it has been there for a long time like this.

    Just seems if you dig deep enough you will find there are a lot of things that could of been done while they soliciting votes from unsuspecting voters.Things that would of made sense. Why was this tree left like this while even the South Norwalk electric company were planting trees next to the gas station on west street?

    things that don’t make sense thread would be nice at this point.

  • 14 Mr Greenpeace // Nov 4, 2007 at 10:55 am

    #1-What the hell does this have to do with the Mayor?

    nothing, that may be the problem

    running a city is not easy

    accountability is even harder to accomplish when you don’t know what the other hand is doing.

    the slight of hand that is

  • 15 demsknow // Nov 4, 2007 at 11:08 am

    Mr. Greenpeace, we know you have an equal opportunity rant approach to your postings and for this we are greatful. I believe however that Mr. Alvord was given free reign over everything by those who hired him and old habits are hard to break. Do you honestly think he consults with anyone about what he is doing? No matter how many heads of dept meetings you have there are always those who say yes sir, yes sir and then do it their way. This is most often the case with DPW. Why aren’t we using the allocated budget to fix the roads? Take a look at what is left in the DPW account and then scratch your head and ask why?

  • 16 Mr Greenpeace // Nov 4, 2007 at 11:56 am

    I agree with you demsknow, there has been some creative accounting taking place but its hard to nail.

    I do know as of recent with all the reporting by the Advocate and The hour the drain sponges hit a snag when the DPW didn’t properly oversee the contractor servicing the filters.

    The state had no service plan, nor did the EPA this will put our 1/2 million dollar project in limbo and will hurt further grants unless a service plan is available .Who was responsible for a service plan?

    This subject was now brought up so maybe the news hounds could report on the service plan , They were all drawn into a pr opt by the DPW when Alvord came under fire for sloppy work by the contractor who is servicing the filters.

    Osha had one worker standing over a drain with a lit cigarette. Other problems compounded worker and city safety. Its No secret needles are in a lot of drains in south norwalk even ammo, so whoever is servicing the drains needs more than day workers doing the job working with hazardous waste.Health and safety of our own workers were my concern, so the city went out and hired someone to do the job instead of our own crew.Which resulted in less safety and less oversight with the workers.

    But when it comes to slapping the backs of responsible politicians the underlying facts are the problems need to be addressed and the total cost of projects when they live out their grant life becomes the city responsibility.If we can’t pay for it now how can we pay for it later.

    I trust the grant writer will need more help soon, once grants are given , the paper trail starts and accountability at the federal level becomes harder. I would of expected to hear not only has the grant writer done a great job but when we as a city expect to add to her staff with some help. It only makes sense use a milestone in your bid for office tell us more of what to expect.Don’t give us just what sounds good give us the whole picture.

    maybe this is where the news hounds come in

    you taking notes Walter - Scott ?

    Both OSHA in Bridgeport and the DEP have on file what has been stated . The EPA district office also has on file this whole tirade of events as well.

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