A New Jersey-based company is doing a poor job of repairing New Canaan roads in the wake of the natural gas line installation, the town’s highest elected official said Tuesday.
The quality of repairs made by Ferreira Construction has been “unsatisfactory,” according to First Selectman Kevin Moynihan.
“Especially on our streets,” Moynihan said during a regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen, held at Town Hall. “So we are trying to get them to improve.”
The comments came after Selectman Kit Devereaux broached the subject during a discussion of general matters before the town.
Devereaux said the Board had received an email from a resident of a condominium at Main Street and Lakeview Avenue “complaining about the state of the driveway that was left there by the gas line.”
One gas line has already been brought to the condo complex, Hanford Square, according to the complainant—who identified himself as Francis Doherty in the email, obtained by NewCanaanite.com following a formal request—and Eversource, through Ferreira, “will be trenching for a second gas line from Main Street for the remaining units as soon as the Main Street line is pressurized.”
“The initial trenching, from Lakeview for two of our six units, left a portion of our drive in a substandard condition,” Doherty wrote in his April 28 email to the selectmen. “The repaving of that trench was very poorly executed.”
“In all of the pre-installation conversations with Eversource no mention was made as to whom was responsible for restoring private property,” he continued. “This question was asked at the Town Hall we attended and we were given assurances that any property damage would be addressed by Eversource. The slapdash job Ferreira did on our driveway is in no way acceptable.”
Hanford Square residents would not have opted for natural gas installation “had we known that our driveway would be so poorly repaved,” Doherty wrote. He added, “Our property values have been enhanced by the gas conversion but damaged by the shoddy repaving.”
Devereaux asked during the meeting what a resident should do if a problem arises during the paving work around natural gas installations.
Moynihan said public works officials are in touch with the man as well as Eversource.
“When it comes to hookups on private property, the town’s agreement with Eversource doesn’t go into private property,” he said. The town has requested a meeting with Eversource regarding the quality of Ferreira’s work, he said.
Ferreira Construction could not be reached for comment.
So glad someone is complaining…Lakeview Ave is a Mess !!! One of the most travelled roads, full of pot holes and uneven pavement !!!! I hope it can be remedied before 3 years !!!!
The roads are a mess. Something needs to be done to repair them. A Disaster!
I agree – it looks like bad surgery and cheapens the look of the town.
The roads are terrible. Little Brook, Lakeview, Main, among others. We should all send Eversource and Ferreira bills for new tires, shocks, and struts.
How about the asphalt curbs? Ill conceived to start and now broken apart all over town. Huge gouges and in some cases foot long pieces missing all together where gas line were installed. In some ways more unsightly than the roads. hopefully the curb repair and replacement is also covered.
Agree. Really shoddy work with no accountability. The town is looking increasingly worse for wear – potholes, bumps, broken curbs and paint marks all over the roads.
i agree the roads look a mess. I’m so glad this has been brought up. I hope it can be addressed. Main St too is full of bumps and lumps. Roads get repairs often that you might see but can’t feel in your car. These are really poorly patched everywhere. Thanks for bringing it up.
Though it is a tall order to dig up the roads, install piping, refill the ditches and roads and re-pave, it should be done better as there must be a lot of other towns in the metro NY area that have done this better. The lot parking for BoA, etc. has been a mess for years also, is it really that much of a financial hurdle to surmount addressing these problems?
CT is right up there with RI for having the worst roads as it is: https://www.statista.com/chart/18047/share-of-major-public-roads-classified-as-being-in-poor-condition/
The new company did a great job on Lakeview ave.