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Municipal officials last week approved a contract for flagging services on local roads, including for the Putnam Road sidewalk replacement.
The Putnam Road work, which has about two weeks left, has “alternating one-way traffic,” according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann.
“We use the flaggers to direct the motorists,” Mann told members of the Board of Selectmen during their July 8 meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference. “Since we have one lane closed, we’ve got to be able to get them through the work zone safely.”
First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll voted 3-0 in favor of a $25,000 contract with All State Flagging LLC.
Mann said the town has a contract already with a different company, Precise Traffic Control, “but they are currently working on the paving projects and there’s just not enough flaggers to go around for Precise to utilize.”
The flaggers are there to prevent people from using the sidewalks, but to get drivers through the work zone without risk, Mann said. They also warn motorists on the Putnam curve where they can’t see ahead, he said.
The amount of flaggers needed for a project can vary, Mann said.
“On the sidewalk projects, like Putnam, it depends upon how far they’re stretched out,” he said. “On Surrey we had two, and then when they went down into the cul de-sac, we didn’t use them at all. It varies by the day and the project.”
Flaggers are being used instead of police on the Putnam Road work, Mann said.
“We try to use the police when we’re paving or milling and sometimes for a town project,” he said. “Anything else other than that, we use a flagger.”
Currently, the police are busy with the Aquarion work on South Avenue, Mann said.