Construction will resume Jan. 17 with an end date of June 30.
Mark Alan Lovewell

Tisbury to Resume Main Street Construction Project

Sidewalk improvements in downtown Vineyard Haven are about to begin again after the holiday lull. The project began last fall and left some Main street property owners disgruntled at what they said was a lack of notice.

The holiday lull is about to end for sidewalk improvements in downtown Vineyard Haven, which began unexpectedly last fall and left some Main street property owners disgruntled at what they said was the lack of advance notice from the town.

Tisbury department of public works director Kirk Metell is taking no chances this time around, announcing Monday that the streetscape project, paused in early December, will resume Jan. 17 with an end date of June 30.

“The DPW will be hand delivering this letter door to door to all [businesses] along Main street,” Mr. Metell wrote in an email accompanying the announcement.

Businesses and patrons alike can expect to see limited parking, road closures, detours and traffic delays for the next three to six months, according to the letter, which Mr. Metell said would also be posted on the town website.

This phase of the project will concentrate on Main street’s major crosswalks, installing curbing, benches, bicycle racks and providing a safer viewing platform for pedestrians, he said.

Tisbury’s Main street improvement project has been in the planning stages since 2018, town administrator Jay Grande said last November after abutters complained they had no warning. Construction began late last fall after a paving contractor became available on short notice, said Mr. Grande, who pledged better communication between the town and affected businesses.

He also said that the sidewalk project was needed to make Main street safer and more accessible by removing barriers and creating places where pedestrians can gather without blocking traffic.

Comments

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 01/10/2023 - 15:32

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School's Out Tisbury

Happy to see our little town continuing to invest in improvements, large and small. BTW - using "disgruntled" in the article was classic!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 01/11/2023 - 05:57

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Jason Peringer Vineyard Haven

I would be interested to know where the funds for this project have been allocated from in the town budget. After so many years of hearing there were insufficient funds available to remove the telephone poles and wires that blight Main Street, it would be good to hear that this is also part of this particular project. It has been more than ten years since the conduit and associated hardware was installed under the pavement when the Main Street repaving project disrupted commerce for untold months while leaving the aforementioned poles and wires intact. I have voiced this issue to anyone who would listen whenever asked what would benefit the businesses of Main Street in Vineyard Haven, amongst other issues, but never witnessed any actions to rectify this blight and safety issue. The lack of town action to bolster downtown businesses by addressing issues that would benefit commerce factored into my decision to relocate my business after twenty years on Main Street.

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