What the heck are they doing to East Washington Street in Irvington! I’ve lived in Irvington a half block off Washington for over 40 years and I’ve seen road work many times, but this takes the cake as they say. The streetscape took some time several years ago and caused delays to traffic and the brick crosswalks have been a nightmare, but this is way beyond anything I’ve ever seen. From my street (Hawthorne) all the way out to Aldi grocery (over a mile) the orange barrels and cones have been lining the street every which way, directing motorists through an obstacle course like nothing I’ve ever witnessed. The project started in mid-March and after talking to DPW, I found out it was planned long before the pandemic and just happen to coincide with it, which has worked out with so many people working from home. The work is to repair the many layers of pavement. Owning the newspaper, I have driven through this mess delivering papers and going to the office for weeks.
I’ve seen up close these amazing cement cutting machines slice rectangular sections into the asphalt down a lane and then a bulldozer digs up the pavement several feet into the street, with workman shoveling asphalt toward the giant bucket (so close to their heads it’s scary). I’ve seen workers up to their shoulders in holes digging to the center of the earth. They’ve laid what I assume is rebar in the trenches — green tubes attached to metal wire. Then they pour in concrete, let it harden, and level it off with asphalt. Then they move to the next lane and do the same thing, but they skip around — I guess so they let what they’ve done fully cure. I’ve seen old trolley tracks laying on the sidewalk — it’s about time they were removed (during the winter they tend to pop up in the potholes especially in front of the Irving Theater).
Traffic has been backed up, and to complicate things, part of I-70 on the east side has been closed for repairs in both directions for a time. Add that traffic to the usual, and it’s been quite a mess. I pass through this every day at least twice and sometimes four times a day. I’ve been taking detours down 10th street, or Brookville, or winding through Irvington where it’s nothing but curving roads (so be warned if you don’t know the area you may never been seen again). Of course at corners where someone needs to turn across traffic, there is no room for others to pass so it really backs up. I suggest you go the opposite direction and turn around in some parking lot and turn back to the way you need to head.
I’ve witnessed a driver that got an orange cone stuck under his tiny car and was off on the side trying to get it out. The cones themselves are just plastic, but the rubber collar weight on the bottom is really a hard disc (I’ve driven over a few). I saw another driver complaining to a worker that he had broken the axle on his SUV in one of the holes where the barrel had rolled away (later they place a metal plate lay over that big hole). I saw a big truck try to turn west from Arlington onto Washington and that wasn’t pretty.
If the pandemic wasn’t enough, business owners along Washington in Irvington have been financially impacted, so grab your mask and please shop and dine at these small businesses.
This traffic issue should all be over soon. I recently saw them getting ready to pour new asphalt down the south lanes, so we can all hope it signals the beginning of the end.
