Photo by Lester Smith
A front loader approaches with a new bucket of road material as a caterpillar bulldozer spreads the previous load on the route of the new roadway being constructed in the old sand pit. In the middle distance, another bulldozer is leveling a roadside region. The graded route of the new road can be seen in the distance.
By mid-October the improvement and relocation of Lake Road was well along. The first segment, two-tenths of a mile long, has been widened on the south side where new sand pit owner Crestview contracted for the removal of roadside trees, and fill has been added to bring that expanded strip up to the grade level. Pot holes have been repaired, a layer of fabric was added, and a thick layer of processed aggregate was provided by the Town and packed down. Now a good gravel surface, wide enough to allow passing big dump trucks easily, is in regular use. This is the section of road with no known owner, and legal steps are being taken to establish Town ownership.
Beyond the slight hill at the end of that first section, a new roadway is being created, leading in a shallow slope down into the existing, exhausted sand pit south of the old roadway. The new alignment continues straight on the level for about half a mile, then turns smoothly to the right toward where the new bus-turning circle will be built. An under-road fabric membrane has been rolled out on almost the entire length of the new road. In mid-October when this reporter last visited, processed aggregate was already being spread on the initial shallow slope.
As the planned sand and gravel excavation will take place north of the new road, a long, four-foot-high berm will be configured along the north side to deter excursions off the road. Along the old road, which will continue in public use until the new one is open, the removal of trees and other vegetation where excavation is planned created a possible danger. In response, Jersey Barriers have been set along a short stretch of the north shoulder at a curve.