SAFETY HAS always been a goal for the Manchester Public Works department. This is especially true now, as the department continues work on multiple sidewalks across Manchester. The project has been a long time coming, both in need and in planning.
“[People] have been talking about sidewalks for a long time,” said Public Works Director George Gannon. Vice Mayor Mark Messick said his concern was that without sidewalks, people have to either walk on the roads or in the ditches.
“You drive down Coffee street, or Hills Chapel, or any of the streets that we’ve pointed out and there’s so much foot traffic on it, and the roads are so doggone narrow that someday somebody is gonna get run over,” Messick said. “We needed those sidewalks.”
The mayor and aldermen of Manchester approved a resolution sponsored by Messick in August of 2021, allotting $2 million for sidewalks and prioritizing those streets that have received the most complaints. According to Messick, the $2 million is expected to cover all the sidewalks that most need to be built.
Some of those sidewalks will go along Hills Chapel Road, Oakdale Street, Madison Street, Coffee Street, and Oak Drive. Gannon said the hope was for all of the work to be done by city employees. If that is accomplished, it would significantly reduce the cost of the project.
“I couldn’t do it without our employees,” Gannon said. “We need to really emphasize that we have good employees.”
Despite work having begun in several locations, this project is not expected to be finished quickly.
“It’s probably going to be at least five or six years altogether, for all of them,” Gannon said. “We may have to move utilities and all that on some of these sidewalks.”
Supply chain issues have already caused some delays, on top of the steps required to actually begin construction for the sidewalks. The project is expected to require over 71,000 square feet of concrete and a little less than 39,000 square feet of easements. The city has to acquire the land necessary and survey it before construction can even start, said Messick.
“You can’t just go out and pour a sidewalk,” Messick said. “But the main thing is that we’re started.”
Messick said the project was being done for the community of Manchester.
“We’re trying to help make Manchester a better place to live,” Messick said, “Make it safer for people to live here.” GN