Progress?

            As I write this, my house is shaking. Heavy equipment – bulldozers, earth moves, jack hammers, dump trucks – move back and forth on the “road” beneath my window – not more than twelve feet from where I sit. This is all part of the CSO (Combined Sewage Overflow) project being carried out in Lebanon, NH.

            If you have not experienced it, you have no idea. Maybe you noticed it if you have driven through Lebanon on Mechanic Street recently, where the signs honestly warn you to “expect delays.” But if you live on the affected streets, or have a business there, you have constant noise, dust, and delays. Getting out of your drive way sometimes requires the help of several courteous workers. Sidewalks have all but disappeared.

            You only really notice it when it happens to you.

            According to Christina Hall, Lebanon’s City Engineer, the Combined Sewage Overflow projects were mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2000. Cities which discharge overflow sewage into a waterway must eliminate that problem to a minimal level, and they must do so by 2020. Lebanon, under a consent decree involving federal, state, and local officials, has been working on the project in various parts of Lebanon and West Lebanon for the past several years. The current project is CSO 11. There have been ten in previous years, and CSO project number 12 will occur next year. Lebanon joins cities like Manchester and Portsmouth in undertaking these projects., which are paid for mainly with local tax money, supplemented by some federal and state grants. At the moment, Lebanon’s very old sewers drain both rain water and sewage, with overflow during heavy rains, etc. going into the Mascoma River. When the project is completed (in 2020), the rain water will continue to go into the river, but the sewage will not. This, by all accounts, is progress. But the cost of progress, materially and emotionally, is huge. COS project number 11, the current one, cost over $12 million.

            But the emotional cost is also great. As Christina Hall says, “It’s tough on everyone.” The destruction and reconstruction, digging up the street and filling it in on a daily basis, for this phase of the project alone, began in May and will continue until winter sets it. Probably, Hall says, the final touches – new sidewalk, etc., will not be done until next year. This phase alone (CSO 11) is really is a two-year project, to be followed immediately by CSO 12, which will also affect Mascoma and Mechanic Streets.  Hall says, “the majority of people (affected by it) have been really good about being tolerant,” despite their frustration. Sometimes the roads are impassable; sometimes, your driveway is inaccessible. Construction workers are as accommodating as possible, though sometimes water must be cut off, temporary pipes must be laid, and drainage is interrupted. Always, from 7 AM until 6 PM, except week-ends and holidays, there is constant dust and noise.

            And there is no end to it. When this project is over, the bridge over the Mascoma River in the center of Lebanon will need major repair.. And then a roundabout will be constructed at the junction of High Street, Mechanic Street, and Mascoma Street. That will stretch on well beyond 2020.

As the wise fellow once said, “It feels so good when it stops.” Well, it won’t stop for a while.