Route 149 work starts, bridge to follow
By Erik Pekar, Town Historian
Most of the past couple of weeks has been warmer than average. While it did cool down around the start of April, a predicted storm on April 2 turned out to be practically nothing for this area, leaving only a dusting of the “white stuff” in some places. Since then, the weather has warmed up, reaching the 70s by the end of last week.
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Construction workers and equipment, and orange warning signs will become a familiar sight for locals and travelers along State Route 149. Road work on the highway through the village of Granville began on April 12. The work is being done by the state Department of Transportation. State Route 149 will be repaved from the intersection and ramp at State Route 22 near the Price Chopper Plaza, up Quaker, West Main, Main, and East Main Streets, to the Vermont state line. The paving will be done in sections, one lane at a time, with traffic passing through in the other lane, in alternating one-way traffic. The project is expected to take about a month.
The village of Granville section of Route 149 isn’t the only part of this state highway that is being worked on by the DOT. The section of Route 149 from Hartford to Smiths Basin (at the Champlain Canal bridge crossing) is also receiving some care, with ruts and bumps being taken out, and leveled with gravel. The gravel “cut-outs” will then be paved over.
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The Church Street bridge replacement project is progressing. The right-of-way clearance phase met another milestone in late March. A utility pole was placed at the southwest corner of the building near the river on the Dwayne Daigle property. By the end of the month, Spectrum had moved its utility line, becoming the first utility other than NYSEG to clear the bridge right-of-way.
The timetable for the bridge project is to start preparation work in May and begin bridge work around the start of June. Washington County and the state DOT are coordinating schedules to ensure that the paving project and bridge closure do not occur at the same time. If no planning occurred and both projects happened at the same time, it would become rather complicated to get to or from anywhere in the village.
As part of the preparation work, the former Knotty Pine Tavern building at 34 Church Street will be demolished. This will come as good news to those who consider the building to be an eyesore, whether for safety or aesthetic reasons.
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One of the long-time television icons of the Capital Region has passed away. Ernie Tetrault died on April 8 at the age of 94. He was a native of Watervliet. Tetrault joined the staff of television station WRGB in Schenectady in 1951. For many years, he was the news anchor on the WRGB afternoon news program. Tetrault also did news stories away from the news desk. In later years, he was joined by co-anchors, including Ed Dague and, later, Liz Bishop. Ernie Tetrault retired in 1993. Tetrault was a familiar face for many people in the Capital District, including the Granville area. He will be missed.
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