2019 Main Street Survey Results and Plans for 2020 Construction Season
February 11, 2020
Thank you to everyone who took a few minutes to take the survey in January regarding the Main Street construction project in 2019. Especially appreciative of the comments and suggestions for the 2020 construction season. The survey was posted on Front Porch Forum, Waterburyworks.com and to email contacts in the construction zone.
Demographics:
There were 192 respondents with 32% living within the construction zone. Of those 32% residents, they were equally distributed throughout the length of Main Street in the construction zone. 68% do not live in the construction zone. 99% of respondents travel through downtown Waterbury every day or several times a week for work, shopping, dining, or passing through.
Of the 192 responses, 19.8% (38) were businesses and 50% of those businesses were located in Segment 2 between Stowe Street and Park Row.
All respondents reported that they got their construction updates from various multiple sources in the following order:
Weekly email updates - 72%
Front Porch Forum - 65%
Waterburyworks.com - 32%
Waterbury Record - 26%
Electronic signage - 20%
Facebook - 12%
Radio - 8%
Results:
86% reported that traffic control efforts were more than adequate or adequate.
90% reported that the weekly updates were very effective or somewhat effective in preparing them for construction activities.
50% of the 38 businesses reported that the business support was very effective of somewhat effect through the construction season.
Comments:
There were several pages of open-ended comments and suggestions provided by the respondents. Several themes emerged, and in some cases there were opposite observations about the same issue. All comments have been reviewed by the construction team, VTrans, the town and Revitalizing Waterbury to determine how the 2020 construction might be improved to allow for better traffic flow, less disruptions, expanded methods of communication and a pre-construction public information meeting.
A pre-construction meeting is scheduled for March 17, 2020 at 6pm in the Steele Community Room in the Municipal Center at 28 North Main Street. This will be an opportunity to learn about and ask questions for the planned 2020 construction season to include: types of construction in each of the 4 segments, traffic control plans, day work and night work plans.