La Vida Local
Irregular Notes on West End Life
By Rosanne Graef
Can Portland Be Saved? (Part 2)
From my third-floor window, I look directly down at the intersection of Clark and Salem Streets. For the past eighteen months those streets (like many others in the West End) have been spray painted with a colorful collection of squiggles, arrows, and glyphs that have been periodically refreshed and updated by their associated companies: Portland Water District, Unitil/NEUCO, etc. I wonder if the actual meaning transmitted by this artistic display is some cryptic set of landing instructions for extraterrestrials. Because its function does not seem to be coordination of scheduling and locating infrastructure repairs and installations.
Work Begins…
Beginning in April 2020, Unitil/NEUCO workers proceeded along the streets that converge at the intersection. Over the course of several weeks, they repeatedly tore up and replaced segments of pavement in the process of upgrading and installing the gas lines along with bollards in front of each building’s hook-ups. All seemed fine and dandy with the project.
Milling and repaving were slated to take place after completion. But like lots of plans, that didn’t happen.
The Clark-Salem Sinkhole
Jump ahead with me now to early June 2021, when a small sinkhole appeared near the center of the intersection.
A lateral water line broke about half a block uphill from the sinkhole in the early morning hours of June 24th. The water line break created two bubbling geysers on Clark Street near the Dermot Court parking lot entrance. Nearby the water flowed up and out from under the edge of one of the rectangular asphalt patches installed the previous summer. It flowed along the Clark Street gutter past Gray Street before sweeping under the dining deck at Little Giant. It eventually rushed into the storm drain at Danforth Street.
Looking on the bright side, it’s a good thing that the repaving has not yet occurred.
Work Continues…
Then on August 7th, we found a sheet of paper from Unitil and NEUCO stuffed in our mailbox. (Not a letter mailed via the postal service.) Dated July 12th, 2021, this informed us of “IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT NATURAL GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.” To wit, “NEUCO, the contractor for Unitil’s SURE project will begin replacement of the gas mains and service lines starting on August 6th in Portland on Salem St between Vaughan St and Bracket st. Ave. {sic} The pipeline construction is expected last 3-4 weeks. {sic}”
The letter goes on for a page and a half about property owner responsibilities, on-street parking, service interruptions, re-lighting appliances, and COVID-19 safety protocols.
So, I have some questions…
My big question is: What did the Unitil and NEUCO workers do here for all those weeks in the spring and summer of 2020? My small question is: Do they even know where they’re supposed to be working? Based on the directive of “Salem St between Vaughan St and Bracket st. Ave.,” I sure hope the folks in fluorescent vests know their own way around Portland.
Meanwhile, residents in the neighborhood are left like the patient in the dentist’s chair with no option but to cross their fingers and hope for the best.
More on the topic of underground Portland in Part 2 with the saga of the sinkhole continues. Read here, Part 3: Notes from the Underground.
Read Part 1: Can Portland Be Saved
Rosanne Graef lives in the West End and is a regular volunteer contributor. Email: lavidalocalwen@gmail.com.
