The Main Street gas line replacement project
Updated 4/13/18 -
Ladies and gentlemen, Main Street is open!
No barrier, orange barrel or detour sign in sight.
Updated 4/9/18 -
One milestone to go
Updated 3/26/18 -
Two milestones to go
Updated 3/16/18 -
One more block to go
Updated 3/3/18 -
200 block, take 2
Updated 2/23/18 -
300 block is wrapping up; time for the 200 block
Updated 2/15/18
Status check
Updated 1/24/17
Gas line project working its way down the 300 block
Updated 1/9/18
Gas line project resumes Monday
Updated 12/29/17
Project is about to begin
Updated 12/7/17
Notes from 12/7/17 briefing by Columbia Gas
Smithfield’s $755,000 gas line replacement project is part of a state-wide effort ($37 Million in 2017) to upgrade its infrastructure. Main Street lines date back to 1983; it’s time for an upgrade.
Key highlights:
- The project is scheduled to take 10 weeks and starts the first week of January;
- it begins with the 300 block – Cocke’s Lane (next to Visitor Center) down to Institute Street);
- progresses down to 200 block (Institute to Mason) and then to the 100 block (Mason to Church);
- full closure to vehicular traffic will be required in the block where work is underway;
- the work crew will accommodate as best as possible package (e.g., UPS) deliveries;
- if safety allows, vehicles may be given access overnight and on week-ends.
Service lines to businesses and private residences:
- Most, if not all, lines from the street to the gas meters will be replaced;
- customers will be given advanced notice of the work for their service lines and the cutover;
- access to the interior of the building will be required to complete the cutover;
- sidewalks will be closed when the service lines are installed to a building.
At the conclusion of the project, Main Street will be resurfaced. Asphalt is NOT being considered and the current brick crosswalks WILL remain.
If you are NOT a Columbia Gas customer, NOW is the time to request service. Installation fees to install the service line are waived (when the connection is within 150 feet of the main line) and the need to excavate the newly resurfaced Main Street will be avoided. To discuss a new service installation, please call Columbia Gas at 800-440-6111.
Check for updates throughout the project here, on Facebook/smithfield2020 or sign up for e-bulletins via email to smithfield2020@gmail.com.
A summary of the gas line replacement project has been provided by Columbia Gas.
Updated 4/13/18 -
Ladies and gentlemen, Main Street is open!
No barrier, orange barrel or detour sign in sight.
Updated 4/9/18 -
One milestone to go
Updated 3/26/18 -
Two milestones to go
Updated 3/16/18 -
One more block to go
Updated 3/3/18 -
200 block, take 2
Updated 2/23/18 -
300 block is wrapping up; time for the 200 block
Updated 2/15/18
Status check
Updated 1/24/17
Gas line project working its way down the 300 block
Updated 1/9/18
Gas line project resumes Monday
Updated 12/29/17
Project is about to begin
Updated 12/7/17
Notes from 12/7/17 briefing by Columbia Gas
Smithfield’s $755,000 gas line replacement project is part of a state-wide effort ($37 Million in 2017) to upgrade its infrastructure. Main Street lines date back to 1983; it’s time for an upgrade.
Key highlights:
- The project is scheduled to take 10 weeks and starts the first week of January;
- it begins with the 300 block – Cocke’s Lane (next to Visitor Center) down to Institute Street);
- progresses down to 200 block (Institute to Mason) and then to the 100 block (Mason to Church);
- full closure to vehicular traffic will be required in the block where work is underway;
- the work crew will accommodate as best as possible package (e.g., UPS) deliveries;
- if safety allows, vehicles may be given access overnight and on week-ends.
Service lines to businesses and private residences:
- Most, if not all, lines from the street to the gas meters will be replaced;
- customers will be given advanced notice of the work for their service lines and the cutover;
- access to the interior of the building will be required to complete the cutover;
- sidewalks will be closed when the service lines are installed to a building.
At the conclusion of the project, Main Street will be resurfaced. Asphalt is NOT being considered and the current brick crosswalks WILL remain.
If you are NOT a Columbia Gas customer, NOW is the time to request service. Installation fees to install the service line are waived (when the connection is within 150 feet of the main line) and the need to excavate the newly resurfaced Main Street will be avoided. To discuss a new service installation, please call Columbia Gas at 800-440-6111.
Check for updates throughout the project here, on Facebook/smithfield2020 or sign up for e-bulletins via email to smithfield2020@gmail.com.
A summary of the gas line replacement project has been provided by Columbia Gas.
Measuring economic vitality in the Historic District
A report replacing the Visitor Trends uses a more direct measure of the economic vitality in the Historic District. Meals taxes, collected quarterly by the Town, have been aggregated for Historic District establishments and a ten year meals tax trend report has been compiled. (Sales taxes, a more accurate measure, are collected by the Commonwealth and reported only at the county or city level; isolating the data for a handful of Town businesses is not feasible.)
A report replacing the Visitor Trends uses a more direct measure of the economic vitality in the Historic District. Meals taxes, collected quarterly by the Town, have been aggregated for Historic District establishments and a ten year meals tax trend report has been compiled. (Sales taxes, a more accurate measure, are collected by the Commonwealth and reported only at the county or city level; isolating the data for a handful of Town businesses is not feasible.)
Proposed development of "Pierceville"
A proposal to purchase the 58-acre property of Mrs. Mary Delk Croker and develop it into a neighborhood of single family homes, if approved, would have a significant impact on the economic and cultural vitality of the Historic District. In May 2015, Smithfield 2020 launched a project to evaluate the proposal from three perspectives - the preservation of the historic Thomas Pierce farmstead, the master plan of a proposed neighborhood and the economic impact of the new households on the Historic District. A report summarizing the evaluation was submitted on July 7 to the Town Planning Commission for consideration in its review a rezoning request submitted by a developer.
(Pierceville is located at 502 Grace Street, west of Cary Street and north of the former Little's Market on Main Street. While much of it is currently agricultural land, the Thomas Pierce house and several out-buildings are designated Historic District landmarks.)
A proposal to purchase the 58-acre property of Mrs. Mary Delk Croker and develop it into a neighborhood of single family homes, if approved, would have a significant impact on the economic and cultural vitality of the Historic District. In May 2015, Smithfield 2020 launched a project to evaluate the proposal from three perspectives - the preservation of the historic Thomas Pierce farmstead, the master plan of a proposed neighborhood and the economic impact of the new households on the Historic District. A report summarizing the evaluation was submitted on July 7 to the Town Planning Commission for consideration in its review a rezoning request submitted by a developer.
(Pierceville is located at 502 Grace Street, west of Cary Street and north of the former Little's Market on Main Street. While much of it is currently agricultural land, the Thomas Pierce house and several out-buildings are designated Historic District landmarks.)
