It’s what drivers, residents and business owners in Troy have been waiting to hear for months -- Campbell Avenue will reopen for the morning commute Wednesday.For the past nearly four months, people in Troy couldn’t decide which was worse – the annoying construction noise, the detour, or the speed bumps in residential neighborhoods.
“It's terrible,” said one driver.
“They need to get that fixed over there,” said another angry passerby.
“Just terrible,” said another.
But Mayor Lou Rosamilia eased all of those frustrations Tuesday night.
“Campbell Avenue will reopen to all traffic tomorrow morning,” he said at a public meeting.
The cheers came from inside the meeting and out.
“Yeah! Get ’er done,” yelled another driver through his open window when we told him the news.
And residents who live along the detour route were overwhelmed with a similar excitement.
“Yay,” yelled Sherman Avenue resident Lee Yost. “That's the best news I have heard in a long time.”
Yost’s home is directly in line with one of those speed bumps.
“I actually forget how quiet our street used to be,” she said. “People are so annoyed by the speed bump next to my house the will drive over it and beep.”
This has been going on since February, when unstable soil prompted the road closure.
Since then, crews have installed new sewer, water and gas lines.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” Rosamilia said. “We're just asking people to take their time just not rush.”
Business owners along the closed section of Campbell Ave. are thrilled to see drivers pass by again.
“It will definitely increase the traffic around here again,” explained Bob DeMeo, owner of Bob DeMeo’s Wine and Liquors. “The crew worked through the rain and the snow and they did the best they possibly could with what they had to work with.”
Meanwhile, residents are looking forward to their neighborhoods returning to normal.
“The peace and quiet, the kids can walk down the street, we can walk the dog, we can sleep with the windows open,” Yost said with a smile.
Since the damage is a result of Irene and Lee, FEMA has granted the City $1.3 million dollars to pay for the project.
The city estimates the project to be somewhere between $1 million and $1.5 million.
The Mayor says there is still a lot of work to be done.
Crews will still be working on reshaping the embankment to create a more gradual slope, and the city engineer says there could be some occasional lane closures until that's finished in September.
After that, the city will repave Campbell Avenue, will consider replacing the sidewalks, and will also evaluate the need to repave Sherman Avenue.
