I reached out to the Newberg Graphic, who agreed to send a reporter to investigate if the next phase of construction continues to be unsafe for the residents of South East Dundee.
In addition, I made a plea tonight at the Dundee City Council that more effort be put towards safety and possibly sound mitigation (and less towards art work).
Please join with me in pushing for the next phase of construction to be safer or I fear that the contractor will end up hurting someone in our neighborhood and I'm scared that my wife and daughter are closest to the risk living right next to their base camp. Road work machinery provides no room for error and its size decimates most things you would find in a residential neighborhood.
This is the email I sent to ODOT after the meeting tonight-
Good evening,
I just wanted to follow up in writing what I said at the city council meeting (and hopefully be a little more clear).
My calls for safety during the last phase of the Bypass were ignored as evidenced by the incidents almost to the day the contractor left. I've sent a list of those incidents before so I won't send them again but I would like to ask that moving forward the site workers:
Obey the speed limit
Put the contractor company and a ref # on all trucks being used on site so residents can complain specifically about offensive vehicles
Establish a safety committee that is required for the GC and all subs and put a community member on the committee. I would be happy to volunteer. This should be a re-occurring meeting with notes taken so continuing offenses can be documented.
I'm afraid that if you don't establish some of these industry best practices for working in a residential neighborhood you will hurt someone. Again, the 1st phase of the project demonstrated that potential with several near-injury incidents.
Because the last several times I've written ODOT about incidents and suggestions I've received no response I reached out to the Newberg Graphic. They've agreed that if the next phase continues to operate in an unsafe manner they are willing to send out a reporter to investigate.
Please, for the sake of my family, make the next contractor act like he's in a residential neighborhood. Heavy civil construction isn't home construction. When accidents happen with big equipment people get seriously hurt or die. My degree is in construction management and I've worked Heavy Civil jobs across the West as a Project Engineer for both Granite and Kitchell. I know the damage heavy machinery can cause.
And on that note, please don't put the office across the street from our house. It increases the traffic in our neighborhood and we often have to listen to cussing all day. It's quite clear in our home and that's not the environment I want my wife and daughter in even if I can handle it (and I'm moving to rotating shiftwork so I too will be home on weekdays).
Looking forward to a better experience with the next phase,
Isaiah
