Having lived in the Mad River Valley and Moretown for many years, I
would like to thank the Moretown road crew employees, as well as all of
the road crew employees in Vermont. I have driven our roads with my
vehicle and a school bus in every town in this school district, and all
of the road crews have been very helpful and industrious in doing their
job.
These employees are out in all kinds of weather -- no matter the day of
the week, time of day, even holidays, when most of us are with our
families -- to make sure that our roads are open and safe for all
people to travel upon. Our roads are open for not only the traveling
public to travel upon, but also for the fire and rescue people to
travel upon if we need their help. These are dedicated people who
deserve a very large thank you from each and every one of us. For
without their dedication to their job we probably wouldn't be going
many places. None of us are perfect, but these crews do a wonderful job
and without complaining -- it is all part of their job.
Moretown has a great many dirt roads. In fact, the only roads that are
paved in Moretown are state highways: Routes 2, 100 and 100B. I believe
that the only section of road in Moretown that is paved (this has only
been recently) is the beginning of Moretown Mountain Road (formerly Cox
Brook Road) out of the village of Moretown. I believe that the paved
section is all of two-tenths of a mile long. The rest of that road is
dirt.
The gravel pit in Moretown village has been there forever as has the
town garage. Yes, work has been done in that area as of late --
Moretown has a new town garage and the gravel pit has been rearranged a
bit -- but nothing has changed in that area concerning the gravel pit
in general. Those folks who are upset about the noise, perhaps should
be happy that they live on a paved road. But that road has gravel upon
it in the winter also. Instead of complaining, why not work to solve
the problem of the back-up alarms? These alarms are required by law and
the town has no say in where or when they should be used.
You folks made the decision to live in that area. You knew that the
gravel pit was there before you purchased your property, so complaining
now is like closing the barn door after all of the cows are out of the
barn. As far as the road crew employees using too much sand -- try
living on a dirt road or traveling a dirt road in the winter without
the sand. You would be surprised how far you would not be able to go.
From me and a host of other people, thank you to the road crews for all
of your work and dedication to your job to keep our roads safe to
travel during all kinds of weather day or night or holiday.
Susan E. Swenson lives in Moretown.
