Ed Carway, a Somerset resident, told the Somerset County Board of Commissioners during the meeting’s public comment period on Sept. 9 that the county began construction on a bridge on Aug. 18 and that the work — he said — “will take over 30 days,” disrupting a major school-bus route as the new school year began.
Carway said he emailed county officials, including the director, twice and received no responses. “None,” he said of replies to his emails. He added that Franklin Mayor Kramer replied the next day after Carway contacted him and urged the county to do a better job coordinating timing and communications.
Director Robinson responded during the meeting that he had been in contact with Franklin officials and with the township administrator and that some questions had been deferred to municipal officials. “I deferred the response to the mayor. I had been in contact with the mayor,” Director Robinson said, adding that coordination occurred between the county, Franklin’s administrator and the school transportation office.
A county staff member described a construction complication the county said contributed to the timing. “The contractor experienced some difficulty in locating, dealing with the water main, [which] was in a different position than originally thought, and it was deeper. So that then caused additional delays in the design and the implementation of the project,” the staff member said, adding that the county accepts responsibility for the disruption and that communication could have been better.
Carway urged the commission to be more responsive and to plan around the school calendar. “If you’re going to hold elected office, you need to be reachable. You need to think ahead,” he said.
The discussion at the Sept. 9 work session was part of the meeting’s public comment portion; no formal county action on the bridge project was taken at that session. Commissioners and staff said the county will take lessons from the incident about communication and scheduling when contractors encounter unforeseen conditions.
Details provided at the meeting: the resident said work began Aug. 18 and described an expected duration of more than 30 days; county staff identified an unanticipated water-main depth and location as a cause for delay; Franklin Mayor Kramer and Franklin Township officials were involved in follow-up communications. The county did not give a revised completion date during the Sept. 9 session.
Who is affected: the county characterized the primary local impact as disruptions to students, parents and school-bus drivers who use the route through Franklin Township; commissioners said they would seek to improve notification and coordination processes with municipal partners for future projects.
No vote or formal directive to change the project schedule was recorded at the Sept. 9 work session.