“Effective Monday, Nov. 15, the Wakeman Road Gate to Bedford Middle School will be closed for through traffic, as will the gate between Bedford Middle School and Staples High School.  Juniors attending Staples High School who are eligible to park along Wakeman Road once again will be permitted to park there.  The alternative traffic patterns that had been in place while North Avenue and Cross Highway were being re-surfaced, have been discontinued.  Normal traffic patterns for entering Bedford Middle School and Staples High School will resume on Monday, Nov. 15.”

This is the latest in the project that has had an impact on many Westport residents.  According to the Westport Public Works website, two years ago construction workers did something wrong repaving certain roads.  Now, they’re doing a five-week-long project repaving Roseville Road, North Avenue, and portions of Cross Highway and Long Lots Road, the roads most used for Westport’s schools. The $1.2 million project is in phase 2 of the the work, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  Approximately $500,000 worth of repaving work on portions of the same roadways was done earlier this year in phase 1 of the construction.

Why now of all times?  Money, called the TARP funds were asked for from the government months ago, but the applications was approved just after the summer ended, and the funds must be used before the end of December, which means they have to get is done all at once, or else there will be no construction at all.