VERNON, CT — In the wee hours of Wednesday, the loud wail of a construction vehicle could be heard up-and-down center road.
It was that of a line painting crew hustling to finish a road improvement project on the thoroughfare that leads to both an elementary school and the middle school.
Alas, things were finished in time for the start of classes Wednesday after a frustrating situation with Mother Nature.
Center Road leads directly to Center Road School and to Vernon Center Middle School via Peterson Road, West Street and Hartford Turnpike. Paving work was completed in late August and guidelines were painted for the center lines, crosswalks, border lines and stop lines.
Then came the rains, which messed the contractor's schedule, town officials said.
Rather than wing it on the first day of school, the Vernon Department of Public Works sprang into action and hand-painted the imperative markings the day before the buses started rolling.
The contractor was slated to do the permanent line-painting soon after, but more rains came.
A scheduling window was finally opened this week.
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