BY JUNIOUS SMITH III
Staff Writer
Drivers passing through Queen Street Tuesday were provided with an unwelcome surprise, with detour signs and equipment blocking off a portion of a main artery in the city.
Part of North Queen Street at the intersection of Vernon Avenue was closed while members of Kinston Public Services worked on a sewer line.
Kinston City Manager Tony Sears said the repairs were necessary, although it is an inconvenience to many while KPS deals with the issue.
“It’s one of those deals where maintenance workers have to go underneath the road, and they don’t know how much of a problem it can be,” Sears said. “They know where problem is, but don’t know what it will take to repair it until they start working.”
Rhonda Barwick, the director of KPS, said there is extensive work being done.
“An estimated 80 feet of pipe has to be replaced,” Barwick said. “A lot of times, the workers don’t know how much work needs to be done until they dig in, but they’re working as fast as they can to get it taken care of.”
KPS Water Operations Superintendent Dan Daniels said the main was something that had been talked about in advance, but it took a few days before anything could be done.
“We found out a bit about it last week, but it took us a little time to get the utilities and materials to repair it,” Daniels said. “For us, it’s one of our larger problems because we had to close down Queen Street.”
Barwick said the closing should only be temporary, as KPS will spend extensive time on the project.
“They will work as late as they can (Tuesday night), will work on it (today) and should have it resurfaced and finished by Thursday,” Barwick said.
Junious Smith III can be reached at 252-559-1077 and Junious.Smith@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JuniousSmithIII.
