Ammon neighbors concerned over new sidewalk near ditch

AMMON --

VO: It’s been a loud, dirty summer. At least that’s what some neighbors in this Ammon community have been saying.

SOT: “This doesn’t make a very good presentation of our town, but it’s what it is,” resident JoAnne Summers says.

VO: The road construction on Midway Avenue was supposed to be completed on the first week of August, but it’s still going.

And it isn’t just the speed of the project neighbors are worried about; it’s the exposed nearby ditch.

SOT: “We’ve gone from one hazard with the kids having to ride there bikes and everything in the street now to another hazard with having sidewalks right up to the ditch,” Summers says.

STAND UP: Neighbors say city officials have given them various answers as to whether or not the ditch will be filled on Midway. On the east side of Midway the ditch has been covered and they’ve installed a pipe. But, on the west side of Midway the ditch is stilled filled with water. Let’s see what city officials have to say.

SOT: “The cities initial design, almost a year and a half ago when they were first initially looking at this design was always to avoid the ditch covering up,” City engineer Tracy Bono says.

VO: The city says it will cost $100,000 to cover the ditch…and there haven’t been accidents at this site before…so it will remain open.

SOT: “The city looked at cost savings over safety. The water was only running seven days on and about two weeks off, so it’s not like there was a lot of water in there the whole time. So the city just made an evaluation of it and decided that the cost savings was worth not covering up the ditch,” Bono says.

VO: Neighbors say they understand the city’s position…but they don’t agree with it and hope nobody gets hurt.

SOT: “I think the finished product will be wonderful. We’re just hopeful that it happens sometime soon,” Summers says.

VO: In NH, EIN.com