MONTICELLO

Broadway in Monticello is at the mid-point of a two-and-one-half-year reconstruction project that will that began at the beginning of last summer and will continue until the middle of next summer when the trees are scheduled to be replanted. Broadway is now a dirt road with patches of broken asphalt here and there. Sidewalks are mostly dirt. This picture was taken on a Sunday but on weekdays, Broadway is filled with construction equipment -- trucks, backhoes, shovels, mountains of dirt, you name it. On windy days the dust clouds make breathing difficult. Finding a way to get to the postoffice (or any other stores that are still open) either on foot or in a car is a project that requires the skill of a nuclear scientist and faith to believe that God will get you by the open pits and through the maze of orange and white cones that hopefully offer some degree of guidance. The construction crews have been and are continuing to replace the water and sewer lines that have run under Broadway since early in the last century. When completed, there will be new asphalt pavement, an island down the center of the street from beginning to end, new sidewalks, and the trees will be replaced. Broadway will rise to become a beautiful street again.