A plan to install manholes and an underground electrical conduit on Music street, Middle Road and Panhandle Road was revised by the West Tisbury select board this week after Eversource representatives and the town highway supervisor agreed to collaborate on the road reconstruction.

The project, according to Eversource spokesperson Ronit Goldstein, would make the up-Island power grid more reliable and reduce the cost for new hookups.

Construction was initially slated to be completed in October 2021 but has yet to begin. The installation of the conduit is scheduled to start in October, with a temporary road fix put in place until the full restoration gets under way in spring of 2023.

Concerns were raised last year over road surface impacts, especially if the disrupted areas were only patched with asphalt. That board approved the project on the condition that Eversource would completely reconstruct Panhandle Road, installing a new sub-base and asphalt surface.

Select board member and civil engineer Kent Healy, who died in October of 2021, had agreed to supervise the project.

The issue was revisited at a board meeting last week, and continued this week. Project construction manager Matt Venes suggested that Eversource would resurface only the affected land of the road.

Town highway superintendent Richard Olson, calling into the meeting on vacation, raised concerns about the new plan.

“We take a lot of pride in our roads here” he said and suggested that the highway department could contribute funds to ensure that the project is done right.

Mr. Olson and Mr. Venes entered negotiations and presented a revised plan to the select board on Sept. 21, which will have Eversource and the town highway department resurfacing different sections of the road. 

The revised plan passed unanimously.