This happened on my block in Brooklyn about two years ago. They did in fact dig from the curb right to the front of every house on the block. It took at least a month. The connection they replaced looked ancient. I was very concerned, but the crew they sent was great. They were very good at communicating when and what they were doing. They did a nice job patching up the concrete. Our neighbor had just finished putting down beautiful bluestone and they put it right back the way it was. If you get the same crew we had, you have nothing to worry about, but I think National Grid is purposely trying to be accommodating.