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3rd Summer St. update hears new completion date, property damage addressed |
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Written by Jeanne Leary
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Sunday, 20 April 2008 |
A crowd of 189 people filled the Peirce School gym April 16 and heard
an update about the long-running Summer Street project, now expected to
be complete by Nov. 22. At the third annual public meeting sponsored by
the Summer Street Neighborhood Association (SSNA), and after it, residents heard these key points:
Earlier story with background about April 16 meeting
 Officials listen as Jeanne Leary presides at the Summer Street meeting at Peirce.
- A
joint Town/State Ombudsman Program was officially unvealed to assist
the scores of homeowners who have incurred property damage due to the
construction project. The SSNA has been tracking these issues and meeting with the Town on a regular basis for the past three years. More than 70 issues are already in the database to be addressed.
- A
Summer Street Beautification Committee has been created to address the
devestation to this area’s natural treeline and other areas of concern
caused by the construction.
- This years construction season will focus on the area between Park Ave and the Lexington line with the majority of work being done in front of McClenne Park. A new “Geogrid” system will be installed as a substructure to stabilize the portion of Summer Street directly in front of McClennen Park.
- 24 additional parking spaces will be added in front of McClennen Park.
- Verizon
continues to remain a major impediment to progress on the project by
not removing the double utility poles that remain in place along the
corridor. Until these are removed, final paving cannot be done.
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Starting the week of April 21, the area from Arthur Road to the end of McClennen Park, will be excavated and then a vapor barrier will be put in place. MassHighway has determined this area of road is not stable enough to support traffic, so a new geogrid system will be placed as a subsupport to stabilize the road. The road will then be paved. MassHighway expects this process to take about four weeks, during which time a detour using Lowell Street is expected.
Joseph Curro, who lives near Symmes and is a School Committee member, asked whether the traffic lights in front of Symmes could be shut off until the complex is built to alleviate the backup it is causing. A MassHighway rep said the signals were all on one controller and not able to be split.
Curro also brought an important safety issue to light: He said most of the homes' gas valves were cemented over when the sidewalks were poured. Some residents have called KeySpan and asked that their valves be raised but many still remain buried.
State and town officials thanked the neighborhood association for its work in the past three years.
The group compiled a summary of the neighbors' concerns and road issues, which was distributed to state, town and MassHighway before the meeting. This allowed the different agencies to work together to solve problems in advance.
Present were Sen. Jim Marzilli and Cindy Friedman, state Rep. Jay Kaufman and Sean Fitzgerald, state Rep. Sean Garballey and Mike McCabe, as well as Selectmen Diane Mahon, Clarissa Rowe and Jack Hurd; Sullivan and John Bean; MassHighway District 4 District Construction Engineer Joseph D’Angelo and Kelloway; and John Fitzgerald, vice president of the project-design firm Fay, Spofford & Thorndike.
The next meeting is May 20 at 7 p.m. at the Community Safety Building.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 27 April 2008 )
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