Happy New (Fiscal) Year!

Welcome to the weekly Right-of-Way construction update email. As a

reminder, this summary email is intended to keep city departments and

officials whose operations and constituents may be impacted by

construction informed of those activities at a citywide, high level.

Please note that these highlights_ may not _paint the full picture of

upcoming work for a particular project, and therefore project-specific

information is best reviewed at individual project websites, or by

contacting the Communications Construction Public Information Officer,

Erica Mace (at x2615), for full details. Highlights for the next week

include:

Pavement Management Program – D&R Paving

* Sidewalk construction on Cedar Street between Broadway and Highland

Avenue requiring parking restrictions and partial closures of the

street. The contractor will only be working on Monday and Tuesday, and

will be taking a holiday starting on July 4th and returning to the site

on Monday, July 9th.

* Please note that the Powder House Boulevard construction crew has to

attend an emergency outside of Somerville; therefore, sidewalk

construction there will not occur next week.

Beacon Street Road Reconstruction – MassDOT and Newport Construction

* Reconstruction of the Beacon/Washington intersection requiring

parking restrictions and one-way alternating traffic on Beacon and full

closure of Washington Street on Saturday, 30 June 2018 between 7AM and

4PM. Please note that the work includes paving, and the forecast

includes high temperatures, so the extended closure is required to allow

the pavement to cool.

* Switch over of Eversource Electric service wires at a few locations

in the Beacon Street corridor requiring parking restrictions and night

work.

Gas Main Replacement – Eversource

* Eversource gas main replacement Prospect Street between Somerville

Ave and Bennet Court and on Everett Street near Newton Street requiring

parking and traffic restrictions including lane shifts and alternating

traffic.

* Eversource gas main and service connection replacements on Powder

House Blvd between Curtis Street and Alewife Brook Parkway requiring

parking and traffic restrictions. It is anticipated that work east of

North Street will be complete by mid-July and that work will switch to

west of North at that time.

* Eversource gas service replacement on Oak Street between Houghton and

Prospect Streets requiring parking restrictions and road closure to

non-abutters.

* Eversource gas main replacement on Hawthorne Street between Cutter

and Willow Avenues requiring parking restrictions and road closure to

non-abutters.

* Eversource gas main replacement on Francesca Avenue between College

and Liberty Avenues requiring parking restrictions and road closure to

non-abutters.

* Eversource gas main replacement on Foskett Street between Willow Ave

and Liberty Road requiring parking restrictions and road closure to

non-abutters. Please note that due to ledge, Eversource anticipates work

on Foskett will be protracted.

* Please note that Eversource gas main replacement on Meacham Road

between Buena Vista Avenue and the Cambridge city line is on hold

pending Historical Commission review of gas meter placement.

Somerville Avenue Utility and Streetscape Improvements – Barletta Heavy

Division

* Water and sewer realignments in Somerville Ave between Bow and

Prospect Streets and in the Plaza requiring parking restrictions and

lane shifts.

* Cleaning and inspection of sewers in Somerville Ave between Bow and

Medford Streets requiring parking restrictions and lane shifts.

Gore Street Cambridge Sewer – J. Derenzo

* Water and sewer installation in Medford Street between South Street

and the Cambridge city line requiring parking restrictions, and one-way

alternating traffic.

Sewer System Evaluation Study – Somerville Sewer Department, Weston &

Sampson, and NWMCC

·         Sewer investigations in the area bound by Broadway, Holland

Street, and Davis Square requiring  parking restrictions and temporary

traffic impacts.

Keolis – MBTA Track Improvements

·         Please note that Keolis is currently performing track

improvements both in anticipation of the GLX project and for regular

maintenance. Dating back to original railway licenses, the City does not

have any jurisdiction over activities within the rail right of way. As

such, we unfortunately do not have any advance updates to share

regarding that work, which has often included night activities. As the

construction transitions from Keolis to GLX-Constructors, with whom we

are developing relationships, we hope to be in a better position to

provide those.

Cedar Street Sewer Separation – P. Gioioso & Sons

* Construction crews will return after the Fourth of July week to

begin sidewalk construction on Cedar between Elm Street and Summer

Street.

Gas Main Replacement – National Grid

* As you may have heard, National Grid is on lockout due to contract

negotiations. As such National Grid is not anticipated to be working

next week.

No contractors will be working on the holiday, July 4th, and all expect

to complete heavy construction activities by noon on Tuesday to allow

time to clean and make safe their work zones for the holiday.

There are several ways to report issues with construction activities.

Engineering’s Construction Liaison & Compliance Manager, Jesse Moos,

works directly with contractors to mitigate any concerns or issues

related to projects under Engineering’s purview. Jesse can be reached at

617-625-6600 x5419. Please note that given the low projected

construction schedule next week, Jesse will be taking couple of very

well deserved vacations days on Monday and Tuesday, so please direct any

urgent calls to the main Engineering line, x5400. Additionally, the

City’s overall construction management and feedback team is available by

emailing construction@somervillema.gov. This  email address is primarily

managed by Erica Mace, but also goes directly to Jesse as well as myself

and Jackie Rossetti. This email address can and should be used by staff

and community members alike for quick issue resolution.

As always, thanks for your attention and support as we build a better

Somerville!

Kind regards,

Katjana Ballantyne

President, Board of Aldermen

Alderman Ward 7, Somerville