Safe Routes to Schools Project Beginning on High Street
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) has hired R.M. Pacella, Inc. to construct the federally-funded Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS) project along a portion of High Street between Toppans Lane and Buck Street. The contractor is mobilizing to begin work this spring of 2020.
The design of the SRTS project was developed in 2018-2019 by TEC, Inc., and focused on addressing several excessively wide pedestrian crossings of High Street, as well as improving sight lines to pedestrian crossings obscured by parked vehicles, and reconstructing sidewalks and non-compliant curb ramps. MassDOT has assigned a Resident Engineer, Laura Beth Solomon, to manage the project. City staff involved in this project include Geordie Vining from the Newburyport Planning Office, Steve Bergholm from the School Department and Jamie Tuccolo from the Department of Public Services, who will work with MassDOT and the contractor. Design and construction are fully supported by federal funding.
The contractor anticipates substantially completing the SRTS project this year, and is going to provide general “three-week look-ahead” schedules to MassDOT that will be posted on the City’s website. The contractor is currently putting up “work zone” signs and is planning on installing video message boards along High Street during the week of 4/20/20. The subcontractor MON Landscaping will begin installing tree protection and addressing the interface of the sidewalks and roots at the end of April and early May. RM Pacella anticipates beginning installation of new drainage structures and pipes in the road in the High School area of High Street in early May, and will work their way east during the next month or two. Pending permission from the Parks Commission, the contractor anticipates using the southern third of the Cushing Parking Lot on the Washington Street side for a temporary laydown area for the project’s drainage structures and other miscellaneous materials. The project’s work on sidewalks, curbing, driveways, and so forth is anticipated to begin in mid-summer. Work hours will be 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and two lanes of traffic will be maintained at all times. MassDOT and the contractor will individually contact abutters a few days prior to work adjacent to their property.
The contractor’s crew is required to adhere to the state’s COVID-19 safety guidelines and procedures for public works construction sites, including social distancing, wearing gloves, sanitizing best practices, and daily safety checklists. For more information, see: https://www.mass.gov/covid-19-guidelines-and-procedures-for-all-construction-sites-and-workers-at-all-public-work
For more information, contact Geordie Vining, Senior Project Manager in Newburyport’s Planning Office, at gvining@cityofnewburyport.com. (Please note that phone calls are not available due to City Hall’s closure and staff working remotely in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.)