By Julie McCay Turner
Following up on Chief Robert Bongiorno’s promise to the community that the Bedford Police would be responsive during the resurfacing of runway 11-29, officers were active on Thursday morning as the first heavy-duty dump trucks, more properly known as haul trucks, arrived at Hanscom Field’s South Road staging area to deliver the first loads of new asphalt.
Bedford patrols stopped several operators of trucks that were driving at “high rates of speed,” and issued verbal warnings. Additional signage will be installed in the area, along with continued patrols. A portable traffic speed monitoring unit will be installed to track compliance.
Later that day, several South Road residents reported that the trucks were driving well within posted speed limits.
Through Sgt. Ronald Undzis, the Bedford police department has initiated daily contact with Massport officials and also made sure that all the drivers have site maps marked with their correct routes to both the South Road gate and the Hartwell Road staging area.
“We understand that this is a Massport project,” noted Chief Bongiorno in a telephone interview, “but [the Bedford police] want to be proactive in working with our residents.”
Chief Bongiorno encourages residents to share their feedback in order for the multi-week project to proceed smoothly.
The Massport hotline during business hours is 781-869-8060. To share feedback after hours, 781-275-1212 reaches the Bedford police department’s non-emergency line. Residents should dial 911 in the event of an immediate safety issue or emergency.
Correction, August 4, 2017: The haul trucks at the South Road gate are not “collecting materials milled as the first step in resurfacing runway 11-29,” as previously stated in this story. The milled material is being transported within the airfield to the Hartwell Road staging area where it is loaded into different trucks for removal.