More than $1.6 million in planned local public works projects are delayed or deleted as a result of town meeting’s surprise rejection of a line in the fiscal 2023 capital article almost two months ago.
The explanation in the printed warrant listed Great Road Master Plan design, Minuteman Bikeway extension “construction services,” and bike shelters as examples of projects.
An earlier vote scuttled construction of the bikeway extension plan – at least for this year. Some voters asked about the impact of that decision on the capital article, which was not amended to reflect the change. Indeed, there was no monetary breakdown of the components.
Last week Department of Public Works Director David Manugian explained that the bikeway proposal called for burying the town’s fiber optic cable under the route during construction.
The fiber-optic network is designed to eventually connect all municipal facilities; the bikeway route is close to pumping stations on Parker Road and Bonnievale Drive. ”Now we save to pay for telephone lines to ensure emergency communication,” Manugian said.
The bikeway extension article is expected to reappear on the fall town meeting warrant, as an infusion of federal money has extended the window of opportunity for project funding. Manugian said the fiber optic installation is also likely to reappear, still trying to piggyback on the excavation.
But other components of the defeated transportation article won’t be back so soon. “There’s a mix of activity,” Manugian said. “Some projects need planning and design, others are ready for construction.”
For example, there were plans to design a culvert that channels the Shawsheen River beneath the Summer Street bridge.
Manugian said the existing culvert is “starting to fail,” and the lost funding would have covered the design so the replacement could be scheduled for the summer of 2023.
The funding for the Great Road Master Plan was targeted to design improvements at the intersection of Concord, North, and The Great Roads – the location of Willson Park, Manugian said.
“A few years ago the project was put on hold because we couldn’t find consensus,” he continued. “We wanted to have funds available to restart that process.”
Another casualty is a color-coded town street map designating the status of resurfacing priorities using color codes. There were also plans for bicycle shelters at Job Lane School and John Glenn Middle School.
The capital article section “funded less-visible things,” the director said. “Each year different neighborhoods reach out for speed control.” The equipment for that traffic calming was a victim of the defeat. Also, “We fund our project design and oversight from this article.”
Mike Rosenberg can be reached at [email protected], or 781-983-1763
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Let’s hope that when and if these projects are included in Special Town Meeting in the fall, that they are broken out individually, with appropriate dollar amounts attached to each individual project within the article, and not lumped together into one large dollar amount as they were at ATM. It doesn’t bode well with many voters when you want to support, say, Wilson Park, but if you vote for that, a large portion of the monies are also allocated to the Bikeway extension, or other projects that you may or may not support.
I agree 100%. Thanks Angela
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