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Paving east side of Main Street brings major construction operations to a close

Workers dig up pavement on Main Street last week, reducing lanes of traffic outside the former Hopkinton Drug site. PHOTO/JERRY SPAR

At its meeting on Aug. 4, the Select Board confirmed that work to pave Main Street in the coming weeks would be the last big step in the Main Street Corridor Project.

“It’s the last major thing that has to happen,” said member Brian Herr. He also acknowledged that associated line painting would tie up traffic on Main Street and require detours.

“There’s going to be a couple situations that are going to be causing some frustration,” he admitted. “But then that’s it.”

The Main Street Corridor Project has been in the works for over eight years. It was approved at Annual Town Meeting in 2018 and faced a challenge from a coalition of residents at a Special Town Meeting the following year.

Construction began in March 2021 and, according to Herr, was supposed to take three years. However, project modifications and delays continued to push back the timeline.

The project, according to documents hosted on ClearGov, was initiated with the aim of improving roadway safety and reducing congestion through the downtown corridor. It addresses transportation goals listed in the town’s Master Plan. The project included roadway reconstruction and resurfacing, sidewalk and bicycle lane construction, realignment of Grove Street and other bicycle and pedestrian accommodations.

Contractor A.F. Amorello & Sons is projected to begin final paving on the east end of the project Aug. 17, according to both Town Manager Elaine Lazarus and the latest Main Street Corridor Project update. Detours will be in place this week and next week, Monday through Friday from 7 a.m.-3 p.m., to accommodate work required prior to paving. Eastbound traffic will be routed up Pleasant Street to Maple Street and then onto Hayden Rowe Street.

Amorello caused a stir last week after initiating an unannounced detour on Aug. 5 to raise castings. Future detours will be submitted in writing and communicated with residents ahead of time, a town official told the Independent last week.

During the Select Board meeting, Herr expressed confidence in how downtown would look once the work was completed. “The three-year project that turned into six is going to be over, and it’s going to look great when it’s done,” Herr said. He added that eight trees along Main Street that did not make it through the winter would be replaced in the next few weeks.

— NICK SCHOFIELD

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Photo of the Day

A double rainbow forms over a street in the Legacy Farms neighborhood on a recent day.

PHOTO/AMIT JAGDALE