Reconstruction becomes a reality for Franklin St.
Published on February 21st, 2001
STONEHAM, MA - Reconstruction of Franklin Street is scheduled to begin in April 2001 and finish in July 2002.
D&R General Contracting of 138 Franklin Street won the bid for the $2.5 million project. Budgeting zip for travel time may have helped. The State will fund the entire project as part of the Transportation Improvement Program(T.I.P.).
Public Works Director and Town Engineer Bob Grover said that Franklin Street will remain open throughout construction; work will be done in stages, squeezing roadway access at successive points but never cutting off traffic flow.
But the 20,000 folks who use Franklin Street on a work-daily basis should seek alternate routes if possible, Grover urged.
“The street will be open, but there will be delays, especially during rush hour,” Grover said.
Reconstruction of the road — from Central Street to the Melrose line — will include the following improvements: a new, widened road, new granite curbing, new sidewalks, new drainage, four new traffic signals and tree replacement.
The traffic lights will be at the corners of Franklin and Stevens Streets and Franklin and Summer Streets and at the entrance to Stoneham High School at 149 Franklin St. Also, a pedestrian crossing signal will be installed on Franklin Street near the intersection of Perkins Street.
D&R will uproot 26 trees while widening the road, but residents can ask the Town to plant replacements. Anyone who loses a tree can sign a release asking the Town to plant a replacement within six feet of the sidewalk. State money will cover the replacement of 26 trees, but the Stoneham Tree Department will consider requests for two-for-one replacements if the uprooted tree was a giant.
Sidewalk grass strips will be casualties of road widening, as well as the trees. But residents will gain parking spaces on portions of the north side of the street and, according to Grover, left-turn-only lanes will make Franklin Street a safer road.
Stoneham Public Works has already replaced the water and sewerage mains. Boston Gas and Edison have agreed to relocate utilities. And at a Feb. 13 pre-construction meeting, D&R staffers said that they were ready to do the job for which residents have waited almost a decade.
Other infrastructure news
•The $325,000 drainage improvement project at Bear Hill should be complete by spring. Grover anticipates sweet relief from flooding for homeowners along the Sweetwater Brook.
Bear Hill has allowed the Town do the work on the golf course property for no charge. R.A.D. Corporation of Hingham built a pond to hold water that would otherwise run directly into the brook. The pond will feed the water through a six inch pipe into the brook, thereby slowing the flow and allowing the brook to handle the draining rain water without overflowing.
Some mortaring work remains, which cannot be completed until the temperature rises, Grover said.
•The State plans to resurface South Main Street this year. Residents of the tattered road have been waiting for a T.I.P. reconstruction project for 15 years, but a quick fix may come first.
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