NEWBURYPORT — With about $1.5 million of the mayor's $2.5 million capital improvement plan going to Department of Public Services projects, citizens will see a lot of construction over the upcoming months.
DPS Director Brendan O'Regan said yesterday that the city has selected Stantec Consulting Services of Westford to design six projects at a cost of $120,000. The city hopes to have a contract finalized with the company by the end of October with plans available for bids this winter, and construction hopefully starting May 1, O'Regan said.
"That's our goal," he said.
The projects include drainage work on Turkey Hill Road and State Street; installing a new box culvert on Plum Island Turnpike; installing a new sidewalk on Ferry Road; sidewalk repairs on Johnson and Water Streets, and shifting a portion of the road on Reservation Terrace.
Drainage
According to O'Regan, Turkey Hill Road will undergo drainage work about 500 feet south of the intersection of Turkey Hill Road and Storey Avenue/Route 113. New drainage on State Street will run from the intersection of State and Greenleaf streets to the intersection of State and High streets.
The catch basins on that part of State Street currently discharge into a sewer pipe, not a drain pipe, which means the water goes to the sewer treatment plant — something that is not needed and is in violation of the discharge permit, O'Regan said yesterday.
"That's not what should be happening," he said.
The city will build a new drain line for those catch basins, he said.
Box culvert
The city will use a $150,000 grant from FEMA to install a large concrete box culvert in a low spot on Plum Island Turnpike near the Mass. Audubon headquarters, O'Regan said, in order to stop roadway washout during major storms, such as the Mother's Day floods of 2006 and the April floods last year.
The pipes under the road have collapsed, he said. The box culvert will be about 4-by-6 feet and will allow water to pass underneath it. The majority of the cost will be funded by the grant, although the city must come up with a 25 percent match.
Sidewalk repairs
Moak also allocated $150,000 of his capital improvements funding to go toward sidewalk repairs. The city has decided to repair the sidewalks on Water Street, which are in "pretty tough shape," O'Regan said, and Johnson Street, a road that is heavily used by walkers going to the Nock Middle School and Fuller Field.
Also, $220,000 will go toward constructing a new asphalt sidewalk on Ferry Road, from the intersection with I-95 to the intersection with Spofford Street.
Finally, a portion of Reservation Terrace on Plum Island will be moved as it's now on private property, O'Regan said. The city will be getting permits from the necessary town boards for this work, he said. The small portion of the road is on the northern end of the road.
