Dig Now, Pave Later

by Glenn C. Koenig, Webmaster at Town Wide Mall

Maynard, MA - If it wasn't enough to circumvent the intersection at Concord Street and Route 27 (see previous story, Collision Course, 28 July 2024), drivers now have a new construction area to contend with.  Just down Concord Street, as you head toward Stow, work has started at the corner of Randall Road.  A contractor for Eversource is about to replace gas mains along Randall Road and Mayfield streets.

The work will continue for about a month or so, although the streets involved will be passable after each workday, for the most part.
Fortunately, both Mayfield Street and Randall Road have relatively light traffic volumes.  Along with Brooks Street, they lead into an area of Maynard known as "the maze," with a varitey of intersections, unusual curves, and dead ends.  The area is purely residential and does not provide a way through to any other major route in town.

The work is being conducted based on a cooperation between Maynard's Public works department and Eversource Gas, as underground utility upgrades must be completed before the street above can be repaved.  Without this coordination, there would be the risk that newly paved streets would have to be dug up too soon, resulting in an uneven surface, cracks, pot holes, and accelerated deterioration.

Background

The priorities for this work have been set based on an evaluation of the quality of Maynard's streets conducted by an outside firm hired by the town.  The idea is to allocate funds to maintain, repair, or replace streets, depending on their condition.  According to the town's Highway web page, Maynard has 220 streets and roads, covering approximately 50 miles, so this is not easy task!
The study was described back in the Fall of 2023, on the towns' web site here:
https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/496/Pavement-Management-Program
That web page contains a map that shows a color-coded status of every street in town, reproduced here.

(this is a developing story; stay tuned for further details in this report.)