Saugus able to erase highway headache

SAUGUS – The town has finally caught a lucky break regarding a longtime water line problem on Route 1 north.A water line project aimed at helping Lynnfield has also helped the town access a newer water line that runs from the Walnut Street overpass to the Lynnfield town line.Department of Public Works Superintendent Joseph Attubato said the old 6-inch water line that dates back to the 1920s has finally been abandoned in favor of a newer cast iron waterline circa 1970.”We’ve been trying to get something done for years,” Attubato said. “We finally got to abandon that old line and now we’re on a 10-inch line.”Attubato said the 10-inch line was installed along the side of Route 1 north in the mid 1970s to service fire hydrants.Last fall, Lynnfield asked Town Manager Andrew Bisignani for permission to temporarily tie in to Saugus’ 10-inch line to increase Lynnfield’s water capacity until the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority could put in a new line on the south side of Route 1. Lynnfield said it would not only pay for the water it used, but would also pay a sum of money for mitigation, which Bisignani said was enough to cover the expense of tying Saugus homes and businesses along Route 1 into the 10-inch line.”It cost the town virtually nothing to tie in and it resolves about 15 percent of the problem on Route 1,” Bisignani said.Water lines along Route 1 have been a thorn in the town’s side for years. The old lines follow the path of the original Newbury Turnpike, which puts them directly in the middle of the high-speed lane of Route 1. When the pipelines would break, which has been frequently over the years, it often resulted in closing down two of Route 1’s three lanes.Attubato said the best part of using the 10-inch line is that it runs alongside Route 1 rather than down the middle.Attubato said the pipe, despite being over 30 years old, is also in good shape.”There’s another part of Route 1, down below Kowloon I’d like to get to but that’s for another time,” he said. “It’s good just to get this out of the way.”Attubato had nothing but praise for DPW workers Craig Parks and Jimmy Waugh as well as Clark Harris, an engineer from Camp Dresser McKee, all who worked on the project.”And Andy (Bisignani) too,” he added quickly. “Everything just clicked. I never thought I’d see the day we’d get this done but sometimes everything just clicks.”Bisignani said he estimates the deal with Lynnfield saved the town a considerable sum.”We could have done this ourselves a long time ago but it would have cost a lot,” he said. “This was a smooth and orderly process and a win-win for our neighbor Lynnfield and the town of Saugus.”