Officials to present Nahant Causeway rehab plans

NAHANT – Representatives from the Department of Conservation and Recreation are scheduled to give an overview of the Causeway rehabilitation project to selectmen Thursday night.Nahant Town Administrator Mark Cullinan said the agency would give a brief overview of revisions made to the plan at the meeting, which will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall.Cullinan said the initial plan called for narrowing the Nahant Causeway to one lane in each direction at the midway point on the inbound side from Lynn to Nahant, replacing the Jersey barrier in the middle of the Causeway with rumble strips and adding a crosswalk at the midway point.He said the project has been changed to address the issues and concerns of the town.”The biggest concerns we had were the crosswalk, median strip and funneling down to one lane inbound,” he said. “This plan looks a lot better. The crosswalk has been taken out at the midway point and the inbound side would remain two lanes all the way into town.”Cullinan said instead of installing rumble strips to separate the inbound and outbound lanes, the new plan calls for a post and cable type barrier on the median.He said with the new plan the outbound lane of the Causeway is one lane from the exit of town to the halfway house but there is a breakdown lane where it is one lane.”We would prefer two lanes in both directions,” he said. “But this is a big improvement over the initial product.”The revised plans are available for viewing at the public library and Nahant Town Hall. The public comment period ends on July 15 and anyone who would like to submit a comment on the proposal should do so by sending an e-mail to [email protected] or send comments to: Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) Office, Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, 100 Cambridge St., Suite 900, Boston, MA 02114 Attn: Project #: 14268.Cullinan said he believes the DCR plans to start the work next spring.