Nahant Causeway repairs near end

NAHANT – Work to rebuild the two mile stretch that connects Nahant to Lynn is on schedule to be completed by the end of May, according to both the Department of Conservation and Recreation and the contractor.”There has been what looks like a crazy flurry of activity and it will be done by Memorial Day weekend,” said DCR spokesman William Hickey.The Nahant Causeway reconstruction project was launched in July 2010 with plans to redo the inbound and outbound lanes, repair the seawall, put in new drainage, new barriers and fencing, plantings, a redesigned parking lot and new lighting.The project sailed along until it didn’t last September when the general contractor Pihl Inc. walked off the job and filed for bankruptcy. While the job was 95 percent complete, according to Jim Caputo, DCR’s resident engineer, there was still a lot of work to do.Work picked back up in November and in the last few weeks, the project has truly taken shape, giving travelers a real glimpse of what the final project will look like, Hickey said.Sea grass has been planted along the beach side of the parking lot protected by a new wood rail fence. New boardwalks have also gone down giving beachgoers and easy path from pavement to sand.Hickey noted that workers have been busy in the last week putting finishing touches on the rock garden at the Nahant end of the project, planting trees and shrubs and laying the groundwork to finish the barrier between the beach parking and the causeway.The wave wall only covers a portion of the roadway. Caputo said the parking lot side will have a stretch of 60-inch vinyl wrapped chain link fence and the causeway side will have steel backed timber fencing, the same that borders the inbound lane, filling the gaps between the wave wall.Caputo said a second entrance solely for beachgoers was also established last week.”It hasn’t been marked out yet because we don’t want people using it,” he said. “When it is, it will be only for going into the reservation. It will require people to take a left turn.”Little Nahant residents or anyone going to The Tides, Dunkin’ Donuts or the bank will be able to take a separate left turn located just ahead of the beach turn off, Caputo explained.Caputo said he was confident that the project would be finished on time, and Town Manager Andrew Bisignani said he had no call to doubt him. He said he was pleased with the way the project was shaping up.”It’s going to be terrific,” Hickey said. “When it’s all done and completed, it will look amazing.”