Nahant Causeway project nears completion

NAHANT – Four years after breaking ground, the state is in the final stages of turning the Nahant Causeway into a full-fledged reservation.”May 2010 to May 2014 went by like that,” said project engineer James Caputo, smiling while snapping his fingers.According to William Hickey, spokesman for the Department of Conservation and Recreation, about two-thirds of the beach parking lot will be open for the holiday weekend and lifeguards will be on the beach Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The lot will close again on Tuesday, however, while the final touches are put on the project, which has a deadline of May 31.Caputo said a punch list of items, including the final paving of the lot and striping, would likely take place the first week of June, and then it will be complete.Causeway travelers have a better idea of what the final project will look like now that most of the planting and construction has been completed, Caputo noted.Operators and laborers Aires DaSilva, Valdomiro Pacheo, Matthew Arruda, Joe Mederios, Richard Oxley, Gary Mucciarone, Ronald Watt, Steve Watt and Peter Coriera, along with project managers Dante Roberto, Michael Kinahan and Theis Vangsted and forman Duarte Viveiros, have become familiar faces to Nahant Causeway travelers, even though they have probably never met.”They are the guys you’ve seen out in the blistering heat and the minus degree temperatures and the pouring rain and all kinds of weather,” said Caputo. “They are the ones that have worked this project.”The large-scale renovation project was launched in 2010 with plans to rebuild the inbound and outbound lanes, repair the seawall, put in new drainage, new barriers and fencing, plantings, a redesigned parking lot and new lighting. But Caputo and project manager Val Soroka said it became much more than that.When work began on the new drainage system it was discovered that cable, electrical, water and gas lines were all in the way and had to be moved. Soroka said that resulted in a new engineering plan and a five-month delay waiting on various companies to get the work done.It was also discovered that the seawall on the Lynn side of the roadway needed to be completely rebuilt – to minimize water splashing over – and extended, which was not exactly what the original plan had called for.Caputo said the seawall and drainage projects were the toughest part. It’s the rock garden, however, that has likely generated the most discussion.Where there was once free parking, a rock garden has sprung up that, in part, allows beachgoers to queue up off the causeway.”It’s to bring people to a gathering spot,” Soroka said. “They don’t know how much they’re going to love it yet.”Caputo said it softens what was otherwise a rocky parking lot with no character. Detractors argue that it takes away parking. Soroka said it will be open to parking in the off season, as will another section of the lot near the Ward Bath House. He admits that the lot will have only 900-plus parking spots, not as many as before the project began. Caputo said they will know the final number of spaces once they stripe, but he believes it’s worth the trade-off.”This was just a paved lot, not aesthetically pleasing,” Soroka said. “We created a reservation. In a few years, they will appreciate.”Adjacent to the rock garden is a spiral of pavers and in the middle sits a large granite medallion. The top of the medallion sports a polished outline of an aerial view of the town.”There will be a weathervane in the middle,” Caputo said.The project also includes new walkways to the beach, a split rail fence, covered areas to duck out of the sun, a sidewalk along the parking lot separate from the walking path, and will include benches and the installation of portable toilets.Caputo also pointed out the beach grass that has been planted and where dunes that were virtually non-existent were built to protect the beach.Parking fees are set to rise from $3 to $5, but Hickey said it’s still lower than many of DCR’s beac