Extensive road work in Wyoma Square to limit travel

LYNN – A two-year construction project in Wyoma Square is getting underway this week.”It’s just temporary, that’s what people need to remember,” said Ward 1 Councilor Wayne Lozzi. “It will be beautiful when it’s done.”Preparation work has been taking place in the area since late last year, but the state highway project is just heating up.One of the most noticeable changes so far is the removal of some trees and the encircling of others with slats of wood. According to Department of Transportation spokesman Amanda Richard, there are a limited number of trees that have been or will be removed to accommodate the widening and what she calls the realignment of the sidewalk, which is aimed at improving traffic flow.”Once the construction is completed, additional trees will be planted,” she said.The Department of Public Works has already addressed the tree issue. DPW Chief Andrew Hall said trees ringed with upright two-by-fours are expected to remain following construction. The wooden slats are designed to protect the trees from possible bumps by equipment, he explained. Other trees were removed after the tree warden deemed them unhealthy. Hall said many were nearly hollow from rot or filled with ants.The $4.6 million state project will include road and sidewalk reconstruction on the section of Broadway from Boston Street to Lynnfield Street. Richard said the work involves widening the road, adding wheelchair ramps, new traffic signals, curbing, drainage improvements, signage and a fully re-paved roadway as well as other “incidental items.”Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy has issued a request for motorists to seek alternative routes to Wyoma Square. She said there will be detours all week due to hydrant work and one side of Parkland Avenue from Richardson Road to Broadway will be closed for the next two days.Lozzi said for people traveling into downtown, taking Walnut Street would be the most likely alternative route, and those that actually live in and around Wyoma would have to use Euclid Avenue and other side streets as best they can.”I’m not overly alarmed about the detours,” he added.Lozzi said he’s received some calls from residents concerned about how the work will impact traffic and about the specific timeline, but he said there isn’t much they can do but work through it.”Unfortunately we’re at the mercy of the contractor, and hopefully they’ll do the work in an efficient manner and get it done as soon as possible,” he said.Richard said the state anticipates that the project will be completed in the spring of 2016.Lozzi reiterated that while the project is lengthy, it is not permanent.”People start to think that it this is the way it is, but it’s just temporary,” he said.