Lynn road work could end by school year start

LYNN – Euclid Avenue?s reconstruction could be completed before the Sept. 3 start date for schools, said city Public Works Commissioner Andrew Hall, who said the next week?s worth of work will cause some traffic disruptions and delays.Workers tore up the old road bed from Maple Street to Broadway this week, bringing traffic to a halt or sending it toward Wyoma Square by way of police-supervised detours.?The top surface of the road had failed so we milled it away,” Hall said.Hall said workers over the next several days will check metal castings dotting Euclid to determine if they need to be raised or lowered to conform with the new road surface height.Public works employees will clear away loose asphalt around the edges of residents? driveways and utility crews will check Euclid from Maple Street to Broadway for any signs of natural gas leaks.Some of the work will require detours and traffic disruptions, but Hall said the work will not cause delays comparable to the ones drivers experienced this week during the milling work. Final work will involve paving a new roadbed.Euclid resident Frank Robinson said the last major repairs to Euclid occurred 18 years ago, and he hopes ongoing repairs will make the street safer.Robinson and Shawn Kinney live at opposite ends of Euclid, but they both have horror stories about bad accidents on a street known for its lead-footed drivers.?Speeding is the biggest problem. At night, you wouldn?t believe it,” Kinney said.Kinney?s house overlooks the busy corner where Fernwood Avenue drops down a hill and empties onto one of Euclid?s many curved stretches. He can still remember the car collision with a dump truck that killed a woman.?It was horrible,” he said.Robinson watched in amazement one day as a tire rolled up his driveway followed by a driver who explained he lost the tire a short distance up Euclid from Robinson?s house.?We also had a guy in a red Corvette do two wheelies at 1 a.m. before he backed into a porch,” Robinson said.Cathy Segal has seen “more close calls than you would like to see” on the corner of Euclid where she has worked for Connor Real Estate for the last 14 years.Kinney hopes city officials will improve traffic safety on Euclid, once it is repaved, by stepping up patrols to stop speeders.?It?s the biggest problem – you wouldn?t believe it at night,” he said.Robinson said a repaved Euclid Avenue might keep manhole covers from clanking and banging at night when heavy trucks pass over the covers.