Broadway residents: Work will be worth it

LYNN – Tom Ryan?s lived on Broadway for 55 years and he is so happy to see new sidewalks, curbs and grass median strips taking shape in front of his home that he is offering the construction workers water every chance he gets.?The street really needed the work,” Ryan said.Since spring, D & R General Contracting workers have torn up walkways and driveway entrances on both sides of Broadway from Magnolia Avenue to Boston and Chestnut streets and laid down new curbs and sidewalks.The work has brought with it dust, noise and occasional disruptions, but Ryan and neighbor Nisay Mok said the end result will be worth it once construction ends next year.?It?s going to look nice,” Mok said Thursday as she looked down from her front steps at grass seed strewn across a dirt strip between the new curb and sidewalk in front of her home.Melrose-based D & R is being paid $4 million under a state road repair contract to reconstruct Broadway and Wyoma Square. With new curbing and sidewalks almost in place on one side of Broadway, additional curbing and sidewalk work will continue through the end of October.Workers will reconstruct Broadway traffic islands in November before stopping work for the winter.When construction begins again next spring, workers will strip away road surfaces in Wyoma Square, digging down 18 inches to do what Hall called a “full depth” road reconstruction.They will also grind down Broadway?s road surface and repave the street between Magnolia Avenue and Chestnut and Boston streets.Tony Lawrence has lived on Broadway for more than two years and said the sidewalk in front of his house had worn down to street level before reconstruction work started. He said new curbing will prevent drivers from straddling the sidewalk when they park along Broadway.?It will definitely help my property value,” he said.Ryan said the stretch of sidewalk in front of his home crumbled to the point of becoming unsafe.?A lot of people have fallen on it,” he said.Before D & R started work in the spring, Ryan said the last improvement on Broadway near his home occurred 20 years ago when the city planted new trees. Lawrence and Ryan said D & R employees work quickly and keep residents informed about the project?s progress.?The workers are great. I praise them every time I see them,” Ryan said.Mok moved to Broadway because she likes the neighborhood. The reconstruction gives her another reason to be happy about where she lives.?It will improve everything,” she said.