LYNN — Residents and commuters can expect a new water main underneath a newly-paved Broadway next spring, as the Lynn Water and Sewer Commission secured $2.6 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to replace the existing water main.
Lynn Water and Sewer Commission Executive Director Daniel O’Neil said that of the five projects the commission pitched in the first round of ARPA funding, the new water main was the only one that was accepted.
“We put in about five projects, and I think we got one of them, it looks like we’ve got [$2.6 million] to be placed in the water main on Broadway, and a section on Lynnfield Street,” O’Neil said. “We’re going to replace a 100-year-old six-inch water main with a new eight or 10 inch water main that’s going to be looped on Broadway from Jenness Street all the way to basically the other side, looped back to Jenness Street. It’s about two miles of new pipe with high goods and services and obviously a new road.”
O’Neil said that the current main has weathered tuberculation and mineral deposits, which negatively impact its performance. He said that the design of a new pipe, which should take about six months, will start once the Lynn Water Sewer Commission receives the approved funds.
“It will be a significant improvement for the water domestic system and the fire protection,” O’Neil said. “It’s just an older water main, it’s a six inch water main that through the years has tuberculation and mineral deposits that affects the capacity of the water main to supply adequate pressures and flows to the area, and we’re going to significantly improve it with a brand new pipe…. It’s gonna be six months to design it, I’m going to estimate six months to design it.”
Mayor Jared Nicholson said that the city prioritizes infrastructure projects such as the water main replacement as steps toward a resilient water supply and improved roadways.
“Maintaining and investing in our infrastructure is always a top priority,” Nicholson said. “The new water main system will deliver improved resilience to our water supply and safe, reliable water, as well as allow us to repave the affected roads.”
Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at [email protected].
