LYNN — Residents expressed concerns about construction in their neighborhoods at a meeting Ward 6 Councilor Fred Hogan hosted at City Hall.
The meeting included updates concerning a combined sewer overflow project that is being pursued in the Oakland Ave neighborhood and a gas line project that is being pursued in the Pine Hill neighborhood.
Department of Public Works Commissioner Andy Hall provided updates and answered questions on the gas line project, along with representatives from National Grid and Mirra Construction.
Hall said the expected completion date for the pipe work on the gas line project is December.
A representative from National Grid said the project has been set back by three to four days due to ledges in the ground, but they expect to reconnect homes to gas within the next couple of weeks. He said any damage that is done to residents’ property or the streets due to the project will be repaired. He said all property will be surveyed toward the end of the project and then fully repaired.
Hall referred residents to contact the company directly if they have concerns about restoration. He also said residents should contact the DPW if they find trouble getting in contact with National Grid.
Residents from Pine Hill voiced some concerns about how construction is being conducted.
Donald Castle said he supports the project, and thinks the upgrades are important, but he asks that the workers on the project be more organized.
He said that several weekends in a row, dirt and gravel has been left out on the road, which is an inconvenience.
The representative from National Grid said it is in the contract to remove any piles of dirt and gravel from the road at the end of the day and this would be reinforced to the workers on the project.
Castle said the trucks also block the roads without leaving safe options for people to cross the street.
Drew Russo, the city’s personnel director, said some of the signage indicating that roads are closed could be made clearer.
“I think those of us who live here can sort of understand what’s going on, but we had a couple of visitors who were very confused,” he said.
Lynn Water and Sewer Commission’s Anthony Marino then gave a presentation with representatives from Stantec, the consultant providing the pump station, and P. Gioioso and Sons, the contractor doing pipe work, to provide an update on the combined sewer overflow project.
Marino said the $103 million project has been in progress since 2020 and encompasses five phases of work. He said work on the pump station, which will be located at McManus field, is about 94 percent complete. The purpose of the project is to install new drainage and pump storm water directly to the ocean.
Residents from the Oakland Ave neighborhood voiced concerns about the construction in the area.
Richard Cushing described a situation in which construction trucks blocked his car into his driveway and he had to speak to five different people to have them move their trucks.
“Communication really has not been good,” he said.
“Our neighborhood is basically being destroyed. Our sidewalks, our curbing, that’s all being destroyed,” Paul Reynolds said.
Janet Rowe asked about the condition of the sidewalks and asked if the contractor will replace them with the concrete they are currently made of.
“We deserve to have concrete sidewalks and curbing which is what we have,” she said.
Rowe said she did not want the curbs and sidewalks to be replaced with asphalt because asphalt is easily ripped up during the winter, which may bring down the value of property.
A representative from P. Gioioso and Sons assured residents that any damage done during construction would be repaired, adding that they would be doing curb-to-curb paving, which would involve resetting any damaged curbs. They said concrete curbs would be replaced with concrete curbs and existing asphalt sidewalks would be replaced with asphalt.
