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For the residents of Dyer Avenue, Verndale Road, Lothrop Avenue and the section of Decker Street between Blue Hill Parkway and Essex Road, the inconveniences of loud construction vehicles, temporary water lines, and limited on-street parking the past several months are the price one must pay for progress. None of the neighbors seem to mind, though a common question is often heard: When will it be finished?
Fortunately, the answer is: Soon. Paul Gioioso, site foreman from Tom Gioioso Construction Inc., based in Rockland, estimates the remaining residential connections will be done by Thanksgiving. With the main lines for the area having been laid by Halloween, construction is now focused on replacing each residential connection to the main line with new copper pipes.
The process involves using jackhammers, dump trucks, and large and small backhoes to carefully excavate the street and underlying earth in order to expose the old pipes and substitute them with new connections to the larger, new water main pipe. Progress has been mostly steady, but can be unpredictable.
The biggest challenge, according to Gioioso? “Rocks. Big ones.” Indeed, several boulders the size of rain barrels and one the size of a Mini Cooper have had to be carefully removed from Lothrop Avenue without disturbing other nearby underground gas lines. Such work takes time and can never be anticipated until excavation begins.
Once each residential connection is completed, the trench is refilled and covered with temporary pavement. Once spring arrives, construction crews will return to permanently repave all the affected streets and install sidewalks where possible.
“This current water main project is actually phase three of a 10-year master plan for capital improvements to Milton’s water infrastructure,” said Assistant Town Engineer John Thompson of the Department of Public Works, DPW, who oversees the project.
“There are master plans for each of the water, drainage, sewer and pavement systems. However, the water and pavement projects are very tightly coordinated, due to the toll taken on the streets by the excavation.”
By contrast, the sewer and drainage systems can usually be relined without street excavation, using small devices that travel inside the pipes.
Thompson estimates a more conservative completion date of the end of November for Phase Three, though no one wants construction to continue beyond that timeframe due to the increased risk of freezing.
“If that possibility occurs, the contractor will send notes to all the residents instructing them to keep their taps on a slow trickle to keep the water moving and prevent the temporary lines from freezing,” said Thompson.
Planning for phase four of the water main capital improvement plan will occur this winter. Then, at some point in late winter/early spring, the DPW will host an open forum for residents to review and comment on the plan. In the meantime, neighborhood residents are hoping for warm weather, no big rocks, and a chance to sleep late the day after Thanksgiving.
Residents with questions or concerns about the water main upgrade project are encouraged to contact the Public Works main number at 617-898-4900 during business hours (7 a.m. to 4 p.m.). During off hours, call Milton Police at 617-698-3800.
(Tom Roux is a freelance writer who can be reached at tom_roux@hotmail.com.)