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Natick shares update on road improvements

June 21, 2022 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

The Natick Select Board set aside time at its June 15 meeting (about 25 minutes into Pegasus recording) to provide an update on upcoming road improvements—but first, what about the long-running South Main Street work?

Town Administrator Jamie Errickson addressed that question at the start, following up a May 4 Select Board discussion involving Eversource officials working on the South Main Street project, which started a couple of years ago and has been held up due to utility-related logistics (paving and other work can’t get done until key utility work is finished). The Town’s website references poles and wires being relocated 2 years ago, but such work is still going on.

Errickson says Eversource has now done its bit on the main lines (some connections to residents remained), so now RCN and other providers are being notified it’s their turn to shift wires to the new poles. “We will absolutely be continuing to engage with Eversource and with those utility companies to make sure we move those projects along for the South Main Street corridor,” he said. Once the old poles are removed, paving and other work can take place.

Select Board Member Bruce Evans asked what sort of recourse the town might have in getting its partners to deliver. Errickson said options are limited, and that the town doesn’t necessary want to go down the financial penalty road, which itself might be bumpy.

(Speaking of Eversource, still no word on this project from the town or the utility that has kept neighbors in South Natick in suspense.)

Town Engineer Bill McDowell said the South Main Street project is 85% done, and it should take about 8 weeks to finish it once the old poles are out of the way.

McDowell shared updates on other projects:

Fairview Terrace neighborhood: The town had some challenges getting this project—near the DPW building and Dug Pond—off the ground. But McDowell said things are moving forward, with all work planned in original rights of way. Fall Town Meeting accepted 8 streets for maintenance (Collins, Fairview, Fern, Green, Lakeview, Moore, Whitcomb, Windsor) and that adds just under 4.5 miles of road to be paved under a recently approved $2.7M contract that McDowell said came in under estimate. Some of these roads reeeally need attention. Sidewalks will be added and repaired, as needed, as will ramps.

unaccepted street

Cochituate Rail Trail parking: Also rolled into the aforementioned contract will be paving/reworking an area off of Mechanic Street for a Cochituate Rail Trail parking lot across the trail from the Navy Yard field and not far from Natick Center.

What’s now entirely paved will include new trees and plantings, providing some shade areas for those worn out from their treks along the trail. This work will be done over the summer, McDowell said.

mechanic

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Filed Under: Government, Transportation


MassDOT plans do-over for Rte. 9 & 30 markers at Natick’s Speen Street beetleback interchange

June 7, 2022 by Bob Brown 1 Comment

Most of us probably don’t take much notice of the designs used on road signs to distinguish state routes, state highways, and interstate highways—we just keep track of the numbers to figure out where we’re headed. But an eagle-eyed Natick Report reader who asked to be identified simply as “Joe,” pointed out that the new pavement markings for Massachusetts Rtes. 9 and 30 at the Speen Street/Rte. 9 beetleback interchange now feature shields typically reserved for national highways rather than standard squares or rectangles used for numbered state routes.

Sure enough, he was right. After I brought his observation to the attention of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, a spokesperson quickly got back.

“MassDOT would like to thank you for bringing the issue to our attention. We will work to correct the in-pavement shields,” the spokesperson wrote.

Our roadway informant Joe, a self-described “arm-chair signage nerd,” initially wrote to us: “I just drove through the speen st beetle back. I think they replaced the MA Rt 30 lane marker signs on the pavement with emblems that look like US highway 30. Was Rt 30 upgraded to a US highway or is this a mistake by MassDOT or some other local department?”

U.S. Route 30 actually doesn’t hit Massachusetts, traversing from New Jersey to Oregon.

One local transportation expert who we reached out to quipped: “Clearly it’s a federal takeover!!”

I messaged back Joe, not quite able to visualize what he was asking about, and told him that I’d head over there later and get a photo. He beat me to it, as he works nearby. His pictures made things quite clear.

natick signs

 

natick signs

 

A quick Google maps search shows how it used to look.

google maps

Such errors do crop up from time to time, and have even earned a subsection of the Wikipedia article on the Massachusetts State Highway System. It’ll require a crew to fix it and maybe inconvenience drivers a bit, but in the grand scheme, not such a big deal.

If all goes well, the Golden Triangle will be revitalized, Speen Street will be transformed into a pedestrian-friendly mecca with no need for highway or route signs, and this will all be long forgotten.


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Filed Under: Transportation



Natick now offering daily parking rates at commuter lot

June 6, 2022 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Changing commuter patterns have prompted Natick to back off offering only annual passes for hundreds of dollars to park in the Mulligan Street/South Avenue lot downtown.

Now you can purchase parking at a daily rate of $7 via the PassPort Parking App, and on most days, you’ll probably have quite a selection of spaces from which to choose based on what we’ve seen.

More on Natick parking rates and locations.

mulligan st


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Filed Under: Transportation

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Natick RMV center reopening

May 5, 2022 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

rmv logo

The Natick RMV center, located on the Mass Pike eastbound alongside McDonalds and Cheesy Street Grill, has been closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. It will now be open Monday-Friday, 8am-noon, and 1-4pm.

Customers are encouraged to schedule appointments online for various driver’s license and identification transactions. The RMV’s list of services offered at this center is mainly a list of what it DOESN’T offer:

Services at Natick RMV Service Center

  • Driver’s license/ID renewals and amendments 
  • No out of state transfers for driver’s licenses or vehicle registrations
  • No registration and title transactions for new/used vehicles
  • No road tests or learner’s permit tests offered
  • No suspension-related transactions or hearings held at this location

Accepted forms of payment at this location include credit and debit cards and checks, as no cash is accepted at this location.


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Filed Under: Transportation

Downtown Natick streets about to get more colorful

April 4, 2022 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Not that Natick wants you to look down at art, but this week the Select Board will be asked to approve more artists’ paintings on the pavement of Natick Center’s street corners.

The paintings, featuring everything from fish to PEACE to cartoonish cars, are being commissioned through a joint effort of the Natick Community and Economic Development Department and the Natick Center Cultural District. Artists submitted their works for consideration.

These paintings will be located at the intersections of Church, Park, Washington, and East Central Streets, near Town Hall.

street art

Last summer, artists painted the street corners at South Main and Central Street.

The paintings are part of a broader traffic calming effort that would include the installation of more bump-outs and flexible posts at downtown street corners if state funding comes through.

street art

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Filed Under: Art, Transportation

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