WESTFORD — Construction crews have been continuing to work on the ongoing Boston Road Reconstruction Project, which began earlier this year and resulted in a road closure on a portion of Boston Road from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays.
WestfordCAT recently spoke to Kyle Fox, the Westford Public Works Director, and Paul Starratt, the Westford Town Engineer, and asked them about the status of the project, when it is set to be completed, and when Boston Road is expected to reopen.
“We’ve had a busy summer at public works,” Fox said. “We’ve done a lot of our normal maintenance, which includes roadside mowing, drainage basin maintenance, other drainage structure maintenance, striping, crosswalks, stop bars, just all the general maintenance we do throughout the summer. In addition, we’ve done a number of some high profile, some lower profile projects.”
The town said the project, which began on April 7, intends to rehabilitate a 1.05 mile stretch of the road between Main Street and Interstate 495.
Coming to a total of $15. 6 million, the project was approved after the Engineering Department secured the funding in 2023, with a goal of building a new water main and an updated stormwater management system, and reconstructing the road surface with the addition of new traffic calming medians, a new sidewalk the full length of the project, as well as new bike lanes.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation also provided $12 million to fund the construction phase of the project.
“The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, through MassDOT, is our partner for this project,” Starratt said. “They’re actually managing and funding the construction. The town’s responsibility was the design and the land acquisition for a portion of the project. Why a portion? That’s because MassDOT actually owns and manages and maintains a portion of Boston Road, mostly from below Crown Road, between Crown Road and I-495. That’s one of the things that we hope to change as a result of this project. Once the state rebuilds Boston Road to perfection, then the town will have the opportunity to take ownership of the road, so we’ll be responsible for it going forward.”
As of this past July, the town said new utility poles have been installed, with utility companies relocating power lines to the new pole locations. The installation of the new storm drainage system has also begun, which the town said will make up most of the construction work set for this fall.
Meanwhile, the town said temporary asphalt patches are installed at the end of each day in order to avoid open or gravel trenches that spread dust and debris throughout the job site. The new road surface will be permanently installed when the buried utility work is complete.
The town said the full roadway reconstruction project is expected to be completed in late 2026 or early 2027, barring any unforeseen conditions.
