By MAUREEN DOHERTY
NORTH READING — Town officials have been warning us for weeks that this day would come — the closure of Chestnut Street to through-traffic between Park Street and Central Street, in both directions. And now it’s really happening.
The closure is necessitated by the “failing condition of twin culverts carrying the Ipswich River under Chestnut Street,” according to both DPW Director Joe Parisi and MassDEP. These culverts are located a stone’s throw from the roadway’s intersection with Park Street.
MassDEP has inspected the culverts and required the town to submit a plan to rectify the situation in late May; that deadline was met.
In short, the culverts can no longer support the weight of the continuous vehicular traffic that uses this stretch of Chestnut Street on the daily basis as a cut-through to destinations near and far, including to Haverhill Street to access I-95 to the south; to Rte. 28 to access I-93 or Rte. 125 to north; to Lynnfield to access Rte. 1 to the east or to Middleton to access Rte. 114 while also avoiding the center of town traffic.
Therefore, during the week of June 26, Chestnut Street will be closed at Park Street due to this structural failure for the foreseeable future. This means all through traffic will not be able to access Chestnut Street from Park Street or Park Street from Chestnut Street. Motorists are therefore expected and encouraged to seek alternate routes to their destinations in all directions.
The town’s plan to provide fair warning to the traveling public about this closure through plentiful signage was included in its response to MassDOT on management of the existing conditions and plans to fix the problem.
Access to local traffic will be the only exception to this roadway restriction. Chestnut Street from Central Street to the Ipswich River will be open to local traffic only. This includes vehicles seeking to access Maguire Field, Moynihan Lumber, the Department of Public Works and Reading Municipal Light Department facilities, as well as house numbers 146-185. The KidSpot playground at Maguire Field is under construction and is currently closed to the public.
Temporary traffic lights being installed
In anticipation of the intersection of Park and Central streets bearing the brunt of the traffic that will be seeking alternate routes or access to Ipswich River Park from Park Street, the installation of utility poles to support these temporary traffic lights was begun on Tuesday. The contract for the temporary lights had been awarded by the town on June 8.
This intersection has already met the warrant for a permanent traffic light but such an expenditure would require a two-thirds vote at Town Meeting to pass. An attempt to skip the temporary traffic light installation and jump straight to installation of permanent lights at Park and Central failed to obtain the two-thirds majority required for bonding at the June 12 Annual Town Meeting.
Last week, voters at Town Meeting also approved a warrant article to fund the design of a bridge that will eventually replace these culverts under Chestnut Street. The original plan was to return to the voters seeking funding for the estimated $3.5 million project in Fiscal Year 2025, but due the more rapid deterioration of the twin culverts – which has compromised the roadway pavement with the formation of some sinkholes that have been patched and secured with large steel plates – this timeline has been shortened. It’s possible voters at October Town Meeting will be asked to fund this project to get it out to bid more quickly than waiting for next year’s Annual Town Meeting in mid-June.
“Mortorists seeking to travel through the area, including north/west to Route 62 (Park Street) from Haverhill Street, or south/east to Haverhill Street from Route 62 (Park Street), are advised to seek an alternate route and avoid the area altogether if possible. A temporary traffic light is being installed at the intersection of Park Street and Central Street to assist in managing an anticipated increase in traffic through this intersection upon the closure of Chestnut Street. This temporary traffic light will become active upon the closure of Chestnut Street,” according to Town Administrator Michael Gilleberto.
Ipswich River Park will remain accessible from two points. Motorists approaching from New Street, Haverhill Street or Chestnut Street will be allowed to take a right hand turn only onto Central Street as the roadway restriction onto Chestnut Street for local traffic only begins at this point and will be clearly marked with signage. IRP will also be accessible traveling from Park Street at the new temporary lights installed at Central Street.
Gilleberto added, “The Department of Public Works is working with consulting engineers to design a replacement bridge to carry Chestnut Street over the Ipswich River. Funding to complete this design was approved at the June 12 Spring Annual Town Meeting, and Chestnut Street will be closed until a new bridge is constructed.”