Town announces funding commitments for Dedham St.

It was a big week for the town of Canton in the traffic and infrastructure departments as officials made further progress with residents on curbing the speeding problem in the Wentworth Road neighborhood while also announcing a major funding commitment for the Dedham Street corridor project.

The latter development, which has been the subject of years of discussion and negotiation with local and state officials, was first announced at the tail end of an afternoon meeting held last Wednesday, July 29. While the focus of the informal meeting was on the traffic-calming measures for Wentworth Road, Town Administrator Bill Friel noted that he had an early indication that the commitment for the Dedham Street improvements would be forthcoming. The next day, Friel attended a Metropolitan Area Planning Organization (MPO) commission meeting and learned that the state and federal governments had committed the full $53 million to fund the project. Two weeks earlier, Selectman Victor Del Vecchio announced that the state had committed to spend $4 million for the first year of the project.

The list of infrastructure improvements, designed to mitigate the impact of the University Station development on the Westwood/Canton border, includes road widening, bridge widening and replacement, and the addition of a new I-95 northbound exit ramp on Dedham Street.

Public bidding is expected to commence in September with the project getting underway in the late fall and continuing in the spring of 2016. The project is expected to last 36 to 48 months and will be completed in phases, the order of which will be determined during the bid evaluation, acceptance and award phase. The state Department of Transportation (MassDOT) will be administering and overseeing the project.

Friel said credit for obtaining the funding should be directed to many partners, including the Board of Selectmen, particularly Victor Del Vecchio and Bob Burr, as well as residents who sent letters of support to the office of new Governor Charlie Baker and MassDOT. Additionally, state Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack recently visited Canton Town Hall to hear the town’s presentation. Also working to enlist support were state Representative William Galvin and state Senator Brian A. Joyce, as well as representatives of the towns of Westwood, Dedham and Norwood, and the Neponset Valley Chamber of Commerce …

See this week’s Canton Citizen for a recap of the discussion on Wentworth Road. Click here to order your subscription today.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Aug 7 2015. Filed under News, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.