Pleasant St. to close as work begins on Reservoir dam

Local motorists can expect to endure travel disruptions and detours for a lengthy period this fall as the town embarks on a major construction project to repair the Reservoir Pond dam on Pleasant Street.

A view of Reservoir Pond courtesy of George T. Comeau

Details about the project were announced at the Board of Selectmen meeting on Tuesday night, and selectmen are urging town departments to help publicize the anticipated traffic impacts as quickly as possible.

The DPW has reviewed and accepted the plans submitted by the contractor, Northern Construction, and work is slated to begin the day after Labor Day and last until the first or second week of November. During this period, Pleasant Street from Reservoir Pond to the roundabout will be closed to through traffic with two major detours installed at Sherman/Washington streets and Pleasant/Washington streets.

Construction crews will be working five days a week, but DPW Superintendent Mike Trotta said the road closure will remain in effect seven days a week until all repairs are completed.

Residents living on Pleasant Street and adjoining side streets will be able to reach their homes, but there will be no direct access to and from the Reservoir Pond area as two main trenches will be built. School buses will also have access to student delivery routes and to the Luce School. The pond’s water level will be lowered as construction gets underway. Police officer details will be frequent for most of the construction period.

The repairs are necessary in order to address “seepage” issues that were first identified by the town’s consulting engineer, Stephens Associates, in early 2017. Construction was initially slated to begin last fall, but the project was put on hold after bids came in higher than anticipated. A total of $1.25 million has since been earmarked for the project through debt capital appropriations at the 2017 and 2018 annual town meetings.

Previous repairs were completed in 2012 by the pond and dam’s former owner, the Napleton Co., but engineers from Stephens Associates found that the repairs did not fully address the problem. Selectmen have met in executive session several times over the past two years in an attempt to reach a settlement with Napleton over dam repair costs …

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Posted by Mike Berger on Aug 11 2018. Filed under News, Police & Fire, Schools, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.