Wasn’t it great when the paving was completed on Commercial Street and the road was smooth instead of patchwork? Well, those where the days (almost 5 of them) before crews started digging in the roadway again. Here is Eversource digging to fix a building electrical problem.
Photo by Dan Flaherty.
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Here is a crazy idea…
Get all of the utility companies together and figure out what work is coming up.
Hire a site contractor to open the street, let the utilities do the work and then have the site contractor close and repave.
Going by how piss poor the site contractor has been and the amount of work they get throughout the city…
I’d say the fix is in.
0ur northend is a disgrace…it’s tough living here niw,never thought I would say that but it’s true,it’s aweful…take away a car lane for a bike lane????REALLY??
Tough? you should have lived here 30 or 40 years ago.
gee…………two whiners right in a row.
Boston is a very old city with electrical lines underground. It would be a huge undertaking to make repairs without roping off sections at a time. I would suggest you contact City Hall with your proposals.
Not a whine heather… common sense.
Close down a section (just as you said) and get all of the upcoming work done and then reopen. When we get fios, guess what they are going to have to do?
Repeat section by section till done. Yes there is a cost associated with this as you may need to have an active section of utilities and then the new ones ready for a switch over… The cost comes from having to run (gasp) new infrastructure while having the old in place.
The upfront savings (doesn’t cover the total cost) is from not having to open the street so many times (one long time resident recommended putting a zipper down Salem st since it seems to need to be opened every year) and long term NEW (and not patched with spit and duct tape) infrastructure which should require less repairs/ maintenance.
Plus there is a metric of lost productively due to traffic (which is caused by constantly opening and closing the street), plus (if you believe in it) the long term cost associated with greenhouse gasses- all of the deliveries of asphalt (which is actually a byproduct of fuel ) from the batching plants, the heavy equipment that needs to be run and all the cars sitting in traffic.
There non profits throughout the country that help cities (especially older ones) tackle underground utility work so streets don’t have to be constantly dug up and redug up.
You’re right Boston is an old city… politicians helping out their friends and keeping everything the way it’s always been even though there is a better way.