By Genevieve Jinson, Community Reporter
Northborough – The Northborough Board of Selectmen discussed the paving of Route 20 that was scheduled to take place Oct. 16 through 18, among other road construction, at the Board of Selectmen meeting Oct. 15.
During the past week, the laying of a shim coat, a coating to fill up the base of the existing pavement, was to be executed on Route 20 only; no side streets?were paved. The final coat will not be executed until the spring of 2013.
Police Chief Mark Leahy?elaborated?as to why the paving had to take place during daytime hours.
“We tried very hard to get all the paving done at night, but with all the?quality?control specs, nighttime temperatures now won’t pass for what they call ‘performance paving,'” he said.
Northborough Police spread the word about the paving through a variety of communication methods, including Facebook, Twitter, radio stations, local newspapers, an email distribution list, the town's website, the Police Department's website, six electronic message boards in town, electronic signs on interstates 290 and 495, and the cable access channel.
The railroad replacement of Route 20 did not take place this week. Town Administrator John Coderre explained why.
The railroad?portion?of the project is very significant and will be taken up at a separate phase,” Coderre said.
At the meeting, Selectman Dawn Rand asked about the plans for the bridge on Church Street with the orange barricades.
“The orange barricades are pretty ugly,” Rand said.
DPW Director Dan Nason said that he is currently waiting for a design in order to excavate part of?Church?Street and install a shoring mechanism so that it's safe for people to walk over. As soon as Nason receives the design, he said, he plans to execute them.
Coderre said that replacing the bridge would be a separate endeavor from the construction currently happening in the center of town. When Rand asked about the bridge being an article at Town Meeting in April 2013, Coderre responded.
“I don’t know about April of next year; it may be a little bit more of a long-term project than that,” he said.