Mayor Ted Bettencourt knows Central Street is a disaster. He also knows it’s one of the worst streets in the city.
That’s why his administration worked to secure roughly $20 million in funding from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s Transportation Improvement Program to completely overhaul the entire Central Street corridor, from Route 114 to its intersection with Walnut Street. Construction on the project will begin this fall, though residents can expect the full scope of the work to begin next spring.
Bettencourt said the “very exciting project” dates back to 2018, with funding finally approved this year after the city and MassDOT conducted a number of studies and design work in the area. The new corridor will feature a new road surface, sidewalks, crosswalks, traffic signals, tree planting, hardscape landscaping, new lights, and improved drainage systems.
“This is a project that is going to transform that whole stretch of Peabody, which is really one of the most well-traveled roads in (the city),” he said. “It comes in from Route 114 right into Peabody Square, tens of thousands of people travel that road every day and this project is going to make it much safer (and) much more attractive.”
The drainage systems in particular will go a long way toward helping the city combat flooding and handle heavy rain, Bettencourt said.
“A focus of mine and the city has been to try to improve our ability to handle rainstorms, which we struggled with some years back,” he said. “That’s also an important component of this project.”
The city is responsible for paying for two legs of the project: some initial legal and design work that is already complete, and the roughly $3 million cost of replacing the century-old water main along Central Street.
“It doesn’t make sense to do this transformational project and have 120-year-old water mains,” Bettencourt said.
Once construction is complete, Bettencourt said Central Street will be much easier to traverse for drivers and pedestrians alike. The improvements will go a long way toward improving quality of life in the area, he added.
Bettencourt warned that construction may very well be disruptive to residents, and said his office will strive to communicate any interruptions well ahead of time.
“With any type of project of this magnitude, there’s going to be some headaches and probably road bumps along the way,” he said. “We anticipate that police officers will be on-site every day directing traffic. We don’t think there’ll be a full shutdown of Central Street but it could be reduced to one lane at times while specific work is going on.”
But, he said the headaches will be well worth the payoff of a historic project.
When the project is complete, Bettencourt said Central Street will look “dramatically different.” And, he said, residents and businesses in the area will benefit from the improvements to safety and aesthetics the project will bring to the city.
“The safety improvements are critical to this project, and it’s going to make it much easier to travel down that road, to navigate that whole area. It’s going to be safer and easier for people to walk around,” he said. “The work that we’re going to be doing is going to make a dramatic difference for people just in that area that live there and… it’s going to make it easier for businesses.”
