This afternoon, I got two warnings on road work projects.
Parkerville Road work impacting buses and pickups
Today, parents of Southborough students learned that road work may complicate transportation to and (especially from) Neary and Trottier.
Work on the main access road for the Neary and Trottier campus may cause backups. That could have a trickle down impact on buses for Woodward and Finn:
The Public Schools of Southborough were informed that the utility work being done on Parkerville Road between Route 9 and Main Street (Route 30) will continue for the next few months.
This work will impede access to the Parkerville Road entrance to the Neary and Trottier School campus. The Southborough Police Department will reduce the impact to the Parkerville Road entrance by starting the road closure after 8 AM. It will, however, impact afternoon dismissal.
The bus company may experience some delays in navigating the detour, but we will collaborate with them to mitigate the impact. We advise that parents try to avoid Parkerville Road for access to our campus and recommend giving yourself a few more minutes. The Deerfoot Road entrance will be available to all traffic for AM arrival and PM dismissal while this utility work is being done.
We will continue to monitor the situation and will adjust our plans accordingly.
Work on Cordaville, Woodland, and Flanders roads and overnight MassPike lane closures
The Town shared news from MassDOT on MassPike project work that will impact Southborough roads:
Daytime Work on Local Roads and Overnight Lane Closures on I-90
Work has Begun and will continue through March 2021.
February/March 2021 Project Update. . .
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has announced that daytime work on local roads and overnight lane closures on I-90 have begun and will continue through March 2021.
The contractor and its subcontractors will be conducting the following work on local roads, primarily between the hours of 7:00 AM and 3:30 PM, Monday through Friday. Lane closures on local roads will be in place with alternating one-way traffic through work zones:
- At Cordaville Road: Installation of construction signage, work zone set-up, mobilization and drilling micropiles
- At Woodland Road: Installation of construction signage, implementation of temporary traffic control barriers for abutment repairs
- At Flanders Road: Installation of construction signage, construction of utility ductbank along the southbound shoulder
MassDOT will also implement overnight lane closures on I-90 East between Exits 106 (old Exit 11A) and 111 (old Exit 12) and I-90 West between Exits 111 (old Exit 12) and 106 (old Exit 11A) from 7:00 PM to 5:00 AM, Sunday nights through Friday mornings. The closures are necessary for the installation of construction signage, saw cutting along the median barrier, and implementation of work zones for median barrier replacement.
MassDOT is replacing bridges on I-90 east and westbound over Flanders Road in Westborough and Parkerville Road, Cordaville Road, and Woodland Road in Southborough as part of this project. The replacement of the eight bridges (two spans per local road) will take place over eight weekends in summer 2021.
Public information meetings will be scheduled and email and website updates will be posted throughout the project. Please be sure to sign up for the email list at the website link below to receive meeting notices and project updates.
MassDOT held a public information meeting on February 9. A recording of the meeting is available to view on the event webpage and a written meeting summary will be posted soon.
For more information about the project, please visit the website at www.mass.gov/Acceler8Bridges.
If you have questions or would like to report an issue or concern, please email the project team at A8@dot.state.ma.us. MassDOT urges those traveling through the area to obey posted speed limits and use caution. The schedule for this major infrastructure project is weather dependent and subject to change without notice.
ATTENTION PARENTS: Those of you who insist on driving your kids to these schools and then picking them up. Use the buses!!!
Your tax dollars are paying for those buses – that now carry 4 to 6 kids per run. Want to avoid traffic issues on Parkerville Road? Stay home!
Let the school bus pick up and drop off your kids!!!
Think about it!!!
There seems to be a lot of pent up anger there. Schools went to a hybrid model and offered a stand-alone remote program. I don’t believe the buses adjusted their routes, so right off the bat, you’d have 50% fewer riders than last year, assuming no one chose SARP. Also, when families had to sign up for the buses, much was unknown about transmission of covid, so many families felt safer not putting their kids onto a bus with a couple windows cracked an inch and minimal supervision to keep kids separated.
I generally agree that we should use the services that are provided by our town, but I haven’t noticed any anger towards people who pay for private trash and recycling even though the town subsidizes the transfer station.
I’m not going to let it ruin my day by getting upset with what someone else thinks is the right decision for their family.
Jack, you’ve apparently missed the many discussions about the Transfer Station over the years. In fact, a number of people who pay for private waste removal have expressed strong opinions over the money spent on the Transfer Station.
Another fact you’ve missed is that the buses did adjust their routes for the Fall 2020 semester and that was posted. The routes and/or schedules were modified based, in part, on parent feedback.
Whether a child is on a bus or in a classroom, they’re exposed to other children. Scientific evidence to date shows little transmission among children and, if acquired, mild to asymptomatic cases.
If parents do not want to experience traffic backups, again, use the bus!
While children may have mild/asymptomatic cases, they can infect family members. And not all children are necessarily good about following the instructions to remain masked throughout the bus trip.
Many families have always had other reasons for needing to or feeling the need to fetch their children – based on family schedules, interactions on the bus, etc. Without knowing any family’s personal reasons for the driving they are doing, I don’t think someone else has the right to summarily judge their (or my) behavior.
Hi “take the bus,”
Not sure what you’re so upset about. Me driving my kid to school doesn’t add any dollars or burden to you, and we consider it to be both safer and (usually) more convenient because of how early the bus picks up. Asking the town/gas company to not work on one particular road for a 30-minute window early each morning doesn’t seem like too much to ask.