Above: Look out for roadwork downtown, starting the 5th with bigger impacts beginning the 9th. (photo by Beth Melo)
Updated (8/29/24 10:05 am): The Town alerted that Eversource shifted the timeframe for work after realizing that Monday is Labor Day!
I was out of town yesterday when I heard from a number of Town sources that the schedule had just been changed.
The Town’s new announcement included the wrong date. However, another email I was forwarded shows that Eversource plans to now begin “Prep work” on Thursday, September 5th. The crew working on the “lining procedure” will start on Monday, September 9th.
That email also clarified that they will have “signage letting customers know that businesses will be open during construction” and allow access to the adjacent parking lots. As previously posted by the Town, there will be police detail to control the one way traffic for 3-4 “business days”.
(My original, outdated, story is below.)
The Town is warning the public of a traffic disruption expected downtown next week. The area around the train tracks on Main Street will be reduced to one lane of travel.
The gas company will be doing some digging starting Monday, September 2nd, and could last through Wednesday. The Town asked me to share the following notice:
EVERSOURCE WORK ON MAIN STREET
Eversource will be doing road work on Main Street near the CSX Railroad Crossing beginning on Monday, September 2, 2024. They will be lining the Gas Main beneath the Road and will cut a hole in the road before and after the railroad crossing, on the east bound travel lane (closest to Mauro’s and Lamy’s). One lane will remain open during work hours. Police details will be conducted to control traffic and proper signage will be posted. Main Street will be open to one lane of traffic only for up to 3 days starting on September 2, 2024.
I find it ironic that the labor will begin on Labor Day. But I assume that is to help reduce the impact on school buses and commuters.
Do you know if CSX plans to fix the railroad crossing on Central Street while they are here doing Main Street? The Central Street crossing is so dangerous, especially for motorcyclist’s.
The scheduled work is by the gas company, not by CSX. But, the Town had previously announced that CSX would be fixing Central Street in late August. I haven’t driven that road recently, so I don’t know if that happened or what the latest status is. But you can read about that here.
Meanwhile, I’m about to update this post with the Town’s news that the downtown timeframe for Eversource’s work is being pushed further out.
Beth, the Central Street train crossing (which I traverse multiple times a day) is probably the worst its ever been. Very dangerous, especially to drivers who aren’t aware, and seems incredible to me that it has been allowed to remain in such disrepair for so long. One day earlier this summer there was a CSX utility truck parked alongside the road at the playground wth the driver sitting in it, so I pulled over and got out to talk to him. He pleaded ignorance because the responsibility for track maintenance was with a different division of CSX than his (apparently he was there for some other reason). He encouraged me to call the CSX hotline to report the issue (which I did), but of course it dumbfounded me why he couldn’t/didn’t just do that himself right then and there. Regardless, the crossing is still atrocious as of this morning.
I saw the same truck way back when and immediately thought FINALLY!, but no such luck. The divots are getting worse by the day and I agree with Paul that it’s astounding that the repair hasn’t happened by now! Paul, can you share the CSX hotline number if you still have it? Maybe if they get 50 calls a day for a week they’ll believe this is a problem and a safety issue?
The phone number (along with crossing number, which you will need to report) is printed on the square blue metal sign attached to the right-side warning pole as you drive northbound, same side as Fayville Hall. The blue sign is one of those things that you see every time you pass by but you don’t really notice. Of course it is too small to read as you drive by, so you’ll have to get out of your car.
I do not know why they have ignored the two crossings in Southborough (Central St. & Main St) for so long as CSX has had crews and the necessary equipment to complete the repairs on the line off and on for the past two years. CSX has been replacing rail and grade crossings along most of the line from Marlborough through Sterling. Perhaps the gas main lining is a sign that CSX is ready to repair Main St.
Generally, CSX will try to take the tracks out of service for the least amount of time, and may be scheduling replacing both crossings at the same time.
Maurice O’Connell is the Regional Vice President of State Relations at CSX. If you Google his name you may find his contact info. The Blue signs will only get you to a desk the operator takes down the info and may or may not forward your concerns to the right people.
The DPW announced the fix is coming on October 15th. Read more here.
Thank you Paul and Kim for the update and extra context.
As I had noted, CSX was scheduled to reconstruct the crossing in late August. I reached out to the Town for an update. DPW Superintendent Bill Cundiff replied that the original timeframe was actually August to September. He hopes they are on track with the schedule, but he hasn’t heard back from them on the dates after multiple attempts. He is trying again through Rep. Kate Donahue since she had been integral to getting CSX to agree to the work in the first place. And, “In the meantime, we will continue to fill the holes as they pop up.”
Thank you Paul and Beth for your info….I was about to head over to Central Street with my yardstick a couple days ago when I saw that the holes had indeed been “temporarily” filled in!