Above: Sharing DPW news on a planned project in town and a project in a neighboring town with expected temporary impacts in Southborough. (images clockwise contributed, created from Google Maps, and created from contributed maps)
Southborough Public Works asked me to share some news with readers this week.
One item is good news about funding to help the Town take steps towards fixing problems that have plagued Willow Street.
The other is another CSX Railroad project. This time, it is in Framingham, but it will have traffic implications for Southborough the weekend after this one.
Willow Street Grant
On Monday, the Healey administration announced specialized infrastructure grants through the Division of Ecological Restoration. Southborough was one of the recipients.
$2.4 Million is being awarded to help replace/fix failing culverts across the state. The DER grants “support ecological restoration projects” to “strengthen community resilience to climate change, reduce flood risks, improve infrastructure and public safety, and restore crucial wildlife habitat and water quality.”
Southborough competed for and snagged a $244K grant for the engineering work needed to fix the culvert on Willow Street:
The Town of Southborough will conduct field data collection and engineering/design work to replace two deteriorated, undersized, and perpetually clogged culverts on Willow Street over an unnamed stream.
DPW Superintendent William Cundiff highlighted that the Town needs to fix the repeated flooding problems that already forced the road to be closed down twice this year. He followed, “A number of local businesses rely on Willow Street for their access/egress and we have to make sure they have a safe way to get in and out of their businesses.”
Below are the photo he shared from a past flood and my map highlighting the area where the culvert is (and where flooding occurred).
I asked Cundiff about the cost and timeline for the construction phase. He is targeting awarding a construction contract in FY26 (which is July 2025 through June 2026).
He estimates that will cost about $3M. He again seek outside funding through grants or other sources to help allay that cost for Southborough taxpayers.
Detours November 9-10
In other news, Cundiff asked me to warn readers about a CSX project to fix a section of the railroad that crosses Route 9 in Framingham. To reduce impacts, the work is scheduled for 10:00 pm on Saturday, November 9th, but could last until 10:00 pm Sunday, November 10th.
If you have plans that will take you into/through Framingham on Sunday (or on that side of our town) prepare for possible traffic snarls.
The railroad and state officials plan to shut down Route 9 in both directions in that area while the work is done. Detours rerouting drivers will add to traffic taking Temple Street, Boston Road, and Pleasant Street. (I’m guessing it will also cause traffic backups on Route 9 east in Southborough.)
I cobbled together the image below from preliminary detour plan maps to give you an idea of the expected scale of the closure and reroutes:
