Trees were cut along the south side of Route 2 several weeks ago.
By Alice Waugh
Residents who live just north of Route 2 pleaded with the Board of Selectmen this week for help, saying their lives have been disrupted even more than they’d expected by the massive construction project.
In recent weeks, contractors have cut down swaths of trees and vegetation on both sides of the highway as they prepare to build service roads and a Crosby’s Corner flyover. Some abutters had their property taken by eminent domain, while others have had to give the state temporary easements so construction vehicles can access the highway site. But they didn’t expect that workers would remove the trees from the easement land as well as the highway property.
Although he acknowledged that the state is legally entitled to cut down trees within the easements, “we didn’t in our wildest imagination think they would just take every tree,” said Dan Boynton of 34 Cambridge Turnpike. “We thought they would use some common sense and say, ‘We need to take this tree down and that one because it’s in the way, but we’ll leave these trees because they’re really quite beautiful and we don’t need to take them out’.”
Boynton added that he had DOT documents stipulating that any trees more than 10 inches in diameter would be left standing.
The greater-than-expected loss of vegetation has suddenly exposed nearby homeowners to headlights and traffic noise from Route 2, and several of them asked the selectmen for help in appealing to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (DOT) to install a sound barrier and visual screen along the highway. A screen attached to the top of 970 feet of jersey barriers would cost about $700,000, said Steven Durante of 7 Brooks Rd.
Back when the project was in the planning stages, according to the residents who spoke at the May 5 selectmen’s meeting, the DOT was asked to provide a permanent barrier along the north side of Route 2. However, using a formula based on criteria including sound levels, cost and the number of properties affected, that agency determined that the project did not meet the requirements for a barrier. Just this month, the DOT reiterated its refusal, said Max Klein of 14 Brooks Rd.
However, that analysis is no longer valid because it used data from 1995-96, Klein claimed. Also, the sound-measuring instruments shielded by 30 feet of vegetation that’s no longer there, he said.
“It’s very hard to imagine that this data collected 20 years ago under conditions that don’t exist any more could be valid,” Klein said.
Selectmen discussed the possibility of doing a new sound analysis using town funds allotted for consulting services. “We need updated data, and it’s certainly worth spending small dollars for,” Braun said.
The selectmen were sympathetic but said they couldn’t take any action unless they had evidence that the DOT was committing a violation, so they asked residents to send them whatever data and documentation they had. Because most of the planning took place in the years before the selectmen joined the board, that they didn’t have first-hand knowledge about what was decided, they said.
In addition to a sound and light barrier, residents want the DOT to fulfill its requirement to plant new trees as soon as possible, “rather than waiting until we’ve been looking at dirt piles for five years,” Boynton said.
Residents also complained that construction vehicles were making illegal turns, so the selectmen urged them residents to document any alleged violations and report them to the Lincoln Police and town administrator Tim Higgins, saying they could email him at higginst@lincolntown.org.
“We may have some traction here, but we need facts to back it up,” Braun said. “Give us the facts and help us with the research.”
The $65 million project is slated for completion in spring 2016.