By Alice Waugh
As the Route 2 project continues to affect residents, the town is looking at ways to deter drivers from trying ineffective and unsafe methods of avoiding the construction, and the Route 2 Oversight Committee has begun meeting regularly. The Board of Selectman outlined the project’s scope and the town’s response in the latest Selectmen’s Newsletter.
At the board’s June 18 meeting, residents who live near Route 2 told officials that cars are turning onto Acorn Lane, not realizing it’s a dead end, and that some cars have even tried to turn left from Brooks Road onto Route 2 eastbound. They asked for a sign on Acorn Lane and/or a police officer to turn drivers away.
Officials were generally open to the request and said they would ask the Lincoln Police Department’s traffic safety officer if this would be useful. However, they noted that the problems were not confined to Acorn Lane.
“There are many streets that are possibly impacted by this. I don’t like the idea of just looking at one street. I think we need to look at the whole picture and see what kind of signage we might need for all of these areas,” said Selectman Renel Fredriksen. “If you put signs up on three of them, people will assume the other two are OK [to use as detours]. I don’t want to make the situation worse.”
In their newsletter, the selectmen said they had recent discussions with state officials and the project contractor about what many feel was excessive tree-cutting along Route 2. Selectmen were told that more trees than originally anticipated had to be removed to meet federal water management objectives.
“Although MASSDOT has assured us that appropriate procedures were followed with regard to tree removal in accordance with the construction specifications, including the involvement of a certified arborist, a wetlands scientist, and an environmental monitor, we are continuing to investigate the rationale for some of the tree removal on the margins of the project site,” the newsletter said.
Eckhouse urged the town to keep a very close eye on change orders issued during the project, which can result in significant deviations in design and materials from what the original contract specified.
“Contractors make all their profit on change orders. Keep that in mind,” he said.
The contractor for the four-year project is D.W. White Construction Inc. of Acushnet, which beat out eight other companies by bidding $42.2 million. The MassDOT Highway Division estimated that the construction cost would be $51.8 million.
Lincoln has almost no leverage in enforcing terms of the project, since it involves a state road, land and contract with no local permits issued. “Lincoln is more of a key stakeholder,” Selectman Noah Eckhouse said at the June 18 meeting. The town doesn’t have an engineering department or other resources that would allow it to do full-time on-site monitoring, though officials including Director of Planning and Land Use Chris Reilly, Town Administrator Tim Higgins, and Planning Board Co-chair Bob Domnitz meet every two weeks in Lincoln with MASSDOT officials.
The Route 2 Oversight Committee has also been meeting to collect information about effects of the project. The next meeting is July 15 at 5 p.m. in the town office building.
“We’re going to keep a close watch on this situation,” First Selectman Peter Braun said.