Part of Bedford Road to see daytime closure again this week

Bedford Road will be again be closed from Monday through Friday, August 4–8 from 7:00am to 3:00pm between the five-way intersection to Canaan Drive to accommodate the water main project. 

Water Department Superintendent Richard Nolli last week answered questions about the project, which was originally supposed to have Bedford Road reduced to on lane at times rather than closed altogether. The work has been complicated by inaccurate records and balky valves.

“To prepare for this project, Water Department staff and consultants performed an extensive review of all existing maps, drawings, and notes to confirm the location of our distribution system lines. But due to historical inaccuracies in these records, and the overall age of the system, we are still occasionally required to make modifications during construction,” he said in an email to the Lincoln Squirrel.

“For example, some old valves are difficult to close and can cause delays when shutting down the system. In another instance, the contractor encountered a pipe that was previously thought to be disconnected but was still connected and pressurized, requiring additional time and effort to close. Events like this are not uncommon when working on old water systems.  Town staff, engineers, and the contractor worked together to address them quickly, so some delays caused longer work shifts than anticipated, but this hasn’t delayed the project overall.

“For the past three years, we have been electronically updating and adding photographic documentation for every portion of the distribution system to ensure our records are accurate and up to date for future work,” Nolli said.

The Bedford Road phase of the work will be completed in late August, and once it moves down Lincoln Road in the fall, one travel lane will remain open at all times, he said.