Peabody Square Traffic Project to Get Underway in March

PEABODY, MA - The Peabody Square Traffic Reconfiguration Project looks ready to get underway in March.

In a letter to the City Council, City Planner Karen Sawyer Conard stated that the project is ready to proceed, with a notice of award for the project to be issued to low-bidder I.W. Harding of West Bridgewater.

A pre-construction meeting will be held in February with staging and construction beginning in March or as soon as weather permits.

Mayor Ted Bettencourt addressed the project in his inaugural address earlier this month.

“Continuing the momentum created by the Main Street redesign project, we secured a one point five million dollar state grant to help redesign Peabody Square and greatly improve the flow of downtown traffic,” Bettencourt said. “This project breaks ground in the spring. It will relocate the Civil War monument away from traffic and make it the centerpiece of a new greenspace in front of the district court building. By eliminating dangerous and confusing slip lanes and synchronizing traffic lights, the project will create a more traditional four way intersection and make the entire square more attractive and more business and pedestrian friendly.”

As part of the finalization of the project, the planning department is asking the City Council to amend an existing agreement with the Mass Department of Transportation at the council’s Thursday night meeting.

The Traffic Control Agreements are put in place when federal or state funds are used for improvements to roadway infrastructure.