'The End is in Sight': Paving Slated for Main Street This Week

The end is in sight. If you're dealing with the traffic, dust, noise and bumpy ride along Main Street every day, you'll be happy to know that the paving, at least, will be done this weekend.

The paving was originally scheduled for Thursday and Friday, but due to the "torrential downpours" of the past two days, A.R. Belli says that caused a delay for the paving contractor at another job and Main Street paving has been pushed back to Friday and Saturday.

Work hours will be 7 a.m. - 5 p.m. on both days and paving will begin at the Howley Street end of Main Street (on the CVS side) and continue westerly toward Peabody Square. The plan is for the second day of paving to begin at Nichols Lane and head easterly toward the Salem line.

Main Street, which is a highly trafficked road through the downtown, will remain open at this time on both days, but parking will not be allowed on either side of the street.

Customers and other patrons of businesses there are encouraged to use nearby municipal parking lots (Foster Street, Mill Street and Nichols Lane) instead. Parking will be free for those lots on both days.

Community Development Director Karen Sawyer says that "at all times, there will be one lane of traffic in each direction, but side roads and driveways will be impacted for the day."

Side streets off Main Street will be blocked and traffic coming both from Salem and from Lowell Street on the other end, will be detoured around Main Street.

Sawyer said the "end is in sight" for the project. City officials said earlier this spring, when construction resumed after a winter hiatus, that the project would be wrapped up by June 30.

The majority of the construction has been to replace sidewalks and curbing, install bump-outs to extend crosswalks and relocate utility lines as needed. Once the new asphalt is down, the roadway can be reconfigured to two lanes with designated turning lanes. There will be a center turning lane from Washington to Howley Street.

A notice sent out by the Peabody Area Chamber of Commerce Wednesday morning notes that all businesses should be open during the paving and again urged patrons of Main Street shops and stores to utilize nearby public parking lots.

PACC Executive Director Deanne Healey also listed several key points for people to remember as follows:

1. Pedestrian and motorist safety were the main reasons for engineering and design behind all of the changes being made on the Main Street corridor.
2. Main Street is not being reduced to two lanes, but rather the lanes are being reconfigured to provide dedicated turning lanes at high traffic areas. This will allow through traffic to proceed more smoothly.
3. This project DOES NOT involve a redesign of Peabody Square, so the intersection of Main/Lowell with Foster/Central Streets will remain as is for the time being.
4. Angled parking is not being implemented.

"While we would all like the convenience of being able to snag a parking space right outside the front door, that is not always possible. But with lots available on Foster, Central, Wallis and Nichols Lane, there is plenty of parking available within a short walk of almost any store, restaurant or business. I can almost guarantee you will have to walk no further than a parking space you might otherwise find when you visit the mall," Healey said.

"Yes, there is still work to be done. I am confident that this project is just the first of many changes to come and sets the stage for future progress in transforming our downtown into a vibrant destination," she said.