Montvale Avenue Widening Project Moves Closer To Getting Started

WOBURN, MA -- Massachusetts Department of Transportation officials are reviewing bids for a $10.1 million project to widen an 1,850-foot stretch of Montvale Avenue from the I-93 overpass to Central Street in East Woburn. Bids were due April 3 and are expected to certify D&R General Contracting as the low bidder this month.

The proposed project has been in the works for two decades and would widen the busy thoroughfare to four lanes and add a turning lane. The plan also calls for new traffic signals, sidewalks, wheelchair ramps and paving. About 30,000 cars use the stretch each day, but that number spikes when traffic backs up on I-93.

Work will be broken into phases so that construction would not be continuous during the two-year work schedule. The current schedule calls for completion in 2019. In addition to $5.3 million from federal funding, Woburn is receiving $4.8 million in state transportation money to complete the project.

In September, Woburn City Council approved a taking order that allowed the project to move forward. That 7-2 vote allowed the city to use eminent domain to take portions of more than 20 properties to acquire the land needed to widen the roadway.

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Patch file photo.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).