Peabody Mayor Edward A. Bettencourt, Jr. released a video update on the Central Street Improvement Project on Monday, November 2, telling residents that the roughly $25 million, state-managed reconstruction of the downtown corridor has “certainly lived up to its reputation as a monster undertaking,” that the city cannot always give drivers accurate schedules because the timelines change on short notice, and that major construction will pause for the winter before resuming in the spring. The same week, the project contractor’s traffic plan for Pulaski Street calls for southbound cars to shift into the northbound lane, northbound traffic to detour through side streets, eight police details and the closure of Endicott Street between Warren and Central streets to all but local traffic.
What the mayor said
The project is largely funded through state sources and is managed by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and its contractor, MDR Construction, the mayor’s office said in a release accompanying the video. “Because the project is state-funded and state-managed through MassDOT and its contractor, MDR, the city does not maintain the same level of direct oversight that would exist on a municipally managed project,” the release says. Bettencourt singles out communication as the city’s biggest frustration: “One of our greatest challenges has been providing timely and accurate updates to residents when information can change on very short notice. We understand how frustrating that can be for drivers, residents, and businesses, and we share that frustration.” Schedules shift, the release says, because of weather, utility conflicts and contractor scheduling adjustments.
The mayor also acknowledges the traffic that has spilled onto Lowell Street, Main Street and the connecting corridors during construction, and says the city continues to work with MassDOT and project partners on mitigation. The current phase is mostly underground utility work that the public cannot see, he says, but it lays the foundation for the roadway, sidewalk, streetscape and traffic safety work to come. “Replacing and modernizing infrastructure that is more than 100 years old is never easy, but it is necessary if we want a safer, more reliable, and more attractive downtown,” the release quotes him as saying. The city has built a centralized project page on its website with three-week look-ahead schedules, daily construction updates, detour information and notices, and it points residents to the Peabody Connect app as its most effective notification tool. The video is on the city’s YouTube channel.
The Pulaski Street plan
MDR’s traffic management plan, dated for an estimated start of Wednesday, October 28, covers the installation of new water main along Pulaski Street, including the intersection with Gardner Street, as the contractor wraps up what the plan calls Phase III and continues until the new water system is complete. The work requires excavation down the center of the roadway, a minimum of five business days, Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. with the caveat that crews may work past 3:00 when weather or operations require. Equipment and materials are staged on the southbound side of the work zone.
Southbound traffic on Pulaski Street is shifted into the northbound travel lane through the work area, with police details and channelizing devices separating cars from the trench. Northbound traffic toward Gardner Street is detoured: under the approved route in the plan, motorists are directed onto Central Street, continue toward Tremont Street, turn onto Driscoll Street, continue to Margin Street and proceed from there toward Salem or Danvers. The contractor’s week-of-November-2 work plan adds a shorter option: traffic approaching from Central Street is detoured onto Pound Lane and through to Gardner Street, and traffic from Andover Street can take Pound Lane as well, with drivers who miss it sent around via Tremont, Driscoll and Margin streets to Gardner Street. That plan has three crews on Pulaski Street between Central Street and the limit of work just north of Buxton Avenue, installing main under the southbound side Monday through Thursday and paving Friday. To keep cars moving at Wilson Square, Endicott Street from Warren Street to Central Street is closed to all but local traffic.
Trucks, school buses and eight officers
Pulaski Street is a designated truck route and Pioneer Charter School sits along it, so the plan commits MDR to accommodating tractor-trailers, other large commercial vehicles and school buses through the work zone, with police and construction personnel coordinating their passage and construction activity adjusted when a large vehicle needs the room. Eight police detail officers are assigned: at Central Street and Andover Street, the intersection the plan calls Wilson Square, to keep traffic moving and direct drivers onto the detours; at Pulaski and Gardner streets, where a temporary lane closure will stay in place until the water main is through the intersection and the road can reopen; and at points along the Pulaski Street work zone to manage the shifted lane and the large vehicles. The plan calls for communication among all three groups of officers and for any change to the traffic pattern or schedule to be coordinated with the city and the Peabody Police Department before it is made. Senior Center signs are deployed as needed at locations set by MDR at the request of the city and MassDOT.
What to expect
The five-day duration is described as an initial estimate that depends on field conditions, progress and weather. The mayor’s release says major construction activity will pause during the winter months and resume in the spring, though neither document gives a date for the pause or a schedule for 2027. The visible work, roadway, sidewalks, streetscape and traffic safety improvements, comes after the underground utilities are finished. The City Council’s most recent regular meeting is covered here; the Central Street project did not appear on that agenda.
