February 12, 2025 By Carol Britton Meyer
Town officials recently received the unsettling news that the long-awaited Route 3A corridor improvement project has been put off for an additional year due to two unresolved issues, thereby causing a delay in harborfront improvements that are in the works or planned if that decision stands.
“We received a letter indicating that the projected schedule has been reprogrammed for the year 2027 — a delay of one year largely at the behest of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation related to two issues that came to the foreground around the 75 percent design submission,” Town Engineer J.R. Frey reported to the select board Tuesday night. They relate to stormwater and the town acquiring a required right-of-way.
In response, the select board voted to send a letter to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the Boston region Metropolitan Planning Organization to address each of these concerns, to provide solutions, and to try to get that decision reversed.
“We believe this letter should correct the anticipated delay and allow for us to stay on the 2026 TIP [Transportation Improvement Program] list,” Frey said. “We can’t direct MassDOT to do this, but we’re hoping if our elected representatives [in this case, the select board, contacts MassDOT], we may gain some traction and create a more conducive working environment to move the project forward expeditiously.”
Seven years in the works
Judy Sneath, chair of the task force — which has been working on the project for more than seven years — noted that it was on the 2025 TIP list prior to the pandemic, which slowed roadway projects down.
Since then, the cost “has accelerated at a tremendous rate,” she said. “Getting this work done sooner will be at a cost savings for both the state and federal governments [which are funding the project beyond an initial approximately $800,000 Town-Meeting appropriation for the design work].” The estimated total contract cost is more than $27 million, according to the MassDOT website.
Representative Joan Meschino and Senator Patrick O’Connor are involved in trying to get the project accomplished sooner rather than later.
The project, once it moves forward, will feature a shared use path along part of the harborfront to accommodate walkers, bicyclists, joggers, individuals with disabilities, pets, and other users.
The town’s purchase of the 30 Summer St. property in Nov. 2023 led to reconsideration of the location of the planned SUP as the process of identifying uses for the parcel moves forward.