Humphrey Street Paving Starts Mid-Month

The town selected a Melrose paving company for the work.

  Swampscott's Department of Public Works director said on Friday that Humphrey Street paving is scheduled to start in one week, on Aug. 13. This should be welcome news to many residents who have been eager for new asphalt on Humphrey. The street will be milled — the old asphalt removed and ground up — and paved from the Puritan Road and Atlantic Avenue split to the Marblehead town line. Salem Street will also be milled and paved, he said. This work is part of the town's regular road paving schedule and unrelated to the recent re-work of temporary trench paving by National Grid on the other end of Humphrey. As far as the upcoming project goes, it is unclear yet at which end the Melrose paving contractor will start . The town selected the …

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Letter to the Editor

Resident Says National Grid Road Patching Unacceptable

William DiMento says the Humphrey Street work should be stopped until the patching is corrected.

Letter to Editor:  The patching by National Grid from the Monument to Forbes square is totally unacceptable. The Town of Swampscott has issued a "road opening" permit which requires the road to be patched in a professional, workman-like manner. I watched the last Selectmen's meeting when the subject was discussed and there was some mention that this is a temporary patch and a second coat would be applied shortly. That is not true. DPW informed me today that National Grid will not be repaving the middle of the road until in the Spring of 2013. National Grid does a terrible job of patching because they get away with it.  I suggest they not be allowed to continue to dig until they correct the mess they have made. Not promises, action or stop…

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Water Main Break Carves Sinkhole on Humphrey

The section was repaired and water service restored by 11:30 am.

A water main break early this morning cut off service to the Bertram House, carved a sinkhole and slowed traffic on Humphrey Street. The line ruptured about 4:30 am, said Public Works Director Gino Cresta. A piece on the bottom of the 100-year-old cast-iron pipe blew out and a 13-foot section cracked, the director said. DPW shut down the water gate, stemming the flow of water, and called in a contractor, Meninno Construction. A Meninno crew dig up the ground, replaced the broken pipe and filled the hole. Rushing water undermined the surface at the roadside, creating a sinkhole four feet deep and about eight feet long, Cresta said. DPW crews have been working and continue to work long hours clearing and hauling debris after Tuesday's flood …

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Transportation Spokesman Says Town Can't Ban Trucks From 129

Selectmen will hear from the state on the question at a future meeting.

A transportation spokesman says the state has a policy of not allowing towns to ban trucks from state numbered roads including Route 129 in Swampscott. "MassDOT has a general policy of not authorizing heavy commercial vehicle exclusions on numbered routes, regardless of jurisdiction ...," said Michael Verseckes, a spokesman for MassDOT. He went on to say that the reason for the policy is that numbered roads are intended to carry all types of traffic legally allowed to travel on public roadways.  Recently the question of prohibiting trucks — those not making local deliveries — from traveling Humphrey Street came up at a Swampscott selectmen's meeting. A resident, at an earlier meeting, said trucks were using the beach road as a cut-through …

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