Tell Us: What's Humphrey Need?

Humphrey Street will be getting attention in the coming weeks. In advance of community and business visioning sessions we'd like to know what you think it needs, if anything.

  With upcoming visioning sessions that will look at Humphrey Street from both a community and business perspective, we'd like, in advance, to get your thoughts about the street. A penny for your thoughts, as the old saying goes. Humphrey Street has a sense of place and a variety of looks. It offers history and the ocean and places to eat and shop. It is a place to walk and talk, to linger and watch the ocean. It's also street undergoing change with three major construction projects well underway, the Gateway Building, the Concordia condos and the new police station. Further change may be in the cards, as well. It's also a busy road for commuters, residents and people coming and going to Phillips Park, Fisherman's Beach and other popular …

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Swampscott Paving To Start On Humphrey

Now that the Legislature had approved release of Chapter 90 funds the town can move ahead with its paving program by the end of July.

  The overdue allocation of paving funds should be headed to Massachusetts towns soon now that the Legislature has approved the Chapter 90 appropriations. Town Administrator Tom Younger said the Chapter 90 bill was on the governor's desk Friday. The administrator expects Swampscott's $302,863 allocation will arrive in mid-July. Gino Cresta, Swampscott's Department of Public Works director, said the town opened bids recently on a paving contract with $950,000 worth of work. The bids came in very competitive. DR Paving of Melrose bid of $840,000 was the most competitive. The contract gives the paving company 90 days to complete the work. It will start by the end of July, the director said. The first job will be paving Humphrey Street from …

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Humphrey Street Utility Work Underway

The project is expected to last six months.

  Utility work on Humphrey Street will result in more congestion but the plan is to maintain two-lanes open whenever possible, according to National Grid. The project got underway Monday, with crews laying out locations for construction, said Swampscott DPW Director Gino Cresta. The actual cutting into the ground isn't expected until next week, at which point travelers can expect additional congestion on Humphrey, the DPW director said. National Grid said earlier that they expect it to be a six-month project. The main work was expected to wind up in the fall but crews were to return in the spring of 2013 for some finish paving, a National Grid spokesman said earlier.  The project calls for installing about three-quarters of a mile of …

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You Asked Patch Answers: Humphrey Street Road Work?

A Patch reader asked if the section of Humphrey Street near the temple property and extending to the Marblehead town line would receive road repairs this year?

  A Patch reader asked if the section of Humphrey Street near the temple property and extending to the Marblehead town line would receive road repairs this year? We put the question to the town director of Public Works, Gino Cresta. The director said absolutely. He expects the work to start by July. Paving will be done from the Atlantic Avenue/Humphrey Street split to the Marblehead town line. The estimated cost of that paving contract is $149,000. Paving work during the 2012 season will be paid for, in part, by funding from Article 11 on the town warrant. This article appropriates the $302,863 that the Legislature has approved for Swampscott highway and safety projects including the repair, construction and reconstruction of streets. The …

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Humphrey Under Construction From One End to the Other

Three major projects are underway and soon they will be joined by a fourth.

  Construction projects big and small are underway on Humphrey Street. Crews are digging and drilling, surveying and setting forms all within about a mile of each other. From the Gateway property to the pumping station no fewer than three major projects and two minor projects are in motion. A fourth major project on Humphrey, installation of underground and above ground utility lines, including fiber optics, is expected to start within a week or so, said Swampscott Fire Chief Kevin Breen. The fire chief and Police Chief Ron Madigan were at the site of the new police station on Tuesday. They met with utility company representatives to talk about the best place to locate utilities for the new police station, said the police chief. Crews are …

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Terry Date

11:06 pm on Sunday, April 22, 2012

Thanks for your question, Jan. We will ask it and post the answer in a Patch You Asked column.   more ›

Six Months of Humphrey Street Digging Starts Soon

National Grid's underground and above ground installation of utilities will include fiber optic communication lines.

  Expect more traffic on Humphrey Street in the near future but the plan is to maintain two-lanes open whenever possible, a National Grid spokesman said earlier. Back in February selectmen approved the utility company's project — installing about three-quarters of a mile of underground conduit to carry communication and electrical lines along Humphrey Street. Town officials expect the project to start in the next week or so. The installation is projected to be complete by late fall, National Grid Engineer Phillip Courcy said when he met with selectmen. Road crews will return in the spring of 2013 for finish paving. The underground lines are intended to increase capacity and reduce the number of outages, said John Upham, a company spokesman…

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Six Months of Humphrey Street Digging Starts in April

Selectmen approved National Grid's underground electrical line installation project on Wednesday.

  Expect more traffic on Humphrey Street later this year but the plan is to maintain two-lanes open whenever possible, a National Grid spokesman said. On Wednesday, selectmen approved the utility company's project — installing about three-quarters of a mile of underground conduit to carry electrical lines along Humphrey Street. National Grid wants to start work by April 1, said National Grid Engineer Phillip Courcy. The project would end in late fall, he said. Road crews would return in the spring of 2013 for finish paving. The underground lines are intended to increase capacity and reduce the number of outages, said John Upham, a company spokesman. The utility has had problems with outages in that area, he said. Selectman Jill Sullivan …

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Police Station's Day Arrives

Officials, officers, and other police station supporters joined construction team members Friday morning on Humphrey Street. They celebrated the start of construction for the new Swampscott Police Station.

  Police station supporters posed with bright, clean shovels, all but one of which never made it into the ground at this morning’s groundbreaking ceremony on Humphrey Street. Later, long after group photographs were clicked for posterity, police Chief Ron Madigan couldn't resist scooping a clump of hard-packed pumping station dirt into his shovel.  That drove home the point for him that the town was actually getting a new station with the room and features to carry out 21st century police work. He and others said during the ceremony that the road to the $6.4 million station was long, winding and rife with barriers. The chief wondered at times if he would see a new station in his career. Town Administrator Andrew Maylor said the effort was …

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Three-Car Crash Leads to Arrest

Police arrested a Boston man Monday morning for trying to flee the scene of a Humphrey Street accident.

  Police arrested a Boston man as he tried to flee the scene of a three-car accident Monday at 10:37 am, said Swampscott police Det. Tim Cassidy.  Taken into custody was James Warren, 42, of 107 Park Drive in Boston, police said. Warren was driving the vehicle that struck the others. An occupant in one of the vehicles received injuries that were not life threatening, police said. The injured person was transported to North Shore Medical Center in Lynn for treatment, police said. The accident took place at 6 Humphrey St., near the Lynn line. Warren is also suspected of striking vehicles in Lynn and a house along Lynn Shore Drive, police said. Swampscott, Lynn and State investigated. The accident remains under investigation and more …

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King's Beach Blaze

Former Gateway Businesses: Where Are They Now

Swampscott Patch will present a weekly series of interviews with business owners who, temporarily, lost their livelihoods in the March fire that destroyed the Gateway building on Humphrey Street.

Swampscott Patch will present a weekly series of interviews with business owners who lost their businesses in the March fire that destroyed the Gateway building on Humphrey Street. Plans are in the works to rebuild on the footprint of the old building at the corner of Humphrey and Redington streets. Half of the former tenants who called the previous building home have moved into new Humphrey Street locations, continuing to practice their crafts and offer their services. In this Phoenix story we talk to the owners about the challenges they faced and where they are in their recoveries. The first installment will be Wednesday.

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