This week, beginning Wednesday, July 10 at 8 p.m. City contractors will undertake the first of two long-awaited mobilizations to pave the travel lanes (approximately 28-feet wide) of eastern Highland Avenue. This first part of a two-part interim paving plan will cover the segment of roadway between McGrath Highway and School Street.  

This stretch is one of Somerville’s most traveled roadways. To ease travel and support safety prior to a pending larger streetscape project planned for Highland, Mayor Ballantyne’s administration allocated $375,000 for the interim paving of eastern Highland Avenue from Benton Road to McGrath Highway in the fiscal year 2024 budget. This interim repaving will precede a full, multi-modal streetscape redesign and reconstruction to be shaped with community input. 

The second stretch of interim Highland Avenue paving is expected to take place later this summer. Upon completion of Eversource’s Gas Main Upgrade project on Highland Avenue, the next round of paving will cover the segment of roadway between School Street and Benton Road. 

“I want to thank the community for their immense patience as we’ve worked to upgrade utilities underneath Highland Avenue. Smoother driving and riding is now nearly here,” said Mayor Ballantyne. “As we lay down this interim paving to keep everyone safer for now, I look forward to the community joining us in our next steps: planning for a great new Highland Avenue that better serves our environment and the travel needs of us all whether walking, biking, rolling, or driving.”

 

 

 

 

More About This Week’s Paving  

Paving will take place overnight beginning Wednesday, July 10 at approximately 8 p.m. and ending Thursday, July 11 at approximately 7 a.m. This schedule is subject to change due to weather or other factors.  

During paving operations: 

Future Full Redesign and Reconstruction of Highland Avenue  

The City’s current Five-Year Capital Investment Plan includes a larger-scale redesign and reconstruction of Highland Avenue. This effort is currently planned to begin as early as July 2025. For more details visit somervillema.gov/highlandave.  

To ensure consistency with the City’s Vision Zero Action Plan and Citywide Bicycle Network Plan, this larger project will include:  

The project development process will include a thorough evaluation of resident, business, and visitor parking and loading needs with a commitment to serve these needs in the context of the future street design.   

To stay informed on the larger-scale redesign and reconstruction project please visit somervillema.gov/highlandave. 

 

About the Spring Hill Sewer Separation  
Much of Spring Hill has historically been served by a combined sewer system that collects both wastewater and stormwater runoff in the same pipes. The City of Somerville has worked to upgrade these systems by installing new storm drains that separate stormwater from the existing combined sewer. This measure is one in a series of actions the City is undertaking to reduce water pollution, mitigate flooding, and ultimately modernize our infrastructure.  

In addition to the installation of a modern, separate sewer system, the Spring Hill Sewer Separation project includes:  

For more information on this project visit somervillema.gov/springhill. 

 

~City of  Somerville