By Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

While most people break out their straw hats and sand shovels this summer, on the streets of Somerville it will be high season for hard hats and backhoes. Our municipal workers and contractors are gearing up for their busiest time of year.

You’ll pass by them as they do major reconstruction on – and under — Cedar Street and Lincoln Park. You may also notice surface work being done on 26 other streets this construction season. There’s also a major road reconstruction on Beacon Street, funded by MassDOT. These workers will toil hard in the heat, and my hat’s off to them for creating a better foundation for Somerville.

In all, the City plans to resurface 5.3 miles of city roads in 2016 – more than the combined length of Broadway and Highland Avenue. Some of these projects will be more complicated than others, as we’ve scheduled some streets to receive major overhauls that include milling and new sidewalks. On other streets, we’re experimenting with a new process that will greatly extend the useful life of the pavement.

Somerville’s ability to attract great residents and businesses is only as strong as our infrastructure. But good quality and safe streets and sidewalks, the water and sewer systems beneath them, buildings, parks and lighting require ongoing investment and maintenance. That sounds obvious, but for decades too much of our nation’s infrastructure—and Somerville’s—has been neglected. As Mayor I’ve sought to reverse this. We’ve steadily picked up the pace of everything from road reconstruction and flooding prevention to playground renovations and bike lane expansion. This summer, you’ll see some of these efforts in action. Lincoln Park work is underway for all to see, but one of the best parts of the renovation will be invisible when it’s finished. We’re installing a stormwater catchment system under the field’s surface that will hold 1.25 million gallons of water, which will prevent flooding in the park and, we hope, around Union Square as well.

We’ll also be addressing flooding problems on Cedar Street and then Elm Street this summer. Benjamin Harrison was President when the water mains were installed under Cedar Street, and the brick drainage and sewer system was built during the Theodore Roosevelt administration. It’s long past time for an upgrade. Parts of Cedar Street, especially around Hall Street, are like the basin of a clogged sink in heavy rainstorms, and residents have at times had to wade through waist-high water.

Once Eversource replaces old gas mains (it’s always best to do that first so as not to have to excavate twice), we’ll install new catch basins, 48-inch drainage pipes, and new water and sewer lines. We’re also separating the storm drainage and sewer lines so that ultimately only sewer water gets treated. This will keep our waterways cleaner, especially during downpours when drains get sewage released into them.

When that work is done, we’ll install a new street surface and sidewalks on Cedar between Highland Avenue and Elm Street. The sidewalks will exceed federal rules for wheelchair access, and we plan to include a bike lane. I expect the work to be finished by next year.

That’s not all we have in store for Cedar Street. On the stretch between Highland and Broadway, we’re piloting a new method to slow down traffic: Somerville’s first chicanes. Chicanes are sidewalk extensions that jut out into the road at alternating-side intersections. They’ll make Cedar appear to zig and zag a little instead of looking like a straightaway. I thank residents for their input into this model, which has been shown to effectively slow traffic.

Another pilot program we’re working with this summer is pavement preservation. On nine streets whose surface is still in reasonably good shape (notably Summer Street), we will seal cracks with an asphalt mix and then cover it with a slurry seal that will protect the road from water, wear and tear, salt, and other insults. We expect that this process will give the road an extra four to five years of useful life. That will save us money to work on other projects, as this preservation costs $3 a square yard while complete milling and paving is about $17 per square yard.

Thanks for your help in preparing for these projects, and feel free to give the crews a wave of support as you pass by them on your way to, I hope, some well-deserved summer fun.