Mayor Hedlund and Council President Smart to Host Public Forum with MassDOT on Route 18 Bridge Closure & Detour to Pond Street (August 7, 2019)
Mayor Robert Hedlund and Council President Michael Smart will host a public forum on Monday, August 12th, 2019 to review the upcoming road closures and traffic changes that will take place during the Route 18 bridge construction. The meeting will be held at the Pond Plain Improvement Association Hall located at 330 Pond Street, South Weymouth, MA 02190 beginning at 7PM. This meeting will provide residents of the Pond Street area with the opportunity to ask MassDOT representatives questions about the upcoming bridge closure and detour.
As part of the Route 18 widening work, MassDOT will close the Route 18 (Main Street) Bridge over the MBTA Kingston – Plymouth line tracks starting Friday night, August 23rd at approximately 11:00PM until early Monday morning, August 26th. Through traffic will be subsequently re-routed onto Pond Street. Police details will assist in the direction of detoured traffic. Businesses on Main Street will remain open and access to all businesses and residences will be permitted at all times.
“The Town acknowledges that the Route 18 weekend Bridge closure will be disruptive to nearby residents and businesses as well as the traveling public,” said Mayor Hedlund. “However, we recognize that the work requiring the bridge closure represents a significant milestone in the process of replacing this bridge with a new, wider bridge, which is a major component of the entire Route 18 widening project. "
Night shift work in preparation for the bridge closure will continue up to the weekend of the bridge closure.
“We want to make sure residents are apprised of the Route 18 work and any subsequent traffic mitigation,” said Council President Smart. “Therefore, we felt it would be best to host a public forum for the residents of the Pond Street area to hear about the construction and ask any questions about the traffic flow, project, and road closures”.
MassDOT and P. Gioioso & Sons, Inc. will present on the proposed road closure and project work at the August 12th meeting. Residents will have an opportunity to ask questions about the detour and its effect on the traffic flow. MassDOT released this information regarding the Route 18 project: https://www.mass.gov/route-18-weymouth-abington-improvements-project. For updates on all MassDOT projects, residents are encouraged to subscribe to the project notification system for more frequent updates and alerts: https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/MADOT/ subscriber/new.
Any additional inquiries can be directed to the Town’s Department of Planning & Community Development at 781-340-5015.