With nearly 90,000 residents and the Massachusetts Turnpike running through the city, Newton sees a lot of wear and tear in its roads.
And in 2023, Newton has been plugging away at much-needed road and sidewalk repairs, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller highlighted in a recent email update on roadwork projects.
“There’s been lots of work happening on roads and related infrastructure across Newton this construction season, Fuller wrote.
The city used $6 million from the American Rescue Plan Act, enacted in spring 2021 to help cities and towns deal with the fiscal crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, to repave neighborhood streets in Newton, Fuller noted.
Streets are prioritized with the city’s pavement condition index—a numerical scale ranging from 0 to 100 with a higher number indicating better pavement conditions—for the whole city.
“Over the past six years, the PCI of Newton’s overall road network has gone from a 62 to a 72,” Fuller wrote. “That is steady and real improvement, including paving major roadways Parker, Dedham, Washington, Crafts, Watertown, Chestnut, and Comm Ave. Progress is of course slower than any of us would like and there are still plenty of roads that need work.”
Repair crews were able to get to 53 roads this year that had a PCI of below 50, she added.
The city website has a list of specific streets’ PCI ratings and a road work map showing progress and planned projects.