About a month ago (9/28) work was done to make Brookline Avenue a one-way inbound between the Riverway Connector and Park Drive. It was on that day that the traffic signal lights were activated at the end of the Riverway and on Park Drive with the intersection of the Riverway. These lights will help vehicles navigate through the area. Although there were some initial growing pains, the intersection is working well. An article about the shift in traffic is scheduled to run shortly in the Fenway News.
The traffic change on Brookline Avenue was to allow the jersey barriers to be moved farther out into Brookline Avenue. Two new inbound lanes were put in, there are four inbound lanes as there always were in this area. The outbound traffic now travels around the Sears rotary to go outbound. A dedicated right turn lane was installed at the Riverway Connector/Brookline Avenue intersection. This allows a continuous right turn, except when there is a stop for pedestrian traffic.
After the jersey barrier was moved additional sheet piling was installed to support the excavation to get down to the elevation where the drilled shafts would be installed. During the excavation old trolley tracks that had been paved over in Brookline Avenue were discovered that needed to be removed.
The foundation has been poured for the wing walls, the pile cap for the 26 drilled shafts that were placed as part of the first stage of work (in the Sears parking Lot) and poured the invert slab for the first stage. The invert slab is the “floor” of the culvert. It is included to reduce the friction of the moving water over what there would be with a natural streambed (that allows the culverts to be smaller). Work started last Thursday on the installation of additional drilled shafts. Shafts were installed on Thursday, Friday and yesterday (10/28).
The first culvert sections are scheduled to be installed starting this Friday (11/1). It is projected that 6 culvert sections placed by mid-week next week. Starting in a few weeks excavation and work on relocating the 48 inch water line will begin.
