Meetings Ahead
Most meetings in Wellfleet are remote only, but some are held in person. Go to www.wellfleet-ma.gov/calendar and click on the meeting you want to watch, then follow the instructions on the agenda.
Thursday, Oct. 12
- Housing Authority, 10 a.m.
- Commission on Disabilities, 4 p.m.
- Nauset Regional School Committee, 6 p.m.
- Zoning Board of Appeals, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 17
- Cable Internet and Cellular Service Advisory Committee, 9 a.m.
- Select board, 7 p.m., Adult Community Center & Zoom
Wednesday, Oct. 18
- Conservation Commission, 4 p.m.
Conversation Starter
The Slow Road
The select board authorized the Mass. Dept. of Transportation to perform night work on Route 6 to complete a pavement preservation project, which will resurface Route 6 in Wellfleet, as well as the Main Street intersection improvement project.
A moratorium on all road work between Memorial Day and Labor Day, as well as a winter shutdown from mid-December through mid-March, means that MassDOT has only a couple of months each year to work on these projects.
When project manager Greg Mischel presented his request for night work approval to the select board on Oct. 3, he predicted that both projects would take about six years to complete.
While 99 percent of the work will take place during the daytime, there are some tasks related to putting in drainage structures and milling that would happen at night. The project’s consultant, Jill McLaughlin of Stantec, said that during the work contractors would keep one lane of Route 6 open, and police and fire details would manage alternating one-way traffic.
Select board members expressed concern about the six-year timeline.
“I was taken aback, too,” said dept. of public works director Jay Norton. “I’m confident the contractors want to get the project done. They are going to work as fast as they can.”
Mischel sought approval for night work between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. on Sunday through Thursday nights. Board members unanimously approved a condition that noise would be limited between midnight and 6 a.m.
McLaughlin added that no night work would take place on Main Street.
A contractor has been identified for the Main Street intersection project, but bids for the repavement project will not open until Oct. 24, Mischel said. That puts work on Route 6 to begin sometime in 2024, he said. —Sam Pollak
