NEWBURYPORT — State Street will soon be a lot smoother and brighter as the latest phase of the city’s Downtown Lighting and State Street Paving Projects began this week.
Mayor Sean Reardon said this will be the third phase of a project the city has been working on for three years.
“We have been methodically replacing these lanterns around the downtown and they are already making a big difference in safety and visibility. Our city electrician, Jeff Mattheson, has been hard at work replacing them throughout the downtown, close to 89 all together,” Reardon said.
The latest phase will see 47 Water Street lights replaced, with 18 new lights being installed between State Street and Pleasant Street; nine on the western side of State Street between Pleasant and Harris streets, and nine on the eastern side of State Street between Pleasant and Prospect streets.
Mattheson will begin prep work for the light pole bases working with TW Construction while Allied Construction will begin brickwork, according to a statement from the city.
This will entail trenching close to the curbline to install conduit and then connecting the conduit under the curb into the sidewalk, where concrete bases will be poured below the grade of the brick.
A small void will be created where each light pole will be installed, and wherever brick will be removed, it will be backfilled with sand or gravel to maintain a smooth sidewalk surface.
The light poles have a long (20-week) lead time, so they will be installed next spring. In the interim, residents will see small circles of sand and gravel within the brick sidewalks where future light poles will be installed.
The work will progress block by block, meaning one block of sidewalk will be closed and parking along the same block will be restricted for a day or two until the light pole bases are installed along that section. The block will then reopen, and work will commence on the next block.
Residents and businesses should expect periodic sidewalk and parking closures for a day or two until work on their block is completed. Once the sidewalk and light pole prep is completed, Allied will then return to mill and overlay the entirety of State Street.
The cost of this phase of the project is $345,000 with most of the money coming from the city’s paid parking account, according to Reardon.
“We also got a small $50,000 grant from the state that was secured by Sen. Tarr and Rep Shand. I’m really excited about this project,” Reardon said, referring to Bruce Tarr and Dawne Shand.
With the work being done in Ward 2, its city councilor, Jennie Donahue, said she has been a proponent of the project from the start after hearing from concerned business owners.
“It’s going to make a huge difference for folks who are significantly part of the downtown yet are literally left in the dark,” Donahue said.
Among the businesses that will benefit from the new lights is Virtue Jewelers at 74 State St. Owner Erdem Kaya said all the business owners he has spoken with have supported the project since they feel the lack of lighting past Pleasant Street can affect foot traffic.
“We’ve been really for it, we wanted it. It’s definitely going to make a difference in how State Street looks,” Kaya said.
Another business looking forward to the increased visibility is Banter Barbershop at 80 State St. Owner Eric Eramo said it has been a long time coming.
“It’ll be nice to have the lights all the way up the sidewalk because it promotes more foot traffic on the upper part of State Street,” Eramo said.
Matt Petry covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: mpetry@northofboston.com.