Flooding in the Rotary

Last week’s heavy rains caused flooding at the rotary on Route 44 in front of the Cumberland Farms. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has been working on the redesign of the Route 44/118 intersection for the last two years.  

 “This is an opportunity for you to see how this Board is prepared for things you never think of,” Vadnais said to residents.

 “Right at the northern part of the (rotary), it was flooding,” Selectman George Solas explained. “The grade was very low on both sides.”

There were concerns from town officials about the water freezing because of the cold temperatures.

Solas later contacted Mills, Police Chief Louis DiBacco, and Mass DOT about the problem. Action was taken in less than 24 hours.

“(The DOT) dug out on both sides, put in the culverts, and drained and connected it to the overall drainage that they hadn’t done originally,” Solas said. “That following day, it was all fixed. They had it all connected. It was all over and done with in two days. We had a lot of people, all concentrated. I’m very proud to be part of this team. Skip was really proud of us and that’s why he wanted us to talk about it tonight.”

“While you were out, the town worked beautifully together,” Mills told Vadnais. “There was zero pushback, zero resistance. Everybody chipped in even in areas that weren’t their specialty. The team worked well.”