CUMBERLAND – The town is wrapping up $750,000 worth of sidewalk repairs through a contract with D’Ambra Construction, marking the first significant milestone toward a more pedestrian-friendly community.
The work, according to Public Works Director Romeo Mendes and Community Outreach Coordinator Sarah King, covers about 8,000 feet of sidewalk.
The money to repair existing sidewalks came from the town’s portion of American Rescue Plan Act pandemic relief funds.
Mendes and Mayor Jeff Mutter have agreed that it’s important for the town to adequately repair its existing sidewalks before adding new ones, but they’ve also highlighting the importance of making the town more walkable with a better network of sidewalks for pedestrians.
A previous report prioritized certain more dangerous areas such as Diamond Hill Road and Bear Hill Road, seen as connection points to recreational amenities and business districts.
Future additional sidewalk projects will likely need voter-approved bond spending, according to the mayor. He said this week that there is no next phase planned yet, as they are going to finish the first phase, and any funding would need to be identified to continue.
Here is the list of repairs done to date, most of which are in the Valley Falls area:
- High Street, Blackstone to East Barrows (both sides)
- High Street, Havens to Titus (both sides)
- High Street, Titus to Mill (both sides)
- Abbott Street, from Havens to Mill (both sides)
- Elm Street, from Macondray to Broad (both sides)
- Macondray Street, Elm to Maple (east side)
- Winter Street (west side)
- Chase Street, Titus to Mill (east side – curb replacement required)
- Cumberland Street (east end)
- West Barrows, Old Whipple to Broad
- Bowen, Old Whipple to Broad
- Pleasant, Broad to High
- Hatch, Havens to Fatima
- Titus, Broad to Abbott
- School, Titus to Mill
- Smith, School to Abbott
- Dexter Street, Broad to High (east side)
- Clark, Kinesman to Hewes
- Davis, Pleasant to High
- Lusitania Avenue, Broad to Lusitania
- Scott, from 160 Scott to 295 and 295 to 133 Scott (west side)
- Lawrence, Cray to Bill (west side)
- Woodward, Cray to Bill (east side)
- Highland, High to 34 Highland
- Highland, Williams to 106 Highland (north side)
- Highland, Morris to Ann (south side)
- Highland, Williams to 109 E. Highland (south side)
- Highland, 107 E. Highland to 109 East Highland (south side)
- E. Highland, 141 E. Highland to 155 E. Highland
