West Acton braces for Baker Avenue intersection overhaul

The busy West Acton spot near where Main Street and Baker Avenue converge is getting a new look. 

A few questions remain. Many say it’s still a step in the right direction in a spot where some smell leaking natural gas and bemoan cars speeding close to sidewalks.

“This seems like a good thing,” Cottage Street resident Steve Irza said of the project after a recent community meeting. 

Work on the multi-phase overhaul should ramp up this week, according to National Grid spokesperson Bob Kievra, as the utility starts replacing a gas main under Main Street and Old Bridge Road.

Kievra said crews expect to finish the replacement within eight weeks. 

The town’s share includes demolishing a traffic island at the end of Baker Avenue and relocating a utility pole to the sidewalk. Officials will also eliminate a “slip lane” that lets drivers accelerate off Main Street onto Old Bridge Road and Crest Street. 

At the Harvey Wheeler Community Center last month, Assistant Town Engineer Justin Richardson said this project represents a focus on safety. 

State Department of Transportation data documents 25 crashes in and around the intersection of Main Street and Baker Avenue dating back to 2002. Five had some sort of injury. 

One recent accident wrecked an artist-painted traffic light switch box.

Officials are expected to start public discussions soon about their larger and recently funded five-year road maintenance surge.

National Grid work will probably require crews to block one travel lane at a time, potentially snarling traffic along a key commuter route. Richardson told The Acton Bridge that the town component might have a lesser impact, as crews will work primarily along the intersection’s margins. 

Town crews might start relocating the utility pole before year-end. A contractor will help tackle the rest of the work. Richardson said officials plan to publish a request for proposals this winter and bring the contractor on board in 2026. 

One resident asked whether the town will finish the full project by fall 2026. Richardson knocked on the wooden auditorium stage. “That’s our hope,” he said. 

Goodbye, ‘jet ramp’ 

Elizabeth Copley helps maintain a flower bed beside the Old Bridge Road slip lane with the West Acton Green Thumbs. She calls the spot “very unsafe.” 

The redesigned juncture will be “phenomenal,” she said, adding she’s looking forward to less treacherous days tending the garden. 

Concordian Pam Gardner called the slip lane “the jet ramp.” While the intersection change “might make marginal improvements,” she said she’s still worried about the new Novo Riverside Commons development, which will add 201 apartments along Baker Avenue if builders proceed.

Residents asked Richardson why the town can’t widen Baker Avenue to accommodate new traffic. Richardson said private property hems in the road. 

“What happened to eminent domain?” Concordian Bill Lott asked.

“People don’t like that,” Richardson answered.

The town plans to pay for its share of upgrades with a mix of capital budget spending and, potentially, state Chapter 90 infrastructure funding. The Novo developers have also pledged $100,000. Richardson declined to share initial total cost projections. 

Although the Novo cash could be helpful, Town Planner Elizabeth Hughes said the developer isn’t required to pay until it requests a certificate of occupancy. 

Taurus Investment Holdings hasn’t sought a building permit yet, and Hughes acknowledged a certificate of occupancy could be years away. 

If Taurus doesn’t build its complex, it won’t have to pay the town for intersection upgrades.

Schedule snarls

Residents bristled at the prospect of repeated digging after National Grid representatives acknowledged they ran into issues when they started work to remove an old gas regulator station on Cottage Street and add a new one on Main Street, close to the gas main project.

“We want to be in and out with as little disruption as possible,” Senior Engagement Manager Bouba Diemé said when asked after the Harvey Wheeler session about possibly tackling both projects at once.

Asked for an update the week of September 29, Kievra said the project remained on hold “while we assess next steps.”

For her part, Select Board member and Acton Greene resident Mary Hartman said she sometimes smells gas leaking from aging pipes while walking along Old Bridge Road. 

“I know this is going to be disruptive,” she said, “but it’s work that needs to be done.”