Based on data collected earlier this year on the condition of Lincoln’s roads, a consultant has recommended a five-year repaving and repair project costing about $20 million, in addition to money already allocated for repairing Bedford Road and Lincoln Road after the water main and drainage projects.
Town Administrator Tim Higgins and Department of Public Works Superintendent Stephen Olson reported the figure in a Sept. 30 memo to the Capital Planning Committee (CapCom).
A town-wide road-by-road sequence hasn’t been discussed yet, but the first two years of work would involve mostly main roads along with a few neighborhood roads, Higgins told the Select Board on Oct. 18. He was relaying information presented by John Vancor of IMEG, who met with the Lincoln Transportation Coalition on Oct. 15.
The actual estimate was $18.6 million but officials are already assuming $20 million, given the uncertainties over the cost of field that’s used to make asphalt, he said.
The town’s last major pavement improvement program was undertaken in 2010 at a cost of approximately $5.5 million and concentrated on main roads, according to the memo. “At the time, it was determined that the neighborhood road network could continue to be maintained reasonably through routine annual maintenance.” Sixteen years later, the main roads are again in need of repaving, “and many neighborhood roads — which generally did not benefit from the 2010 program — have not been substantially repaved in 30 to 40 years.”
According to Higgins, Vancor said that 9% of Lincoln’s roads need little or no attention, more than 50% need “milling overlay or deeper reconstruction,” and about 17% are somewhere in between. The next step is deciding priorities and timeline in terms of what the town is willing to spend and when. Also to be considered: whether to defer some of the work and substitute “more aggressive maintenance” for some secondary roads, Higgins said.
The town was originally planning to seek funds at the Annual Town Meeting in March so as to begin work in spring 2027, but Higgins said that may no longer be feasible. The Select Board plans to discuss the issue in more detail at their next meeting, but even at this early stage, board member Jim Hutchinson said he would like to see at least two “price points” to present as options for requests to the Finance Committee and Capital Planning Committee (CapCom).
The town has recently been “hoarding” much of its annual Chapter 90 state road maintenance grants to fund the Bedford and Lincoln road work starting next spring, Higgins said. In other years, some of those funds have gone to projects not directly related to road surfaces such as crosswalks and cycling and safety improvements, so future Chapter 90 funds might have to go exclusively toward roadway resurfacing and preventive maintenance, he said.
The good news is that the Water Department has money allocated to offset some of the Lincoln and Bedford Road repairs. In addition, National Grid has offered to pay for some of the Lincoln Road resurfacing work after they do their own gas pipeline replacement project. They have identified Lincoln Road between the library and Ballfield Road as their “top priority” and plan to start work as soon as the water main project is completed in November or early December, working over the winter and finishing by May 2027.
“We can sync up our paving plan with what the gas company may be thinking… so the timing is fortuitous,” Higgins said.
Meanwhile, the CapCom will be asked to approve a recommendation of $2.03 million for a March town vote for a Ballfield Road/school campus project, which would include not just repaving but also drainage improvements; new crosswalks, sidewalks, and signage; an improved roadside path; removal of the one-way slip lane entrance on the north side of the Lincoln Road intersection; and possible redesign of the Y intersection just before the tennis court, Higgins said.
