Above: The DPW recently posted the detour route for an upcoming reconstruction project on Pine Hill Rd. And I’m updating on the status of other road projects (including patch work) under the big spending article approved by voters. (images cropped from map and Facebook)
This spring, when the DPW asked voters to approve borrowing $22.26M for road maintenance projects over the next five years, the pitched plan included the major rehab of four roads this year. One of them was Pine Hill Road.
A week ago, the Town issued a public notice and update on the Pine Hill Rd project.
(If this road is one you frequently use, you may want to sign up for the Town’s updates on the project.)
On June 18th, the Town posted:
The Town of Southborough has contracted with J. H. Lynch Corp. to perform work on a segment of Pine Hill Road in Southborough, MA between Nichols Street and 81 Pine Hill Road. As such, we will have periods of time when the road will be closed to through traffic. This will be marked with barricades and signage at (1) Pine Hill Road at Edmands Road, and (2) Pine Hill Road at Nichols Street. The planned Detour route is as shown in this link: https://tinyurl.com/PHR-detour
Today, Lynch began work with installation of erosion control measures and marking out the limits of work. They did close the road to through traffic for a portion of the day. Prep work will be ongoing through next week. Full-depth paving construction is expected to start on 6/29. We will keep you posted on progress and please feel free to contact us with any questions or comments.
If you would like to sign up for email updates, you can do so at: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/LpGSOKe. Otherwise, you can monitor our Pine Hill Road Project Page at: https://www.southboroughma.gov/1015/Pine-Hill-Road-Reconstruction
On the project page, a June 17th update stated:
J.H. Lynch has begun work on the final section of Pine Hill Road between the two sections that were reconstructed and paved last year.
During the period of June 15 through June 26, crews will be installing erosion control measures, marking project limits, and performing preparatory work in advance of the full-depth reconstruction of the roadway. The Road will be marked as closed although local and through traffic will be permitted.
Residents may notice spray paint markings on portions of the roadway, sidewalks, driveways, and adjacent areas. These markings are used to identify the anticipated limits of paving and other construction activities.
If you have any questions regarding markings located on or near your property or driveway, please do not hesitate to contact the Department of Public Works. We would be happy to provide additional information regarding the planned work in your area.
Full-depth roadway reconstruction is currently anticipated to begin during the week of June 29, weather permitting.
We appreciate your patience and cooperation during construction and apologize for the temporary inconvenience and disruption to normal traffic patterns. Periodic project updates will be provided as work progresses.
Since the Town Meeting and Town election votes authorized borrowing, the DPW didn’t need to wait until the new fiscal year on July 1st to get to work.
The DPW will be reevaluating the work plan each year, and may make adjustments (based on changing road conditions, new knowledge about underlying infrastructure issues and costs, inflation spikes, etc.)
I checked in with DPW Superintendent Bill Cundiff on the status of the work plan for year one. At this stage, he’s still trying to accomplish everything that was listed for year 2026 — with two caveats that I’ll note below.
The other road projects that were targeted for this first year of the workplan were:
Major Rehabilitation (Full Depth Reclamation) of:
- Acre Bridge Rd (Marlboro Rd to Marlboro CL)
- Northboro Rd (Main St to Johnson Rd)
- Pine Hill Rd (#77 Driveway to Nichols St)
- Minor Rehabilitation (Mill & Overlay, CIP) of Cordaville Rd (Causeway North to Rt 9, Rt 9 to Mt. Vickery, & Rock Point Rd to Richards Rd)
- Preventative Maintenance (Cape Seal, Chip Seal)
- Caveat #1: Cundiff has heard that only one company does this work in this state, and that it is fully booked. But, the DPW will still put this work out to bid in hopes for a positive result:
- Clemmons St (Nichols to Pine Hill Rd)
- Middle (Leeds Way to Trunpike Rd)
- Routine Maintenance (Crack Seal, Fog Seal, Patching):
- Patching – Cordaville Rd, Oak Hill Rd, and Framingham Rd
- Work on isolated sections of 9 other roads:
- Breakneck Hill Rd (Mt. Vickery Rd to Woodland Rd)
- Central St (Reservoir Dr. to Cherry St)
- Caveat #2: Cherry St (Central St to Pleasant St) —Eversource is planning work on this road. So the DPW may need to shift the timing.
- Latisquama Rd (Main St to White Bagley Rd)
- Learned Street (Central St to Cul-de-sac)
- Middle Rd. (Parkerville Rd. to Leads Way)
- Sunrise Dr. (Breakneck Hill Rd to Cul-de-sac)
- White Bagley Rd. (Partridge Hill Rd to Boston Rd)
- Winter St (Turnpike Rd to Central St)
So far, it looks like they are on track for making some of the promised patches.
Back in March, the DPW posted on Facebook about their “First full season with new asphalt ‘hotbox'” that was approved at the 2025 Town Meeting. The post explained:
This asset allows crews to fill and repair potholes with permanent fix instead of filling the same holes,repeatedly, with temporary “cold patch” . . . Hot asphalt only has small window of usable time unless you are equipped with a unit like this.
Last week, Facebook posts showed crews with the hot box hard at work. The photos followed a warning on Facebook about crews filling potholes that day on Framingham, Marlboro, and Cordaville roads. Pics from June 3rd also showed the crew working on Framingham Rd.
Of course, the basic Road Maintenance work also can get delayed by the surprise work that inevitably pops up along the way. (Recently the DPW posted about repairing and reinstalling a fire hydrant struck by a car, dealing with a large tree downed on Granuale Rd, and a water main break on Southville Rd.)
