Repaved with good intentions

The familiar rumble of road construction trucks and the art of dodging them is all a part of the New England driving experience. But with Brookline having taken on one of its largest roadway projects in decades, the bright orange traffic cones and squeezed lanes have been next to impossible to escape.

The construction is now inching its way along Beacon Street, and by the end of November a little more than half of the roughly $16 million project will likely be completed, with a push to finish the work around Washington Square underway.

Driving along the westerly stretches of the road, motorists may not easily detect the improvements. The bulk of the work has been below the surface, where crews are installing six traffic signals and reworking the entire signaling system.

The drainage system and angled parking areas are also being redone. Ultimately, the street will lose about 5 to 7 percent of its parking spaces, most of them taken up by the new signals and pedestrian crossing areas.

``We have parking spaces where they shouldn't be," project coordinator Bill Smith said.

While some of the work is aimed at aesthetics, much of it is directed at repairing other things that ``shouldn't be," according to Smith, such as the incline of the wheelchair ramps, which are no longer in compliance with state regulations.

There was also concern about adequate space for left turns, and for the area surrounding traffic signals. Crews are also installing rumble strips to border the angled parking areas and grinding up the current road surface and replacing it with a more durable one.

Design work for Beacon Street began a decade ago, and $11.8 million of the project will be covered by federal transportation money, with the town covering the remaining $4 million. (Those figures do not include the cost of police details that are required to direct traffic at the construction sites.)

Across town, meanwhile, more than half a dozen other road projects are underway involving new sidewalks, pavement, and new signposts.

``We have a fair number underway right now," Smith said.

Smith concedes that the construction does not make it easy for businesses along the affected portions of Beacon Street, but said crews are trying to help by tidying up at the end of their 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. workday.

Storeowners and clerks interviewed in Washington Square said that their loyal customers have still shown up, but complain about being forced to park several blocks away.

Town officials say that any lost business in the short run will likely be made up for in the long run. Beacon Street has a storied past; it was laid out in the 1850s as a road for horse-drawn sleds and carriages.

Coolidge Corner businessman Henry Whitney thought a wider street with a streetcar line down the middle would draw more business. So he brought Frederick Law Olmsted on board to design a new roadway.

The construction, which has been divided up into three phases that are described with detailed maps on the town's website, will likely end in 2008, according to DPW staff.