Beverly Warns Of Delays With Essex Street Roundabout Construction

BEVERLY, MA -- Police are asking drivers to avoid Essex Street through the remainder of the week. The portion of the street where a new roundabout is being built will be closed at 7 am Wednesday through Friday. Police will be available to assist residents who live within the construction zone.

There will be three detours set up through the duration of the work, including:

• Exit 18 from 128 North (ramp will be closed)
• Essex Street at Cole Street
• On-ramp to 128 South at Harry Ball Field.

The City of Beverly expects work on building a new roundabout near the Exit 18 interchange on Essex Street to be completed by the end of the summer.

Traffic engineers believes the $$954,900 project will improve safety at the Essex-Meadow intersection. Last year a 28-year-old man was killed after being thrown from his car in a three-vehicle crash, but safety concerns about the interchange go back decade. Over that timeframe residents have made a number of efforts to petition the city for the installation of a traffic light there. Those efforts were complicated in part because both Essex Street is a state-owned road.

The city ultimately decided the best solution was the roundabout. And the key reason for choosing a roundabout over a traffic light is that the city believes it will be safer. Construction documents and traffic studies for the project, as well as comments made during a public meeting on the project in September, reason that roundabouts not only slow traffic as cars enter and exit, but they also reduce the chances of deadly, T-bone crashes.

Yes, the roundabout may create more backups during rush hours when drivers are making their way to and from Route 128. But at other times of the day, the road doesn't see that much traffic. As a result, much of the work is beginning after 9 am to avoid heavy delays.

The project is being paid for with a combination of city and state money. A.J. Virgilio Construction of Westfield was named the winning bidder in November.

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