Peabody Downtown Project Completed

PEABODY, MA – The monument's moved, the shrubs have been planted, and the striping is painted: Construction is downtown Peabody is done.

The MassWorks project to redesign Peabody Square broke ground in March of this year, but has been in the works since 2014. There are still small items to take care of, like the calibration of the traffic lights and installation of parking signs, but as far as the public is concerned construction is over.

"The square feels a lot bigger," said Assistant Director of Planning Brendan Callahan. "Moving the monument back 40 feet and taking it out of the middle of the square and removing the traffic islands really just opened up the middle of the square."

Contractors moved the Civil War monument closer to Peabody District Court over the summer, and it was reinstalled last month. The city installed lights to illuminate the monument at night.

The city also installed LED lights in and around the square to better light the area.

"We've gotten a lot of positive feedback on the new lighting in the square," said Callahan.

Director of Community Development and Planning Karen Sawyer Conard said she didn't get many complaints while construction was in full force. She said once people realized how quickly construction was moving, it was just a matter of waiting.

Construction was scheduled to be completed in 2017, but the project was consistently ahead of schedule. The city bonded for $2 million for the project, and was granted $1.85 million from the state.

"What I really like is we have left-turn only lanes at each spoke of the intersection," said Conard. She said the left turn signal has a flashing yellow arrow to signal drivers to yield to oncoming traffic.

The building at the corner of Lowell and Chestnut streets came down last month over the course of two days. The city bought it a couple years ago with the intention of demolishing it. The building – which sat over Goldthwaite Brook – previously housed various businesses, included a bridal shop and a realty office.

"I’m thrilled with this project on many different levels," said Mayor Ted Bettencourt. "The goal of the project was to make the downtown area much more attractive, and that without question has been accomplished."

Twenty signs with the classic "parking" logo – a white "P" on a blue background – will be installed shortly.

Staff photo