Salem Canal Street Project Update

SALEM, MA – The roadway reconstruction along Canal Street is ahead of schedule, which means phase 2 will start earlier than expected.

According to a statement from Mayor Kim Driscoll's office, phase 1, which closed Canal Street from Ocean Avenue to Hersey Street, is expected to end around Wednesday, June 28. Phase 2 will begin the same week.

From June 28, to Aug. 4, no through traffic will be allowed on Canal Street from Hersey Street to Forest Avenue. Detours will be posted directing through traffic to use Broadway and Ocean Avenue. Officers will be posted along the detour route, and drivers are urged to use caution.

Canal Street businesses will stay open, except for McDonalds, which is closed for a renovation project.

While the rest of the Canal Street Roadway Improvement Project can be accomplished while allowing through traffic to continue, the state of deterioration under the roadway in this one 600-foot stretch is substantial. To reconstruct the roadway in a way that will provide the most long-lasting improvement, the contractor will be excavating to 30-inches below the road surface, more than twice the standard excavation depth. The roadway will be filled with a light concrete fill, instead of conventional fill, and a stabilizing high-strength geo-tech fabric will then be installed over the top of the fill from curb to curb. A final paving layer will then go over the geo-tech fabric.

The deterioration of this portion of the roadway has occurred as peat and loose soils under the pavement have consolidated and sunk over time, while underground utilities such as storm drains and conduits have kept the road surface elevated in places. The resulting roadway surface is highly uneven and not safe. The more substantial improvement possible through this temporary closure of this portion of the street will help eliminate this problem on a more long-term basis than conventional engineering methods.

Image via Patch