City of Gardner staff updated the Economic and Community Development Committee on the Rear Main project, reporting continued work on utilities, geotech fabric installation and other initial scope items and saying the current phase should be complete by May 2026 at the latest.

Staff said the early construction included removal of underground utilities, sewer, water and drainage work and that a trench for data cabling (Verizon) had begun this week. The committee was told the next week should finish additional work and simplify the remaining schedule to a few, structured tasks.

Parking details: staff estimated the completed section will include about 100 spaces of free, unmetered municipal parking for public use. The second half of the Rear Main project will include a housing component; staff said parking for that development is allocated in the second phase, while the roughly 100 spaces in the first phase will remain public park parking.

Why it matters: the project affects downtown circulation, public parking capacity and the timeline for a multi-phased redevelopment effort.

Status and next steps: staff said they expect to receive an updated contractor schedule after reviewing minor edits on the loaming and seeding items and will provide a more detailed update at the next meeting.

Ending: staff emphasized the public-access nature of the parking and said they expect major construction items to drop to one or two concurrent tasks after next week’s work is completed.